What will workplaces look like as they begin to reopen from the coronavirus? Will contact tracing with smartphones locate, track and report potential carriers? Will...
According to a new report from Dodge Data & Analytics, while commercial and multi-family starts were quite healthy during January and February, the subsequent COVID-19...
Our Profile of the Electrical Contractor happens every two years. In 2020, it overlaps with the presidential election, the U.S. Census and the coronavirus pandemic...
As I often hear these days, we live in interesting times. The times prove interesting for many reasons, but none less so than the fact that by the year 2030...
From dams to casinos to billboards, nothing is done small in Nevada. Sun and land are large commodities, too. Recently, two companies tapped into those abundant resources in what they...
In my May 2020 Fiber Optics column, I mentioned seeing a crew pulling cable in my neighborhood in a way that was likely to do significant damage to the cable...
According to the latest report from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration (EIA), the issues surrounding COVID-19 have delayed construction of new electric generation projects. “According to the...
As more renewable capacity comes online, utilities need to take steps to efficiently deliver that power over the grid. Some parts of the country are farther along than others in...
On July 15, the White House issued a final rule designed to modernize and accelerate environmental reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), with the stated goal of allowing...
Advancements in nuclear energy, healthcare and our understanding of the cosmos will soon be propelled forward by isotopes generated at Michigan State University’s (MSU) Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB)...
As more sophisticated devices in the home generate their own data streams, a unique market is also emerging for that information. According to a recent report from the research firm...
Recently, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), which provides electricity for local power companies and business customers while serving almost 10 million people in parts of seven southeastern states, gave the green light to...
A federal mandate that enables grid-level energy storage resources (ESR), such as batteries, that compete fairly in wholesale power markets can stay in place per a court ruling. This is a decision that environmental advocates...
As the nation continues to reopen following the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, and we plan for a return to a modified “normal,” I would like to applaud NECA members and staff for the incredible resiliency and resolve...
We are living in unprecedented times, in which much of the nation was locked down for the past several months. This is, of course, to curb the spread of COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. While...
Cathodic action and dissimilar metal interaction are phenomena with a long history of recognition in the laws of physics as well as within the National Electrical Code. I first ran across this issue back in the 1970s and ‘80s...
Late last year, ASHRAE, the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, published the 2019 version of ASHRAE/ANSI/IES 90.1, “Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings,”...
Several contractors have called me recently to ask about bidding industrial work in addition to the commercial work they are currently performing. It is good that they reached out because industrial work can be more difficult...
In my March column, I posed three problems from actual cases. These concerned imperfect contract language that caused financial impacts to the electrical contractors. When these issues are presented in court, there is little...
First Place Ladder stickers A great idea to make field workers think twice, and keep them safe, is to put a bright sticker on the second-to-top step of a ladder reading “suspended” and one on the top step reading “terminated...
My fascination with electricity began as a young boy, and I learned many things the hard way. One lesson involved dismantling an old record player to see how it worked. That was when I learned the famous electrical technician...