Peace, prosperity JANUARY 2016 || VOLUME 52 || ISSUE 1 and happiness for 2016 EBMAG.COM INSIDE + THE 2016 BLUEBOOK + Less greening and more meaning + 2016 Canadian Truck King Challenge ENERGY MANAGEMENT FOR ONTARIO SCHOOLS A look at the challenges of one of the largest asset portfolios in North America. P.14 PM40065710 The Scepter® JBoxTM has a new feature…the Hinged Cover. Hinged cover opens more than 180º Easy access to control and devices NEMA 3R and 4X Rated for wash down areas Labour-saving, nonmetallic fastening system Comes in 8" and 12" sizes visit scepterinnovation.ca UL 50 / CSA C22.2 No. 94.1 | UL 50E / CSA C22.2 No. 94.2 CSA C22.2 No. 40 | CSA C22.2 No. 85 Products are manufactured by IPEX Electrical Inc. and distributed in the United States by IPEX USA LLC. JBox™ is a trademark of IPEX Branding Inc. (866) 473-9462 from the EDITOR ANTHONY CAPKUN New packaging, same ingredients! CONTENTS JANUARY 2016 || VOLUME 52 || ISSUE 1 elcome to Electrical Business maga- zine’s new look and feel. While the design has changed, we will continue 54 to deliver the same relevant industry coverage you expect. WSmaller than usual, but still slightly oversized, we hope you will find this design clean and easy-to-read, especially when you go to read it online as a digital edition, or download it as a PDF to read on your device or share with colleagues. As with anything else we publish, your comments are always welcome. I am also very pleased to recognize the winners of our inaugural Electrical Safety Champion Awards program, who were announced back in December. But before I get to them, a big Thanks to the industry partners who stepped up to help us launch this made- in-Canada, first-in-Canada awards program: South- wire Canada and CSA Group, as well as L’industrie électrique and Energy-Manager.ca. Without further ado, congratulations to our 2015 champions: 48 14 t &MFDUSJDBM$POUSBDUPS5BSQPO&OFSHZ4FSWJDFT t &MFDUSJDBM.BJOUFOBODF5FBN'BCSFOF*OD Energy management for one of the largest t *OEJWJEVBM$IBNQJPO,FWJO)PMN asset portfolios in North America t &MFDUSJD6UJMJUZ-POEPO)ZESP 14 Hint... did your kids’ schools come to mind? By Robert Smith You will learn more about these inaugural winners in a Feature Article in our February issue. Of course, for every winner there are non-winners; The 2016 BlueBook truly, every nomination could have been declared The only comprehensive buyers’ guide for the electrical a champion in its own right so, even though you 21 market in Canada. may not have been named a winner this year, please submit a nomination again when we open the Call for Nominations for the 2016 awards program. 2016 Canadian Truck King Challenge Speaking of which, we will open the Call for Who brought the toughest iron to the competition? Nominations for the 2016 Electrical Safety Cham- 48 By Howard J. Elmer pion Awards program next month in our February 2016 edition. There is no fee to enter, and the Nom- ination Form is short and straightforward. Check Less greening and more meaning out the dedicated website we’ve set up for the awards The painful realities of Ontario’s failed green energy program: ebmag.com/esca. There you’ll find the 54 experiment. Categories, Rules, FAQs and—come February—the By Ron Bergeron Entry Form. Quite simply, creating and maintaining an elec- trically safe environment is not just good business, it’s a moral obligation. Congratulations to these inaugural winners, as their good work—along with DEPARTMENTS COLUMNS the other amazing submissions we received—serve as an example to us all. 4 Letters 12 Electrical safety 360 6 Industry news Card parties, smashed cars, 58 Products & solutions powerlines and you 60 Calendar 62 Code file 61 Code conundrum New Subrule and Table 68 in COVER PHOTO: ONTARIO POWER AUTHORITY POWER ONTARIO PHOTO: COVER [email protected] Rule 8-102 Voltage drop EBMAG.COM January 2016 · ELECTRICAL BUSINESS 3 LETTERS January 2016 Volume 52 Issue 1 A 1/4" can save the octagonal box The fact that the box is smaller and can- || || i’m a master electrician and 1-1/2” octagon- not fit as many wires doesn’t matter because ELECTRICAL BUSINESS is the #1 Canadian resource al boxes are a pain in the ass! Every ceiling I nobody wires houses like octopuses (having for electrical contractors, maintenance & engineering professionals, distributors, manufacturers and their work in has 3/4” strapping and 1/2” drywall, all the wires going to the centre light) any agents, and associated stakeholders. which does not add up to 1-1/2”. So every more—that’s part of the past now, hopefully Editor Anthony Capkun time I install one, I have to mount my cross- to be joined by those 1-1/2” octagonal