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by Doug Chandler October 2nd, 2009
The Environmental Protection Agency is keeping an eye on eBay for sales of, among other things, antiquated electrical equipment. We would expect any surplus dealer specializing in electrical products to know how to handle these products properly, but one general-purpose liquidator recently learned the hard way.
A company called Railside LLC, a factory surplus liquidator, was fined under the Toxic Substances Control Act for trying to sell electrical equipment containing polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) on eBay without proper labeling or storage.
“PCB-containing electrical equipment must be marked so that it is easily recognizable and not disposed of improperly. EPA investigators found Railside offering to sell the unmarked General Electric Pyranol capacitor on eBay…”
Railside responded quickly, cooperated fully and was fined only $250, said the EPA.
EPA News Release
Related Topics: Channel Chatter
by Doug Chandler October 1st, 2009
The New York Times’ blog Green Inc. has a post on questionable use of the DOE’s lighting labels for LEDs. The post cites a story by LEDs Magazine on one instance.
Green Inc. post
Related Topics: Channel Chatter, Green News
by Doug Chandler September 28th, 2009
Sales of compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) have slowed, and a product manager in the Department of Energy’s Energy Star program wants the government to do something about it. According to an item today on The New York Times’ blog “Green Inc.”, Richard Karney, Energy Star products manager, said in a letter to industry stakeholders that national sales of the bulbs have declined 25 percent from their peak in 2007 and shipments of CFLs are down 49 percent in 2009 from 2007 levels.
“These numbers paint a troubling picture,” Mr. Karney stated. “In these tough economic times, C.F.L. programs are especially important in getting consumers past the first cost barrier that often prevent the adoption of energy efficient products.”
New York Times’ Green Inc. blog post
Related Topics: Channel Chatter
by Doug Chandler September 28th, 2009
Eaton Corp., in its constant effort to combat counterfeiting of its products, has set up a webcast for Thursday, Oct. 15, at 2 p.m. Eastern to raise awareness of the dangers posed by counterfeit electrical products. Titled “Targeting Authenticity – The Fight Against Counterfeit Electrical Products”, the webcast will be hosted by Robb Zurek, marketing manager of Eaton’s Electrical Sector business unit, and will feature Tom Grace, Eaton’s manager of anti-counterfeiting initiatives, and Bruce Brenner, president of the Electrical Safety Foundation International.
“Speakers will stress the importance of continually investing in anti-counterfeiting technologies and programs to protect customers from counterfeit products and the economic impact of sub-standard goods in the new global economy.”
Eaton’s description and registration page for the webcast
Note: corrected date.
Related Topics: Channel Chatter
by Doug Chandler September 25th, 2009
From a story on the New York Times’ Green Inc. blog, a report that the city of Fayetteville, N.C., cut its electric power consumption by 20 percent over the first month of a Smart Grid pilot project. The pilot, run by technology companies Consert and IBM, installed energy management systems 100 homes and businesses that are customers of Fayetteville Public Works.
Green Inc. story
Related Topics: Channel Chatter
by Doug Chandler September 24th, 2009
Graybar Electric, St. Louis, announced a move to expand its presence in the New York and New Jersey markets with the establishment of a full-service logistics center in Carteret, N.J., that will serve as the company’s primary shipping hub for customers in those states.
“In addition to the new logistics center, Graybar plans to move its sales, service and administrative employees into new offices: one in Nassau County, N.Y. and another in Middlesex County, N.J. The logistics center and both offices are expected to open by year-end.”
Graybar announcement
Related Topics: Channel Chatter
by Doug Chandler September 24th, 2009
IDEA today officially released a much-awaited schema for exchanging fully attributed product data throughout the electrical products channel. The schema gives manufacturers a detailed format for providing up to 27 fields of specifications and descriptors for their products — 26 of them standardized, plus one manufacturer-definable field for describing what makes their product unique.
The schema will help electrical product manufacturers give their distributors the detailed information they need to make e-commerce catalogs and web storefronts more easily searchable.
The schema has been submitted for copyright and is owned by IDEA, but is intended as an industrywide standard. A table of standard abbreviations for industry terms is included and has been copyrighted separately, and contractor and installer groups have already begun adopting the abbreviations, said Mary Shaw, IDEA’s director of standards.
Related Topics: Channel Chatter, Meetings and Greetings
by Doug Chandler September 24th, 2009
Rockwell Automation and Graybar Electric were presented the 2009 Richard Buzun Award for Leadership and Innovation in eCommerce today. The award honors the late Richard Buzun, IDEA’s second chairman and president of Siemens Energy and Automation, by recognizing one distributor and one manufacturer that continually reach the highest standards of eCommerce.
The awards were presented by Joe Wallace, data and pricing administration manager for Van Meter, and Mark Richards, director of eCommerce for Leviton.
Note: an earlier version of this post mistakenly reported that Van Meter and Leviton, the presenters, had won the award. EM regrets the error.
Related Topics: Channel Chatter, Meetings and Greetings
by Doug Chandler September 24th, 2009
A new standard for utility meter upgradeability has become the first new standard aimed at supporting development of a nationwide smart grid, said the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) today.
Developed and approved in just 90 days, the standard, SG-AMI 1-2009 Requirements for Smart Meter Upgradeability provides guidance to utilities, state commissions, and others that want to deploy advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) prior to completion of the standards work identified in the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Smart Grid Interoperability Roadmap.
NEMA release
Related Topics: Channel Chatter
by Doug Chandler September 23rd, 2009
An article in the Toronto Globe and Mail highlights a recent report by Angelo Katsoras of National Bank Financial which advises investing in electrical equipment companies as the best investment “play” for capturing the benefits of long-term increases in population, urbanization and economic growth.
“That’s where the real bull market is, where the real opportunities are,” Katsoras told Noreen Rasbach of the Globe and Mail. “The bull market for electrical equipment will be long term.”
Globe and Mail article
Related Topics: Channel Chatter
