June 22, 2017 - While Quebec and Ontario subsidize the purchase of electric vehicles, a new Economic Note from the Montreal Economic Institute concludes this practice is the least-efficient and most-expensive way of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

June 1, 2017 - E2S Warning Signals’ new ‘D2xB1’ Class I Division 2 LED notification device is UL1971-listed for hearing impaired and is also self-synchronizing on multi-unit systems without the need for any additional modules and features minimal operating current and in-rush.

June 1, 2017 - Extech Instruments has launched the MA3110 True RMS AC Flex clamp meter. The product offers a measurement range up to 3000A AC along with True RMS accuracy, the company claims.

June 1, 2017 - Schneider Electric has introduced a new flush mounting kit for Harmony XB4, XB5, and XB7 devices to “improve the style of control panel or machine design”.

May 30, 2017 - Brady’s new Taglock circuit breaker securing devices allow up to four workers to lockout circuit breaker switches by applying standard nylon cable ties and their individual worker ID tags, the company says.

May 29, 2017 - Fluke Accelix is an open, cloud platform that connects maintenance software, equipment and critical plant systems. It integrates Fluke’s portfolio of wireless tools and condition monitoring sensors to eMaint, Fluke’s SaaS CMMS (Computerized Maintenance Management System), and shares information with enterprise solutions of choice.     

May 25, 2017 - Panasonic’s latest Toughbook launch took place in the clouds, held at the 1,776-ft tall One World Trade Centre, also known as the Freedom Tower, in New York City last week.

May 23, 2017 - “The EV Discovery Centre will serve as an EV hub for consumers throughout Ontario and for visitors from around the world,” said Cara Clairman, president & CEO of Plug’n Drive, on the occasion of the official opening of the Plug’n Drive EVDC in northern Toronto.

May 15, 2017 - Standard Products has launched its LED bollard luminaires for Spring 2017, suited for lighting pathways and entryways, it says.

May 15, 2017 - IPC Resistors rebranded into I-Gard about 12 years ago, the company says, and exited various power resistor markets with a new strategic focus on new core markets of ground fault and arc flash protection.

May 10, 2017 - LEDtronics has announced its latest series of dimmable high-efficiency LED high-bay fixtures, which are DLC-listed low-profile units that output more lumens than the previous generation, while being more energy-efficient, the company claims. LEDtronics also says they are the “most affordable high-bay light fixtures” offered from the company to date.

June 29, 2017* - At the National Academy of Construction’s annual meeting this fall, a collaborative workshop will be held between NAC and the IEEE IAS Electrical Safety Committee (Construction Subcommittee) with the aim of reducing electrical injuries and fatalities in the construction industry.

July 18, 2017 - Believe it or not, there hasn’t been a lost-time injury at Nova Scotia Power’s Milton Heavy Maintenance Shop since June 27, 1977. Congratulations!

June 29, 2017 - Both Health Canada and the U.S. CPSC are reporting a recall involving Home Decorators Collection 3-light and 4-light Comotti vanity fixtures due to burn and laceration hazards.

June 29, 2017 - In consultation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Milwaukee Tool is voluntarily expanding warnings and instructions for its M18 high-demand 9.0 battery pack (No. 48-11-1890) to address situations that could lead to pack failure and/or other safety hazards.

June 28, 2017 - I am regularly asked by professionals from a variety of electrical sectors to help them nail down comprehensive methods for executing safe electrical work practices in real-world scenarios. This is where the rubber hits the road, involving some of the most important interactions between crews and their management teams.

June 21, 2017 - Siemens Wind Power Ltd. has pleaded guilty and been fined $60,000 after a worker first fell from a weigh scale and was subsequently struck by a moving loader, reports Ontario’s Ministry of Labour.

June 21, 2017 - UL has identified an LED driver—which may have been sold separately or packaged with an LED light kit—bearing a counterfeit UL Mark.

June 20, 2017 - Intertek is warning the market that its Authorization to Mark (ATM) for flat-plate photovoltaic modules (Ref. SH11031298-001) dated August 16, 2011, is invalid and, in fact, has been determined to be counterfeit.

June 7, 2017 - In a joint recall with Health Canada and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), Nidec Motor Corp. is recalling certain variable-speed swimming pool motors with a programmable user interface on the top because the pump control cover may not be properly grounded, posing an electrical shock hazard.

June 7, 2017 - Lithonia Lighting (a division of Acuity Brands Lighting Inc.) has received six (6) reports of the lens used on the LBL4W LED fixture manufactured between February 2016 and March 2017 detaching from the fixture and becoming loose or falling.