boxes. [email protected] piece a 1/4” up from the bottom of the joists. — Pascal B., Ottawa, Ont. If the client wants a Group publisher John MacPherson light where the joist About time we harmonized [email protected] is, then I have to put construction and industrial a piece of strapping electricians Account manager Deborah Taylor under the joist and These comments follow our news item posted [email protected] mount a 1/2” box. If the online November 17, 2015, at EBMag.com, fixture they want has a “CCDA’s Harmonization Initiative Phase 2 Account manager Melanie Kirk transformer, it’s not going to include electricians” (tinyurl.com/hmfcq9x) [email protected] to fit; or, if I have more than one wire in Assistant editor Renée Francoeur the box, the alternative is to put a 1/4” shim about time. I have been an instructor at [email protected] under the joist, mount a 1/2” box and add a NSCC in Nova Scotia and have had both 1/2” extension ring. Ridiculous! Construction and Industrial students in the Redesign Janice Van Eck All these problems—the extra cost of hav- same class. They receive the same material, www.janicevaneck.com ing to buy two expensive boxes, the wasted with the only difference being the 5th-Year time—could be avoided buy making the material the Industrial students get. This Account Coordinator Kathryn Nyenhuis exact same octagonal box 1-1/4” deep (and could be easily covered in the previous four [email protected] you save 1/4” of metal on every box. I’m sure years. — Reg R. every electrician and contractor that works Circulation manager Urszula Grzyb in residential would buy them. For me, it’s Overhead powerline contact... [email protected] a no-brainer. when will it end? Director of soul/COO Sue Fredericks These comments follow our news item posted online November 24, 2015, at EBMag.com, Published by Annex Business Media VIDEO “PGC hydrovac operator dies from electrical 222 Edward Street, Aurora, Ontario L4G 1W6 contact incident in Vaughan” (tinyurl.com/ 'X?6;C=8=C66==b3?6;C=8=C667= EXCLUSIVES ON ojmkbne) Printed in Canada ISSN 0013-4244 this is a very sad EBMAG.COM Publication Mail Agreement #40065710 incident, especially Circulation “I think this may be one of the since it involved an email: [email protected] most exciting potential places electrical-associat- Tel: 416-510-5189 to be in the next 30 years,” said UL’s ed employee. Can Fax: 416-510-5170 Mail: 80 Valleybrook Drive, Toronto, ON M3B 2S9 global CEO, Keith Williams, of the we not put a White Subscription rates electrical industry during an exclusive and Red sign in the eyesight view of the Canada: Single issue $7.00 interview with Electrical Business operator in these trucks reading “Overhead 12 issues: $35.95 magazine. He shared his thoughts with Voltage Danger” to promote continual USA: $62.95 (US) International: $76.00 (US) per year us on everything from the Internet awareness of the hazard? Such simplicity Occasionally, Electrical Business will mail informa- of Things to the sea change involving works every second. — Roy T. tion on behalf of industry related groups whose distributed generation and energy products and services we believe may be of interest storage. Watch it at tinyurl.com/ a sad day for his family and friends. This to you. If you prefer not to receive this information, please contact our circulation department in any of q46o57t. is also a wake-up call for his co-workers. the four ways listed above. Look out, look up, and think about your The contents of Electrical Business are copyright Energy Efficient Lighting Co. surroundings. I have had to repair numer- ©2016 by Annex Publishing & Printing Inc. and may (EEL) and Ultrasave Lighting ous overhead services torn down by boom not be reproduced in whole or part without written consent. Annex Publishing & Printing Inc. disclaims celebrated the official grand opening trucks and excavators. Work safety is the any warranty as to the accuracy, completeness or of their new facility in Markham, Ont. most important job that we do. — Reg R. currency of the contents of this publication and and we were there to capture the disclaims all liability in respect of the results of any action taken or not taken in reliance upon informa- excitement of this two-unit, 33,000-sf tion in this publication. building. Take a look for yourself at We always welcome your Letters to tinyurl.com/q3nr4gm. the Editor. We also encourage you Funded by the Government to leave Comments below any of the of Canada For the latest industry news, reviews, content we post online. Some of you products, stories and people in the may even score some prizes for your electrical industry, go to EBMAG.COM efforts.