Mike Holt Rating of the Electrical Industry

As part of our ongoing focus on electrical safety, we annually update our report that ranks the states. It's important to note that the only way we know to do this is to assign the grade across the board based on measurable criteria - which means regulations that are mandated state-wide. I recognize that there are a lot of individuals that are passionate about electrical safety, and they do everything that they can to introduce laws and regulations in their communities to achieve those goals. I salute them and their efforts. Unless the measure is a requirement by the state, for the whole state, their efforts won't be reflected in the report below.
How does your state rank?

Congratulations to the following states for adopting the 2023 NEC:
Colorado, Idaho, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Oregon, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming

The 2023 NEC officially became available on September 1, 2022. The NFPA reports that as of 3/1/2024 there were 12 states in which the 2023 NEC update process is underway.

Criteria Used for Grading The following criteria are all required at the state level for points to be assigned for this report: (Note: all 12 points are required for an A+ grade; 2023 earns 3 points on this report, so states that did not update their NEC since our last report effectively slide down a point on the scale.) The NEC edition adopted (range -2 for local to +3 points for current, 2023 NEC); the NEC must be adopted and required by the state as the minimum standard in all counties and municipalities Licensing and/or certification is required for Apprentice, Journeyman, Master/Contractor, Inspector, and Engineer licenses (5 points max.) Continuing Education (CEU, CPC or PDH) is required for license renewal (4 points max.)

CEU Grading With hundreds of changes happening in the Code, and changes in materials available, continuing education is more important than ever. This is why we have broken down state requirements to a standard unit of average hours required annually. While the requirement for CEUs for license renewal is already taken into account in the safety grading system, we thought it would be important to also take a more in-depth look at the number of hours required by each state for their electrical license renewal. For that reason, we created a stand-alone rating system for CEUs. Click here to see the Continuing Education chart.

What we cannot consider Local Adoptions. We recognize that many counties and municipalities adopt the most recent building and electrical codes ahead of their state. We commend them for continuing to set high standards in electrical safety! For this State Report, however, they are too numerous to include. Enforcement or effectiveness. We are unaware of a way to track or correlate enforcement as it relates to rates of incidents, electrical fires or accidents. We're always looking for ways, so if you have a criteria which we could apply evenly across all states, please reach out to us.

How does your state rank?

For history and details of how grades are calculated, click here.
Note: All 12 points are required for an A+ grade. The detailed report (link above) shows the breakdown for the points assigned, of which 3 are for the adoption of the 2023 NEC.

We'd appreciate your feedback.
If you have any updated information that you feel would change our rankings on this year's report, please post your comment below - we appreciate your input to help keep this analysis accurate and current.

Mike Holt's Rating of the Electrical Industry - 2024