Chicken Shepard’s Pie

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Chicken Shepard’s Pie

March 5, 2026
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NSF International (Ann Arbor, Michigan): Food Equipment Standards

This traditional Irish dish originated as a thrifty way to repurpose leftover meat. In the late 18th century, the concept evolved from using lamb or mutton, commonly tended by shepherds, hence the name. The dish typically comprises minced meat — lamb, beef or chicken — cooked with vegetables and gravy, topped with mashed potatoes.

Ingredients:
• 1 can chicken, drained
• ½ can canned sliced potatoes
• 2 tsp onion powder
• ½ cup canned peas, drained
• 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tbsp butter
• Splash of milk
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp nutmeg

Directions:
1. Heat potatoes in microwave safe bowl, ~2 mins. Mash the potatoes with the milk and butter, a Teaspoon each of salt, pepper, and garlic powder, stir well. Adjust seasoning. Set aside.
2. Add remaining ingredients, stir well.
3. Spoon the mashed potatoes evenly on top of the meat.
4. Cook covered in the microwave oven for 3-5 minutes on medium power.
5. Cut into 2 portions. Scoop out from the bottom to keep the layers intact.

More:

University of Michigan Recipe

New Mexico State University Recipe

University of Illinois Venison Recipe


This video has been made available for informational and educational purposes only. UCCS hereby disclaims any and all liability to any party for any direct, indirect, implied, punitive, special, incidental or other consequential damages arising directly or indirectly from any use of this video, which is provided as is, and without warranties.

 

Six Week Priority

March 5, 2026
mike@standardsmichigan.com
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For the entirety of March, and until April 9th, we focus on preparing response to proposed changes to the IEEE 2028 National Electrical Safety Code, and to prepare fresh new ideas for the 2029 NFPA National Electrical Code (where we have had tenure on technical committees since 1999 on behalf of the second largest building construction market in the United States).

Content normally scheduled for this time of year (which traditionally tracks the cultural calendar of educational settlements everywhere) will be accessible but our daily online meetings will start with work on those two standards. To join the “code-writing and vote-getting” use the login credentials at the upper right of our home page.

Related:

IEEE Education & Healthcare Facilities Committee

Current Issues & Recent Research

2029 National Electrical Code Panel 3

Healthcare Facilities Code

 

The National Electrical Safety Code is normally revised on a 5-year cycle to incorporate industry and technological changes while ensuring safety for utility workers and the public.

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted this schedule by delaying meetings, subcommittee reviews, public input processes, and collaboration due to lockdowns, remote work challenges, and resource strains.

As a result, the typical cycle extended to six years for the 2023 edition (from the 2017 edition), which was published in August 2022 and became effective February 1, 2023.

This adjustment allowed necessary time to complete revisions safely and thoroughly amid pandemic constraints. 

Bulletin Board

March 5, 2026
mike@standardsmichigan.com
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NIST | USPTO | ANSI | IEEE | ICC | ASTM | ASHRAE | UL | TIA | ASME | ASCE | AGA

Michigan Standards Developers : NSF | ACI | NETA | ASABE | HL7 | RIA | JCSEE | BIFMA | PJRFSI | SAE

Global: SA | BSA | NSAI | CSA | CEN & CENELEC | ISO & IEC*


APPA was founded at the University of Michigan| See our ABOUT

 

 


* ISO and IEC have opted out of the X-social media platforms.  FYI: X is 13 times the size of BlueSky in terms of scale and reach.

Standards March: Water

March 5, 2026
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Curated list of our interest and accomplishments in water-related codes, standards and related best practice literature.

International Building Code | Chapter 29 Plumbing Systems

IAPMO International

Backflow Prevention

Fire Pump Reliability

Legionella

Emergency Shower & Eyewash Testing

Gallery: Great Lakes

Building Water Demand

Water and Electricity

Florida Gulf Coast University | Lee County

Water Management

University of Newcastle | New South Wales

Natatoriums 300: Advanced Topics

University of Southern California | Orange County

Qualität der Wasserversorgung

DRINKING, WASTEWATER & STORMWATER SYSTEMS

 

https://extension.psu.edu/snowdrops

Quadrivium: Winter

March 5, 2026
mike@standardsmichigan.com

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Pennsylvania State University: Snowdrops

🐦Homophily Michigan 🐦

ANSI Standards Action February 27, 2026Bulletin Board

Ibstock Place School

A Better Life: Lionel Shriver

Macdonald-Laurier Institute: How to Reverse Collapsing Birth Rates

Trending | Engagements, Weddings & Births | Sport News | Carillons

MORE

Winter Week 10 | March 2 -8

Starting 2026 we will organize our weekly syllabi in a less structured but in a more time sensitive manner.  Stay tuned.

