IEC Chesapeake

West Virginia Adopted the 2009 IECC and ASHRAE 90.1-2007

aholloway — Mon, 20 May 2013 13:44:04 +0000

In the 2013 legislative session, West Virginia adopted the 2009 IECC and the ASHRAE 90.1-2007, which the Governor has subsequently signed into law. The 2009 IECC will be effective as of November 30, 2013 and ASHRAE 90.1-2007 with an effective of September 1, 2013.

http://www.nema.org/Technical/Code-Alerts/Pages/20-May–West-Virginia.aspx

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Online Solar School Campaign

aholloway — Wed, 15 May 2013 13:23:49 +0000

Worldwide Energy. Sustainability. Community. Through a partnership between these elements, we can create the future we hope for. Human nature is to observe, learn and then make change. This is an inevitable process. With the power of modern technology and our minds, we can embrace this process and initiate movement towards a future of affordable clean energy. We can create a sustainable community for the world. SolPowerPeople is developing a platform of online learning and interconnection that provides a structure for the entire world to build upon to reach this goal – together. This is the #SolarMOOC Academy- a global community of learning based upon the modern concept of Massive Open Online Courses. With this online platform already full of FREE weekly online lectures, SolPowerPeople is responding to requests from all over the world (including people from developing countries) by beginning to develop an entire school of formalized micro courses. Their fundraising campaign to make this happen can be found here:

Online Solar School Campaign

SolPowerPeople is made up of solar experts, advocates, artists, and educators with over 40 years of experience in education, solar photovoltaic design and installation, business operations, project management and film production. Their mission is to develop an innovative, online solar school available to anyone in the world who wants to join in a virtual landscape of learning.

Their passion for solar as a free, limitless energy supply is matched only by their understanding that education is key for the solar industry to thrive, and for clean energy to be attainable by all.

SolPowerPeople has trained electricians, tradesmen, firefighters, and the general public around the United States on solar energy for over a year with an onsite, hands-on mobile solar training lab, all-the-while delivering a free weekly online lecture series to thousands of participants from all over the globe. Through their #Solar Massive Open Online Course, they have delivered over 60 free lectures by subject matter experts to 1000’s of participants across the world that are hungry for solar knowledge. They currently host 100’s of hours of material that’s free and accessible through their website archives and YouTube channel.

The SolPowerPeople vision is to not only provide these weekly lectures, but to continue doing this while creating a virtual learning platform to give everyone what they need to be a positive force in the solar movement: all the way from learning what solar photovoltaics are and how they work, to applying advanced theory and design while working in the renewable energy sector. Check out a sample of what they are doing and enroll in their free entry-level micro course course:

Introduction to Solar Energy

There is a demand all over the world for quality information on solar photovoltaics: system installers, consumers, home-owners, policy makers, educators, emergency responders and an entire world of citizens (especially developing countries) that want this information. They want FREE, CLEAN energy. With funding from this campaign, SolPowerPeople can create this online education platform. They’ll be able to pursue partnerships with other industry experts to create an online solar school that can be accessed by everyone in the world. Your contributions will help accelerate course production, promote, and keep a lot of these courses free for everyone. You will be a part of the solar movement, empowering the world with solar knowledge.

Join SolPowerPeople in the Solar Revolution and be the change you wish to see in our global energy future.

Additional Information

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YOU ARE INVITED TO ATTEND A SCHOOL OF RISK CONTROL EXCELLENCE (SORCE®) EDUCATIONAL SESSION

aholloway — Thu, 09 May 2013 15:47:22 +0000

Avoiding Rear-end Collisions
Webinar Information:
When: Friday, May 17, 2013
Time: 10:00 a.m.—11:00 a.m. Eastern Time
Overview:
Identify why we have crashes with the vehicle ahead of us. This webinar will provide an overview of what you and your company can do to reduce the probability of having rear-end type accidents.
Learning Outcomes:
Identify the importance of speed control.
Following distance and driving on highways, rural roads and city streets, following distance.
Understand the four high-cost accident types and how to avoid them will be discussed.
Target Audience:
Agents/brokers, business owners, operations, fleet, human resource or risk managers and safety professionals.
Speaker Information:
Mark Lederer, Risk Control Consultant, CNA
Webinar Participant Audio/Web Access Instructions
1. Dial (855) 410-0553 / (646) 583-7389
2. Enter Participant PIN Code followed by # key 666515#
3. You will be placed on musical hold until the Webinar begins
4. Click on https://www.anywhereconference.com/
5. Enter Web Login Reference 210337820
6. Enter PIN Code 654018
7. Enter your Name — Click Go
Note: The customer service team can be reached at any time during the call by pressing *0. Please sign in 30 minutes prior to the start of the webinar to ensure you have access.
To view other Risk Control services offered, please visit www.cna.com/riskcontrol or you may contact CNA hot line at 866-262-0540.
Please Pre-Register:
Send an email with the webinar title, date, your first
and last name, company name and phone number.
Email: schoolofRCExcellence@cna.com.
Phone: 866-262-0540—Option 1