June 6, 2017 - UL issued a warning regarding certain Foshan Teyuan electronic ballasts that are not authorized to bear the UL Mark for Canada or the United States; they do not comply with UL’s safety standards and may pose a shock or fire hazard.

June 1, 2017 - Werner says it has developed new fall protection products to protect workers in high-risk environments: the ProForm F3 harnesses, which feature a patented relief cord system. This allows the user to relieve possible deadly pressure on femoral arteries and pressure on the clavicle, typically caused by harness straps in a post-fall condition, according to Werner.

July 19, 2017 - CSA Z463 “Maintenance of electrical systems” has been adopted across Canada—even globally—since being first published in November 2013.

June 28, 2017 - What do circuit loading and demand factors mean, and how are they different? A circuit load is a component or portion of the circuit that consumes power. A demand factor is a time-dependent fractional quantity that will always be less than, or equal to, one. Huh?

June 26, 2017 - Tackle June’s Code Conundrum... if you dare!

May 26, 2017 - Required by the National Building Code (NBC), smoke alarms must be permanently connected to a lighting circuit, or one that supplies both lighting and receptacles, so as to quickly detect when there’s a problem with the circuit.

May 26, 2017 - The May Code Conundrum will help you brush up on your code knowledge!

May 12, 2017 - The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) in the U.S. has published NEMA ICS 5-2017 Industrial Control and Systems: Control Circuit and Pilot Devices. This standard applies to general purpose mechanical, electromechanical and solid-state devices that are used in industrial applications for control circuit switching and the control of solenoids rated not more than 600V.

May 2, 2017 - The draft edition of the next CSA Z462 “Workplace electrical safety” is available for public review.

April 13, 2017 - The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) has published a new standard, NEMA OS 4-2016 "Requirements for Air-Sealed Boxes for Electrical and Communication Applications". This standard establishes a performance test and classification scheme for electrical outlet boxes, wall boxes, ceiling boxes, and floor boxes designed to reduce air leakage through them and their installed interface with the building structure.

April 11, 2017 - The April Code Conundrum has some mobile home questions this month!

April 10, 2017 - The 3rd Memorandum of Revision (MOR) is out, and Rule 8-104 is undergoing some significant changes. Subrule (8) has been deleted from the CE Code, and 8-104(5) and (6) have been rewritten. What does this mean for calculating cable sizes used in direct burial installations?

March 14, 2017 - Time to brush up on those CE Code skills!

March 14, 2017 - As the name suggests, energy storage systems (ESSs) are mechanisms capable of storing energy for use at a future time.

July 18, 2017 - BC Hydro reports continued wildfires through the Central and Southern Interior regions are creating challenging conditions for both the province’s firefighters and BC Hydro crews.

July 18, 2017 - Siemens AG and The AES Corp. are forming a new global energy storage technology and services company named Fluence, which will combine the capabilities of Siemens’ battery-based energy storage solutions group under the Energy Management division with AES’ subsidiary, AES Energy Storage.

July 13, 2017 - SaskPower reports the competitive process for the next 200MW MW of utility-scale wind capacity is has moved to the RFP (request for proposal) phase.

June 21, 2017 - A University of Huddersfield researcher is developing new technologies that could enable clusters of houses to share their solar energy rather than simply export surplus electricity to the grid. Also, new systems for fault detection will enable homeowners to monitor and maintain the efficiency of their panels.

June 21, 2017 - Landis+Gyr announced completion of a multi-year grid modernization project with EPCOR that included deployment of the Gridstream AMI solution for advanced metering infrastructure and grid management in Edmonton.

June 20, 2017 - To supply additional generation and make up for “lower-than-anticipated energy production at the existing wind farm”, NB Power and TransAlta have agreed to add 17.25MW of wind-generating capacity at the existing Kent Hills site.

June 20, 2017 - Nova Scotia Power is installing a new transmission line between Onslow and Springhill, saying this will “support the addition of more clean, renewable energy for our customers, and increase the reliability of electricity supply along this key corridor”.

June 14, 2017 - Land scarcity has severely limited Singapore’s adoption of solar power, says ABB, adding floating solar panels (a.k.a. floatovoltaics) could be over 10% more efficient than solar panels placed on land, and may be a viable alternative for the city-state, which is surrounded by water.

June 6, 2017 - Site cleanup has commenced at the site of a collapsed wind turbine located in Grand Etang, Inverness County, on Cape Breton Island.

June 5, 2017 - Brazeau County, Alta., and ENMAX announced the completion of three solar electricity projects, comprising over 900 solar modules atop the Lodgepole Fire Hall, Rocky Rapids Water Treatment Plant and the County Administration building.

May 18, 2017 - The provincial government and NB Power are forming a new corporation as a joint venture to “capitalize on New Brunswick’s geography in exporting energy”, the two parties say.