“…O chestnut tree;, great rooted blossomer,
Are you the leaf, the blossom or the bold?
O body swayed to music, O brightening glance,
How can we know the dancer from the dance?”

Among Schoolchildren, 1933 William Butler Yeats

We sweep through the world’s three major time zones; updating our understanding of the literature at the technical foundation of education community safety and sustainability in those time zones 24 times per day. We generally eschew “over-coding” web pages to sustain speed, revision cadence and richness of content as peak priority.  We do not provide a search facility because of copyrights of publishers and time sensitivity of almost everything we do.

Readings:

“The Advancement of Learning” Francis Bacon (1605)

“The Allegory of the Cave” 380 BCE | Plato’s Republic, Book VII

Thucydides: Pericles’ Funeral Oration

IEEE Access: Advanced Deep Learning Models for 6G: Overview, Opportunities, and Challenges | Xidian University

“Albion: The Origins of the English Imagination” (2002) Peter Ackroyd

“Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System” Satoshi Nakamoto

“Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds” (1841) | Charles Mackay

Cognitive Science: An Introduction to the Study of Mind

“Kant’s Categorical Imperative” | Hillsdale College Introduction to Western Philosophy

“The Natural History of Stupidity” (1959) Paul Tabori

“The College Idea: Andrew Delbanco” Lapham’s Quarterly

Distributed Representations of Words and Phrases and their Compositionality | Google, Inc. et, al

Our daily colloquia are typically doing sessions; with non-USA titles receiving priority until 16:00 UTC and all other titles thereafter.  We assume policy objectives are established (Safer-Simpler-Lower-Cost, Longer-Lasting).   Because we necessarily get into the weeds, and because much of the content is time-sensitive and copyright protected, we usually schedule a separate time slot to hammer on technical specifics so that our response to consultations are meaningful and contribute to the goals of the standards developing organization and to the goals of stewards of education community real assets — typically the largest real asset owned by any US state and about 50 percent of its annual budget.

1. Leviathan.  We track noteworthy legislative proposals in the United States 118th Congress.  Not many deal specifically with education community real assets since the relevant legislation is already under administrative control of various Executive Branch Departments such as the Department of Education.

We do not advocate in legislative activity at any level.   We respond to public consultations but there it ends.

We track federal legislative action because it provides a stroboscopic view of the moment — the “national conversation”– in communities that are simultaneously a business and a culture.  Even though more than 90 percent of such proposals are at the mercy of the party leadership the process does enlighten the strengths and weakness of a governance system run entirely through the counties on the periphery of Washington D.C.  It is impossible to solve technical problems in facilities without sensitivity to the zietgeist that has accelerated in education communities everywhere.

Michigan Great Lake Quilt

Michigan can 100% water and feed itself.  Agriculture is its second-largest industry.

2National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

3. American National Standards Institute (ANSI)

4. Fast Forward  

The Year Ahead 2026

5. Rewind

Retrodiction

Lights Out

6. Corrigenda

 

“The world will never starve for want of wonders;

but only for want of wonder.”

–  G.K Chesterton, The Spirit of Christmas (1905)

 

Mike Anthony with colleagues since 1982 @ UM Ross School of Business Executive Dining Room

 

Vegetation & Animal Management

March 5, 2026
mike@standardsmichigan.com
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Facility Management units in educational settlements rarely deal with tree obstruction on overhead supply sources except where off-campus sources provide power to agricultural units. The NESC does not provide specific tree‑species or pruning schedules—that is often left to local utility standards guided by NESC clearances. The IEEE Education & Healthcare Facilities Committee deals with these borderline cases, often collaborating with the IEEE Rural Electric Power Conference.

