Mike Holt Enterprises Electrical News Source

Mike Holt's State Rating of the Electrical Industry - 2018

As part of our ongoing focus on electrical safety, we annually update our report that assigns a grade to US States for electrical standards that are mandated state-wide.
How does your state rank?

State-wide mandates considered. The following criteria are all required at the state level for points to be assigned for this report:

  • The NEC® edition adopted (current = 2017 NEC issued on 8/4/2016)
  • Licensing and/or certification required for Apprentice, Journeyman, Master/Contractor, Inspector, and Engineer licenses
  • Continuing Education (CEU or PDH) required for license renewal

What's NOT included in this report.

  • County and Municipality adoptions. We recognize that there are many local adoptions, and that in many cases, county and municipalities adopt the most recent building and electrical codes ahead of their State. The scope of anything other than state-wide mandated requirements is beyond this report. However, due to the feedback we have received, we are working on including some major cities, provided we can rate them on the same criteria.
  • Enforcement or effectiveness. We are unaware of a way to track or correlate enforcement as it relates to rates of incidents or accidents.

Congratulations!

  • The following states have an A+ rating: Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Maine, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Wyoming.
  • We applaud all those states, counties and local municipalities that continue to set high standards in electrical safety.

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 - we appreciate your input to help keep this analysis accurate and current.

The Chart below shows the rankings. If there is a green up arrow next to the state name, it indicates an improvement in grade over the last 5 years from 2014 to 2018; a down red arrowindicates a decline.
For history and details of how grades are calculated, click here.
Note: All 12 points are required for an A+ grade.

Note: Some of the data on this newsletter has been updated since it was first sent out on March 29 based on feedback and new NEC adoptions. Also note that a state will be included on this report if they have adopted a version of the NEC, even though the updated NEC might not be effective as of the publication of this newsletter.

STATE GRADE 2014 GRADE 2015 GRADE 2016 GRADE 2017 GRADE 2018
ALABAMA C+ B- C+ C+ B
ALASKA A A A A A
ARIZONA F F F F F
ARKANSAS A+ A+ A+ A A+
CALIFORNIA A- A- A- A- A-
COLORADO A+ A+ A+ A A+
CONNECTICUT A- A- A- A- A-
D.C. C+ C+ C+ C C
DELAWARE A- A- A- A A
FLORIDA B- B B B- B
GEORGIA B- B- B- C+ B-
HAWAII C+ C+ C C- C+
IDAHO A A A A- A
ILLINOIS D D D F F
INDIANA D+ D+ D+ D D
IOWA A A+ A+ A A+
KANSAS F F F F F
KENTUCKY A A A A- A-
LOUISIANA C+ C+ C+ C C+
MAINE A+ A+ A+ A A+
MARYLAND C C C+ C C
MASSACHUSETTS A- A- A- A- A-
MICHIGAN A A+ A+ A A
MINNESOTA A+ A+ A+ A+ A+
MISSISSIPPI D D D F F
MISSOURI F F F F F
MONTANA A A A A- A-
NEBRASKA A+ A+ A+ A A+
NEVADA D D D F F
NEW HAMPSHIRE A- A- A- B+ A-
NEW JERSEY A- A- A- A- A-
NEW MEXICO A- A- A- B+ A-
NEW YORK D+ D+ D+ C- C+
NORTH CAROLINA B B B B B+
NORTH DAKOTA A+ A+ A+ A A+
OHIO B B+ B+ B- B
OKLAHOMA A A A A- A-
OREGON A+ A+ A+ A A+
PENNSYLVANIA C C C C- C+
RHODE ISLAND A- A- A- B+ B+
SOUTH CAROLINA B- B- B- B- B-
SOUTH DAKOTA A+ A+ A+ A A+
TENNESSEE B- B- C+ C B
TEXAS A- A- A- B+ A-
UTAH A A A A A
VERMONT A- A- A- B+ A-
VIRGINIA A- A- A- B+ B+
WASHINGTON A A A A- A
WEST VIRGINIA B B B B B
WISCONSIN A- A- A- B+ A-
WYOMING A+ A+ A+ A A+

Click here for history and details of how the points are assigned.

NOTE: Some of the data on this newsletter has been updated since it was first sent out on March 29 based on feedback and state adoptions of a newer NEC.

Comments
  • MN does require Apprentice license.

    Justin  March 30 2018, 12:21 am EDT

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