June 21, 2017 - In a few paragraphs, my column will, in fact, line up with the title I’ve written above. Bear with me.

June 16, 2017 - “A job is not just a job; a job is a way to give back,” explained Cherith Sinasac, as I chatted with her and Jarrod Stewart to learn more about the Young Professional Network’s 2017 GIVE initiative.

May 29, 2017 - Over the last few issues, we’ve teased the coming of an expanded awards program, which we’re officially re-launching as the Canadian Electrical Awards, starting May 1, 2017.

April 7, 2017 - These days, you would be hard-pressed to find a marketing “guru” who didn’t demand you establish a presence on social media. Some will suggest you find a few social outlets to which you will actually commit (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.), while others will recommend you have to be everywhere!

March 20, 2017 - Everyone in the Province of Ontario knows electricity costs have gone through the roof. Electricity customers of all sizes have been complaining bitterly about costs and their impact on their livelihood and way of life. Significant numbers of people who have been worried about paying their electricity bill are now angry.

March 17, 2017 - We were asked to trial the Brother P-touch PT-E550W industrial hand-held labelling tool at a local jobsite. As a former teacher, I have always believed we must start putting technology into the hands of our future electricians... this tool does just that.

March 9, 2017 - I can’t say I’m very familiar with Jim Carr, Canada’s minister of Natural Resources, but I stumbled upon—and have to applaud—the speech he gave at the Energy Council of Canada’s “Canadian Energy Industry: Updates and Insights” event in Ottawa back in February.

February 4, 2017 - When the Ontario government shelved the concept of Bill 69 (a.k.a. Prompt Payment Act) and, instead, decided to launch a review of the entire Construction Lien Act [CLA], Eryl Roberts—then executive director of ECA of Ontario—argued:

February 1, 2017 - You may be familiar with the following electrical groups operating in Alberta: Capital Region Electric Club (Edmonton), Calgary Electric Club (CEC) and, of course, Alberta Electrical League (AEL).

November 15, 2016 - On days when I’m at my desk, everything I need is at my fingertips, including an electrical outlet for charging my phone. But then there are those days when I’m out in the world, covering someone’s conference or tradeshow (maybe hustling from one parking lot to another, or hopping on a train to go into the city), and both time and electricity become luxury commodities.

November 11, 2016 - Product knowledge, skill specialization and competing against manufacturers who are supposed to be their partners were just some of the discussion points covered at “The Future of the Canadian Electrical Contractor”—a recent Electro-Federation Canada (Ontario Region) breakfast meeting.

June 22, 2017 - In celebration of National Aboriginal Day, Hydro One announced 14 students selected for the Leonard S. (Tony) Mandamin Scholarship, which is granted annually to First Nations, Métis and Inuit post-secondary students.

June 19, 2017 - BC Safety Authority’s “Great Start Live” is a free orientation course for individuals in the electrical industry who are either new to the industry or just looking for a refresher.

May 24, 2017 - Lighting professionals can now focus their expertise on specific market segments—including retail, industrial, office and educational—through NAILD’s redesigned Lighting Specialist (LS II) program.

May 15, 2017 - Hot on the heels of the 2017 Skills Ontario competition, several thousand students are expected to descend on Ottawa for Future Building 2017, a free event being held May 16-18 at the EY Centre.

May 3, 2017 - Seventy-two members of Alberta’s trades community, including four electrical apprentices, have been honoured for their “outstanding achievements” in the workplace and in the classroom at the 2017 Alberta Apprenticeship and Industry Training Board Awards.

May 1, 2017 - You don’t have to be constantly troubleshooting the same motor and drive problem, according to Fluke, who released its new Motor and Drive Troubleshooting Course recently to help “maintenance professionals can gain the practical diagnostic skills needed to better understand motor/drive system health and significantly improve equipment reliability”.

March 29, 2017 - BICSI has released the latest update to its ICT Cabling Installation Program.

March 9, 2017 - Against the backdrop of International Women’s Day, Hydro One announced its “continued support for women in engineering”, committing $1.4 million dollars toward the Women in Engineering University Partnership with Ryerson, Ontario Institute of Technology, Waterloo and Western.

March 6, 2017 - The Government of Alberta says it is helping an additional 1000 apprentices continue their technical training through the Apprentice Training Award.

March 1, 2017 - Schneider Electric has launched the 7th iteration of its “Go Green in the City” annual global challenge for business and engineering students aimed at promoting “innovative energy management ideas for smart cities”.

February 27, 2017 - Applications are being accepted right now for the 2017 edition of Electro-Federation Canada’s annual scholarship program, which is awarding over $150,000 across 57 scholarships.