NESC Minimum Vertical Clearances (Rule 232)

Voltage (kV) Minimum Vertical Clearance (ft)
0 – 750 V 12 ft
0.75 – 22 kV 18 ft
22 – 46 kV 22 ft
46 – 72.5 kV 26 ft
72.5 – 121 kV 30 ft
121 – 145 kV 32 ft
145 – 230 kV 37 ft
230 – 345 kV 40 ft
345 – 500 kV 44 ft
500 – 750 kV 50 ft

NESC Minimum Lateral Clearances (Rule 234)

Voltage (kV) Minimum Lateral Clearance (ft)
0 – 750 V 3 ft
0.75 – 22 kV 3 ft
22 – 46 kV 4 ft
46 – 72.5 kV 5 ft
72.5 – 121 kV 6 ft
121 – 145 kV 6 ft
145 – 230 kV 8 ft
230 – 345 kV 10 ft
345 – 500 kV 12 ft
500 – 750 kV 14 ft

2022 Guide for Animal Deterrents for Electric Power Supply Substations

Current Issues & Recent Research

March 5, 2026
mike@standardsmichigan.com

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“The day science begins to study non-physical phenomena,

it will make more progress in one decade

than in all the previous centuries of existence.”

—  Nikola Tesla

​​

 

Electrical Power System Research

NFPA Electrical Standards Landing Page  Ω NFPA Standards Council  Ω NFPA Fire Safety Landing Page

ASHRAE Landing PageASTM Electrical & ElectronicsIES Illumination

Draft IEEE Paper AbstractsMike Anthony Short Biography | Electrotechnology OEMS

 IEEE Education & Healthcare Facilities Committee Recent Meeting Minutes 

 


IEEE Southeastern Michigan Section Welcome August 2024

 

 

IEEE & SWE Student Tour of Michigan Stadium Scoreboard | April 2024

IEEE SEM Student Activity 2025

Trending

Electrical Power System Research

NFPA Electrical Standards Landing Page  Ω NFPA Standards Council  Ω NFPA Fire Safety Landing Page

ASHRAE Landing PageASTM Electrical & Electronics

Draft IEEE Paper AbstractsMike Anthony Short Biography | Electrotechnology OEMS

We examine the proposals for the 2028 National Electrical Safety Code; including our own. The 2026 National Electrical Code where sit on CMP-15 overseeing health care facility electrical issues should be released any day now. We have one proposal on the agenda of the International Code Council’s Group B Committee Action Hearings in Cleveland in October. Balloting on the next IEEE Gold Book on reliability should begin.

“Tomorrow’s Girls” | Donald Fagan

Policy:

OUTERNET: Crossing over data gap using cubesats

Department of Energy Portfolio Analysis & Management System

Department of Energy Building Technologies Office

FERC Open Meetings | (Note that these ~60 minute sessions meet Sunshine Act requirements.  Our interest lies one or two levels deeper into the technicals underlying the administrivia)

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Federal Communication Commission Michigan Public Service Commission
December 18 Open Meeting December 5 Open Meeting
August 7 Open Meeting
July 24 Open Meeting July 25 Open Meeting
June 16 Open Meeting January 22: Newly Appointed FCC Chairman Announces Staff Changes June  12 Open Meeting
May 15 Open Meeting May 15 Open Meeting
April 17 Open Meeting April 24 Open Meeting
March 20 Open Meeting
February 20 FERC Open Meeting March 3 Open Meeting
January 16 FERC Press Conference February 27, 2025 Open Meeting

January 23: NARUC Congratulates New FERC, FCC and NRC Chairs

January 22: Newly Appointed FCC Chairman Announces Staff Changes | Related: Falsus in uno, Falsus in omnibus

January 6: City of Ann Arbor Postpones Phase II Study to Municipalize DTE Energy distribution grid

January 27, 10 AM Low-Income Energy Policy Board Meeting: Michigan Public Service commission

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission: January 16, 2025 Open Meeting

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Notice of Request for Comments (Posted November 25, 2024)

Interregional Transfer Capability Study: Strengthening Reliability Through the Energy Transformation Docket No. AD25-4-000

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission | November 21, Open Meeting

Press Conference

Michigan Public Service Commission Meetings

Michigan Public Commission Meeting  February 27, 2025

MPSC DTE CMS Electric Power Reliability Case No. U-21305

Michigan Electrical Administrative Board Meeting February 13, 2025

FCC Open Meeting | November 21 

[Mike Anthony Opinion] on the gales of innuendo against limited federal government voices in federally financed National Public Radio

National Infrastructure Advisory Council: Addressing the Critical Shortage of Power Transformers to Ensure Reliability of the U.S. Grid

H.R. 9603 (September 16): To amend the Federal Power Act to prohibit the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission from issuing permits for the construction or modification of electric transmission facilities in a State over the objection of the State, and for other purposes.

