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Today, the National Electrical Manufacturers Association published the 2017 edition of its Electrical Standards & Products Guide (ESPG), a comprehensive listing of NEMA electrical standards as well as an extensive directory of manufacturers and their products.

According to Jim Wright, chairman of the NEMA Codes & Standards Committee, standards play a vital part in the design, production, and distribution of products destined for national and international commerce.

“Technical standards benefit users and manufacturers by improving safety, eliminating misunderstandings between manufacturer and purchaser, and assisting the purchaser in selecting and obtaining the proper product for his particular need,” Wright said.

NEMA members are eligible for a 20 percent discount on standards. Other benefits of choosing a NEMA standard include:

• Customizable formats and packages
• Use of the free NEMA Standards Tracker
• Access to usage reports
• Document previews

Historical and redline documents included at no additional cost ESPG is used by military, government, and private buyers who work in architecture, construction, lighting, medical imaging, motors and industrial controls, transmission and distribution, transportation, and other industries that specify and use electrical equipment.

NEMA publishes more than 700 electrical standards and technical papers governing millions of unique member products across 52 market segments.

A complimentary copy of ESPG may be downloaded here.

The proposed rule would implement an efficiency standard for general-service light bulbs that would effectively eliminate energy-efficient halogen bulbs, CFL bulbs, and many specialty incandescent bulbs starting January 1, 2020. Halogen bulbs have been widely available since 2012, and the industry invested millions of dollars to produce these incrementally more efficient bulbs in the U.S., employing hundreds of people. The DOE also seeks to regulate a variety of decorative light bulbs, such as those used for chandeliers, requiring that they be LED-only by 2020—regardless of whether acceptable replacements are technically feasible.

In its comments, NEMA encouraged the DOE to adopt new energy conservation standards for general-service LED lamps and some specialty lamps where it was economically justified and technologically feasible. “Most specialty bulbs are installed in too few sockets and consume too little electricity to meet Congress’ threshold for DOE regulation,” said NEMA’s vice president for government relations, Kyle Pitsor. “The cost to produce additional efficiency improvements in the general-service halogen bulb cannot be economically justified because over a real-world expectation of bulb life consumers will never see a positive payback in lower energy bills. Furthermore, manufacturers will not make new bulbs if consumers are unlikely to buy them.”

The DOE will publish the final ruling before January 1, 2017. If the NEMA recommendations are not adopted, consumer choices will be dramatically more limited, while lighting producers will be left with stranded U.S. manufacturing investments and at-risk jobs. In place of disrupting the industry and market by eliminating whole classes of light bulbs, the NEMA comments offer an alternative path.

“It seems to us it would be wiser for the DOE to take into account already-occurring market changes and respect the consumer’s right to decide which light bulb options meet her or his specific lighting needs,” Cosgriff said.

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