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How to Meet New OSHA HazCom Training Requirements Webinar

aholloway — Wed, 01 May 2013 14:30:58 +0000

Free GHS Webinar

Thursday, May 16, 1:00 pm EDT

“How to Meet New OSHA HazCom Training Requirements”

Presented by Chuck Belveal, IES

OSHA has adopted the Globally Harmonized System (GHS) of chemical labeling and information. Because of this, their Hazard Communication regulations have changed. This free presentation will discuss these changes, the basic principles of hazard communication, as well as provide you with the necessary tools to assist in the education of your employees. OSHA is requiring all workers be trained on GHS by December 1, 2013, and this presentation will provide you with information on how to properly train your employees on the subject and stay in compliance.

This webinar is perfect for safety professionals, business owners, chapter executive directors, or anybody responsbile for employee safety training. Download the presentation handouts by clicking here.

Chuck Belveal

As a Master electrician with over 30 years of experience in the electrical industry, Chuck has amassed a significant amount of knowledge and experience that he is able to share. Additionally, Chuck has over nine years of experience in the field as a regional safety manager for a major electrical contractor. During the past 14 years, Chuck has also had the opportunity to train electricians and apprentices of all levels in all aspects of the trade, from apprenticeship training (first through fourth years), Journeyman Test Preparation, and post Journeyman training including NEC, NFPA 70E, and various leadership courses. Chuck is a recognized expert in both the NEC and the NFPA 70E as well as being OSHA 500 certified.

Seats are limited – Register Now

GHS Resources

Here are other resources to help ensure your contracting business is fully trained in HazCom before December 1, 2013.

GHS Regulatory Comparison

Sample of Safety Data Sheet

Toolbox Talks
Globally Harmonized System
Hazard Communication
Pictogram
Safety Data Sheet Sections

OSHA Quick Cards
GHS Training Requirements
Safety Data Sheets
Standard Labels
Standard Pictogram

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Making Sense of PV Parity: Quantifying Solar’s Competitiveness

aholloway — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 17:45:51 +0000

The PV industry is the subject of an increasingly confusing discussion about its future. Statements that solar PV is competitive today and will expand exponentially are countered by detractors pointing out grid limitations and studies suggesting cost shifting. What is missing from this discussion is a clear and systematic framework which provides a common vocabulary to bracket discussions about solar PV’s competitiveness.

To be useful, such a framework must be applicable to most power grids around the world while recognizing that competitiveness values are specific to each grid’s mix of generation and transmission resources. Critical to the discussion must be the opportunities and challenges of integrating PV into the grid, including an honest assessment of costs and benefits. Because integration issues vary depending on penetration, discussions must be explicit about the levels under discussion.

The framework must reflect the fact that the services offered to the grid, and therefore their value, change as the level of PV capacity rises, relative to a grid’s total generation capacity. If PV’s costs continue to fall along the path that most analysts forecast, the industry’s economics will face four sequential steps based on PV’s ability to provide: Firstly, peaking power services, a premium value service from PV due to when power is available; second, intermittent wholesale power – with PV’s value based on avoiding variable fossil fuel costs; thirdly comes grid restructuring, which will require PV to be inexpensive enough to justify significant and complex grid restructuring costs; and the final phase sees the emergence of fully dispatchable electricity and ancillary services, if electricity storage becomes economical.

Read full article

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Maryland health insurers propose rate increases under reform

aholloway — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 17:00:00 +0000

Maryland health insurers are seeking steep increases to rates for some health insurance plans. The proposed rates are for health plans that would be offered through the state’s health benefit exchange beginning in January.

Insurers said they will need to charge more for health insurance to compensate for new risk and additional requirements under the federal Affordable Care Act. The Maryland Insurance Administration posted the rate requests on its website Tuesday. CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, for example, has proposed a 25 percent rate increase to many of its plans in the individual and small group markets.

