Special Report: 8.6.2009

Posted by Web Master on Friday, August 07, 2009

WESCO’s Sustainability Summits

…you can take a look (online)

If you’re reading this as an electrical distribution professional, I don’t think you’ll be invited to one of these. But you should be aware of the Sustainability Summit events that WESCO is holding—four so far in 2009, with four or five more yet to come this year. 

See schedule and more here. Were you even aware of  WescoGoGreen.com, the site itself?

Video highlights are offered (one on the main page, and two others on a subsidiary page). The featured speaker is a former assistant Secretary of Energy.

Scoreboard On AFCIs
…it’s 23-4

The NEMA Currents Blog presented a “half time report” on adoption of the 2008 National Electrical Code:

1. Twenty-eight (28) states have completed the NEC 2008 adoption process.
2. Three (3) states “have moved to NEC 2005 requirements for AFCIs in bedrooms.”
3. Indiana has no AFCI requirements whatsoever.
4. Twenty-three (23) states have adopted NEC 2008 with the new AFCI requirements.

Unfortunately, I add it up and get 27 (23 + 3 + Indiana), so maybe something is missing?

It’d also be nice to know what the “score” is on implementation of the new tamper-proof receptacle requirement; you can read about resistance to that on NEMA’s blog, too.

Sure, Commodities Gyrate—But Wow!!!
…rhodium as ultimate case in point

A snippet from a Financial Times article on the views of John Reade, metals analyst at UBS: “He notes rhodium peaked at more than $10,000 a troy ounce in mid-2008 before falling to $975 in November.” It then stabilized around $1,475 as of mid-June 2009.

And you thought copper’s price moves were giving you the bends!

Home Inventories & Prices
…bottom not here yet

From Stan Humphries, chief economist at Zillow.com (writing on the site’s blog, July 24):

“Chart 1 shows the number of existing homes sold each month (not seasonally adjusted) compared to the number of homes added to the inventory of unsold homes each month.  As you can see, sales have risen since January as the typical spring home-selling season swings into action.  But, new inventory being added to the existing inventory has also been rising at almost the same clip (albeit in a more erratic pattern).”

 

“If predictions of shadow inventory bear out, expect a sustained saw-tooth pattern of new monthly inventory caused when batches of homeowners—who’ve been waiting on the sidelines for months and years—collectively put their homes up for sale, temporarily glutting the market for a period of time (thus putting downward pressure on home prices).”

Verdict from Humphries: While there might be a bottom in specific markets, nationally, the bottom ain’t in yet.

You Really Don’t Want To Know 
…how far it’s gone

I typically ignore the stock market. I don’t consider it a proper place for the few dollars my wife and I are able to put aside. That’s a long discussion, so let’s leave it there.

But then, every once in a while, a specific, very-significant detail hits me in the head. Like this one!

I didn’t know it had gone this far, did you? The chart came from Chart of the Day, but I found it (and an explanation) on Investment Postcards.

UNEMPLOYMENT DATA WATCH
…about the “exhaustion rate”

Yes, national unemployment is a “macro” issue (not specific to electrical distribution). Yet it’s worth some time, as it’s the easiest way for all of us to get a handle on what’s actually happening in the economy, as compared with GDP and inflation numbers (government economists have monkeyed with these until they are no longer relevant or revealing).

Folks will tell you that unemployment is a “lagging indicator” of a recovery. That’s on the way up. What if we’re still on the way down?

Here are two charts on the EXHAUSTION RATE, with links to two posts (from a blogger who covers “poker, gambling, and other interesting adventures”).

 

June 4 (chart above): “In the not-too-distant future, the continuing jobless claims numbers are going to start ‘improving’ due to a negative effect.” Find more here.

 

June 6 (follow-up post, modified chart above): “…it seems we're hardly well on the road to recovery. I also interpreted the upward trending numbers to be indicative that the United States is becoming more of a welfare state—with more people using unemployment benefits more extensively. We're more dependant than ever on the government to look after us, but the government is in more debt than ever at the same time—this seems like a clear recipe for disaster to me.” Here’s a link to the full post.

UNMISSABLE STUFF
Linkfest #2

MIT’s Technology Review offered The Big Smart Grid Challenges, 880 words about how everything from consumers to regulators to national security issues are aligned against the changes needed to make The Smart Grid a reality.

Rasmussen Reports—which to me looks like a right-wing pollster—asked Americans whether or not the government should tell them what kind of light bulb they should use. Results: 72% say No. I’m linking here to the questions and answers, rather than the write-up, because I don’t like this site, but the info may be worth your time.

Why I don’t like the site: When I first got there, a featured endorsement at the top was from Larry Kudlow. I think this man is a major idiot.  

Ever heard of the Verve, called a “light” version of a lighting control system—from EnOcean? Well, you have now.  Who the heck is EnOcean? You need to know: The company started out several years ago by introducing a wireless lighting on/off switch at Lightfair and has gone on to bigger and better things.

Over at his lighting blog, Craig DiLouie says “the revolution will be illuminated.” He’s talking LEDs.

Threats to the electrical grid (think: Electromagnetic pulse) are scary. The House of Representatives has a Committee on Homeland Security, which has a Subcommittee on “Emerging Threats, Cybersecurity, and Science & Technology.” On July 21, it held hearings on “Securing the Modern Electric Grid from Physical and Cyber Attacks.”
See 25-plus documents (PDFs) and a video of the hearing here. Witnesses came from FERC, NERC, EEI, the DoE, and something called “Lofty Perch.”

Dr. Patricia Galloway posted a blog on the Construction.com site (where you’ll find Engineering News-Record and other McGraw-Hill magazines) with the unlikely—unlikely for the construction industry—heading, “Is Our Way Of Life Sustainable?”

I can find for you dozens of enviro-written pieces on this, and even some POSTS (and books!) from survivalists and peak-oil adherents. Heck, James Lovelock, who is relatively famous (and smart), says the planet’s population might well shrink, due to climate change, from 9 billion (think 2050) on down below 1 billion(!!!).
But Dr. Pat’s piece is different—more “mainstream” (if you will)—and worth your time.

Short and not-so-sweet: Why creating jobs is so hard, from Bill Fleckenstein.

	Joe Salimando of EFJ Enterprises is a consultant, web content provider, and wordsmith based in Oakton, Va. To contact him, call 703-255-1428. See also The EleBlog.
Personal Disclaimer: The appearance of the ambling pachyderm is indicative of the writer’s obsession with elephants, not his political leanings.
IMPORTANT NOTE: THIS COLUMN REFLECTS ONLY THE OPINIONS OF ITS AUTHOR AND DOES NOT REFLECT THE OPINIONS OR POLICIES OF NAED, TED MAGAZINE, OR THE ADVERTISERS ON THE TEDMAG WEB SITE.