Electical Contractor

Four years into the highly popular California Solar Initiative (CSI), officials are having a hard time seeing the light at the end of their 10-year tunnel.

In response to a Congressional directive to inquire whether broadband “is being deployed to all Americans in a reasonable and timely fashion,” the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) concluded in its sixth Broadband Deployment Report that between 14 and 24 million Americans still lack access to

If it wasn’t clear before, the 2010 Profile of the Electrical Contractor, featured in the past two issues of this magazine, settles the question unequivocally: The economy has had a serious impact on electrical contractors (ECs).

Coming off a historic low in May, sales of newly built, single-family homes rose 23.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 330,000 units in June, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce.

In an effort to assist small contractors who are struggling to comply with new Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) lead paint abatement regulations, the U.S. Senate passed an amendment, authored by Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, to the Fiscal Year 2010 Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Bill.

While much research in recent years has explored the merits of constructing new green buildings, there’s relatively little data available on the economic and environmental benefits of building reuse.

The California State Assembly passed AB 2514, legislation that members hope will create a smarter electric grid, increase the use of renewable energy, save Californians money by avoiding the need to build new power plants, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other harmful air pollutants through

Solar and wind power continue to grab the majority of headlines in the ongoing coverage of the growth of renewable power. Now, at least one other alternative-energy source has been quietly rising—literally and figuratively—in global use and awareness.

GlobalSpec—a specialized search engine, information resource, e-publishing and online events company for the engineering, industrial and technical communities—announced the availability of “2010 Economic Outlook Survey: How Industrial Companies Can Succeed in the Current Economy.” The survey result