Solar becomes single largest source of new grid capacity in the USA

aholloway — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 19:06:23 +0000

For the first time, solar energy accounted for all new utility electricity generation capacity added to the U.S. grid last month, according to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC’s) March 2013 “Energy Infrastructure Update.”

More than 44 megawatts (MW) of solar electric capacity was brought online from seven projects in California, Nevada, New Jersey, Hawaii, Arizona, and North Carolina. All other energy sources combined added no new generation.

Solar also had a strong showing in FERC’s quarterly generation numbers, accounting for about 30 percent of all utility-scale new capacity. The report focuses exclusively on larger facilities and does not include energy generated by net-metered installations. Net-metered systems account for more than half of all U.S. solar electric capacity.

“This speaks to the extraordinary strides we have made in the past several years to bring down costs and ramp up deployment,” said Rhone Resch, president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association.

“Since 2008, the amount of solar powering U.S. homes, businesses and military bases has grown by more than 600 percent-from 1,100 megawatts to more than 7,700 megawatts today. As FERC’s report suggests, and many analysts predict, solar will grow to be our nation’s largest new source of energy over the next four years.”

FERC’s report supports other findings which show solar power to be one of the fastest growing energy sources in the U.S., powering homes, businesses and utility grids across the nation. The Solar Market Insight annual edition shows the U.S. installed 3,313 megawatts (MW) of solar photovoltaics (PV) in 2012, a record for the industry.

Some of this growth is attributed to the fact that the cost of a solar system has dropped by nearly 40 percent over the past two years, making solar more affordable than ever for utilities and consumers.

“In 2012, the U.S. brought more new solar capacity online than in the three prior years combined,” Resch added. “These new numbers from FERC support our forecast that solar will continue a pattern of growth in 2013, adding 5.2 GW of solar electric capacity. This sustained growth is enabling the solar industry to create thousands of good jobs and to provide clean, affordable energy for more families, businesses, utilities, and the military than ever before.”

Today, America’s solar industry employs 119,000 workers throughout the country. That’s a 13.2 percent growth over 2011′s jobs numbers, making solar one of the fastest-growing job sectors in the nation.

Read Article here

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Inspector Ed Riesner warns GE generator transfer switches could present fire hazard

aholloway — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 20:30:05 +0000

Ed Riesner: If you are installing GE generator transfer switches be careful. We have discovered the use of fine strand cable inside the switch which cannot be adequately tightened in the lugs used and may present a fire hazard.

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Mandatory OSHA 30-Hour Bill Defeated

aholloway — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 14:34:10 +0000

House Bill 330 has been defeated by a vote of the Economic Matters Committee. This bill would have required contractors on public works contracts to ensure and certify that each individual performing manual labor on the project has completed within the past five years, or will complete, a 30-hour construction safety training course authorized by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Each individual must have completed the course before beginning work on the project. Jack Wilson, IEC Chesapeake Governmental Affairs Chairman, spoke at the committee hearing with other IEC Chesapeake members as well as Lobbyist Kevin O’Keeffe and emphasized how costly this bill could have been for all contractors. IEC Chesapeake’s continued involvement in legislative events has helped keep bills that will negatively affect the electrical industry out of legislation. For more information on the Governmental Affairs committee please contact Carey Walker: cwalker@iecchesapeake.com

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The Maryland Board of Master Electricians proposes to adopt new Regulations

aholloway — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 13:55:33 +0000

The purpose of this action is to establish by regulation the requirements for continuing education for renewal of a State master electrician license, including required hours, subject matter, and approved methods for completion, in compliance with Business Occupations and Professions Article, §6-310(c)(3), Annotated Code of Maryland.
Required Hours of Continuing Education
Except as provided in §B of this regulation, to be eligible for renewal of a license, a master electrician shall have completed 10 hours of continuing education during the prior license term, as required by Business Occupations and Professions Article, §6-310(c)(3), Annotated Code of Maryland.
Opportunity for Public Comment
Comments may be sent to Gae Herzberger, Administrative Aide, Maryland Board of Master Electricians, Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, 500 North Calvert Street, Room 302, Baltimore, Maryland 21202, or call 410-230-6270, or email to gherzberger@dllr.state.md.us, or fax to 410-333-6314. Comments will be accepted through May 22, 2013. A public hearing has not been scheduled.
Open Meeting
Final action on the proposal will be considered by the Maryland Board of Master Electricians during a public meeting to be held on May 28, 2013 at 10:00 a.m., at the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, 500 North Calvert Street, Third Floor Conference Room, Baltimore, Maryland 21202.

Read the Full Proposed Action on Regulations Here

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