IEEE and the IEEE Standards Association have released the 2023 National Electrical Safety Code (NESC), updating best practices for the safety of electric supply and communication utility systems at both public and private utilities. The NESC sets the ground rules and guidelines for practical safeguarding of workers and the public during the installation, operation or maintenance of power, telephone, cable TV and railroad signal systems.
Significant revisions were made in Section 14 covering batteries, addressing new battery technologies, energy storage and backup power. A new Section 19 for photovoltaic generating stations addresses general codes, location, grounding configurations, vegetation management, DC overcurrent protection and DC conductors. These new rules accommodate large-scale solar power projects.
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All stand-alone tables for metric measurements have been removed from the main code body and moved to Annex 1. For tables that include both English and metric values, the revised Code presents numerical values in the customary “inch-foot-pound” system first and the corresponding metric values following in parentheses to help prevent misreading errors.
