Utilities working inside

[ken987]

Was studying for my NJ electrical Exam
today and was looking through NJ statutes
and regulations. I noticed a new law
stating utilities may work in a customers
home on heat, light and power if it's
under a license and they secure a business permit.

any thoughts on this?
I personally think it XXXXX {Moderator?s Note: An expletive term has been deleted.}

[ November 18, 2004, 01:53 PM: Message edited by: charlie b ]

 

[charlie]

Re: Utilities working inside

The problem I see is the difference between the NESC and the NEC. There are very few utility people who are knowledgeable about the NEC and shouldn't be working on a premises wiring system.

Other than that, I don't see a problem. If they hold a license and know what they are doing, it becomes just a business proposition (or is that the complaint?).

 

[hurk27]

Re: Utilities working inside

Wasn't to long ago that The utility here use to wire houses and even sold appliance's, And did maintenance on them. Now they only have what they call ESP which is like a warranty and it's only for furnaces and water heaters.

But there is some talk about them picking up this again.

[ November 13, 2004, 11:52 PM: Message edited by: hurk27 ]

 

[ceb]

Re: Utilities working inside

On a remodel job I had there was one afci breaker that kept tripping,I had been through the system twice to see if their was a problem with the wiring. I had explained what the afci was and what it did and we were going to go through a process of trying to find out what they were operating in the bedroom was causing the breaker to trip, in a day or so the home owner called and said they paid a monthly fee to the local poco for breaker maint. they had the poco service guy out to look at the problem his solution was get rid of the afci and replace with regular breaker. To make this shorter I talked the homeowner out of doing that and found the problem to be an old answering mach. in the bedroom that was causing this problem. Bottom line was this guy from the poco had no knowledge of code and/or the requirements of afci's. I personally feel the poco's should not get into our side of the business,we as elect. contractors do not have the money backing our endeavors. If the poco underbids us and even if they loose money on the job so what, its a write off. They need to stick to doing their thing, we have enough trouble with the guys working out of the trunk of their car.

 

[goldstar]

Re: Utilities working inside

Ken,

The New Jersey Electrical Contractors' Association has been fighting this issue for many years. When you have a company the size of say Public Service Electric & Gas, they can obtain one statewide license and one business permit and send out 10,000 (relatively untrained) service people to do work throughout the area they serve. Now, this may not seem so bad if they were only doing some small service work like replacing a receptacle or switch, but as long as they have that license and business permit they can contract to do any type of electrical work they choose to. It's tough enough for us small independent contractors to compete for work with other licensed electrical contractors, but near impossible to compete with a company that size. If they mis-bid on a project, they can afford to take a large hit on the chin while a sizable mistake could put many of us out of business. I guess the biggest rub is that they can take a large portion of business away from small contractors without their personnel having to go through all the stringent requirements that we independent contractors do.

After you get your license why not join us and join the fight ? www.njeca.org

Phil,
Gold Star Electric

 

[ken987]

Re: Utilities working inside

Phil,

I will do that, and those are my exact thoughts its bad enough that some larger contractors have inexperienced people working for them and turn them lose. While the license holder disappears, and could care less about what's going on. Your talking about a huge utility company with unlimited resources, a means to advertise, through a bill to every customer, and I'm sure just as the gas company does work and finances it through the monthly bill the electric company would be inclined to do the same.

 

[highkvoltage]

Re: Utilities working inside

As I have posted before I started in the utility trade and worked to Journeyman Lineman. I then went back to school/apprentenceship and worked to Journeyman Commerical Wireman to an EC. These trades are night and day from each other and unless you are properly trained in that field you should not attempt to perform the work. It's really a safety issue.

 

[charlie]

Re: Utilities working inside

I agree with you but some people do know both sides. I would venture to say that I fit that category.

 

[jeff43222]

Re: Utilities working inside

I'm glad I don't live in NJ. Theoretically, the POCO here could get into the EC business if they wanted to, but they would have to meet the same requirements as everyone else. This means work on the customer side must be done by a licensed journeyman or master electrician. Unlicensed people can only work under the immediate supervision of a licensed electrician, who can supervise a maximum of two unlicensed people at a time. So the POCO can't just get one license and send a bunch of clowns out to wire people's houses.

This probably explains why the POCO here doesn't do customer wiring. They are a huge company, but that doesn't give them any advantage over a small EC because of the licensing requirements. If anything, they are at a disadvantage because they have more overhead than I do.

[ November 18, 2004, 12:05 PM: Message edited by: jeff43222 ]