Technical: (Also Electrical Power System Research)

Empower Pre-Trained Large Language Models for Building-Level Load Forecasting

Uptime Institute (via NEXT DC) : AI Inference in the Data Center

Majorana Nanowires for Topological Quantum Computing

Linearized Data Center Workload and Cooling Management

Lex Fridman: DeepSeek, China, OpenAI, NVIDIA, xAI, TSMC, Stargate, and AI Megaclusters 

IEEE: Experts Weigh in on $500B Stargate Project for AI

IEEE: AI Mistakes Are Very Different Than Human Mistakes .  We need new security systems designed to deal with their weirdness

High-Performance Tensor Learning Primitives Using GPU Tensor Cores

Department of Electrical Engineering, Columbia University, New York

Causes and Consequences of Widespread Power Blackout Across Taiwan on 3 March 2022: A Blackout Incident Investigation in the Taiwan Power System

Department of Electrical Engineering, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei City, Taiwan

 

First Draft Proposals contain most of our proposals — and most new (original) content.  We will keep the transcripts linked below but will migrate them to a new page starting 2025:

Electrical Safety

2026 NEC Standards Michigan proposals | Public Input Report CMP-1

2026 NEC Standards Michigan proposals | Public Input Report CMP-2

Public Input Report CMP-3

2026 NEC Standards Michigan proposals | Public Input Report CMP-4

2026 NEC Standards Michigan proposals | Public Input Report CMP-5

Public Input Report CMP-6

Public Input Report CMP-7

Public Input Report CMP-8

Public Input Report CMP-9

2026 NEC Standards Michigan proposals | Public Input Report CMP-10

2026 NEC Standards Michigan proposals | Public Input Report CMP-11

2026 NEC Standards Michigan proposals | Public Input Report CMP-12

2026 NEC Standards Michigan proposals | Public Input Report CMP-13

Public Input Report CMP-14

2026 NEC Standards Michigan proposals | Public Input Report CMP-15

2026 NEC Standards Michigan proposals | Public Input Report CMP-16

Public Input Report CMP-17

2026 NEC Standards Michigan proposals | Public Input Report CMP-18

Related:

2026 National Electrical Code

N.B. We are in the process of migrating electric power system research to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers bibliographic format. 


Recap of the May meetings of the  Industrial & Commercial Power Systems Conference in Las Vegas.  The conference ended the day before the beginning of the 3-day Memorial Day weekend in the United States so we’re pressed for time; given all that happened.

We can use our last meeting’s agenda to refresh the status of the issues.

IEEE E&H Draft Agenda 28 May 2024

On site conference agenda:

IEEE E&H Conference Agenda 21 May 2024

NESC & NEC Cross-Code Correlation

We typically break down our discussion into the topics listed below:

Codes & Standards:

While IAS/I&CPS has directed votes on the NEC; Mike is the only I&CPS member who is actually submitting proposals and responses to codes and standards developers to the more dominant SDO’s — International Code Council, ASHRAE International, UL, ASTM International, IEC & ISO.  Mike maintains his offer to train the next generation of “code writers and vote getters”

Performance-based building premises feeder design has been proposed for the better part of ten NEC revision cycles.  The objective of these proposals is to reduce material, labor and energy waste owed to the branch and feeder sizing rules that are prescriptive in Articles 210-235.  Our work in service and lighting branch circuit design has been largely successful.  A great deal of building interior power chain involves feeders — the network upstream from branch circuit panels but down stream from building service panel.

Our history of advocating for developing this approach, inspired by the NFPA 101 Guide to Alternative Approaches to Life Safety, and recounted in recent proposals for installing performance-based electrical feeder design into the International Building Code, appears in the link below:

Access to this draft paper for presentation at any conference that will receive it — NFPA, ICC or IEEE (or even ASHRAE) will be available for review at the link below:

Toward Performance-Based Building Premise Feeder Design

 

NFPA 110 Definitions of Public Utility v. Merchant Utility

NFPA 72 “Definition of Dormitory Suite” and related proposals

Buildings:

Renovation economics, Smart contracts in electrical construction.  UMich leadership in aluminum wiring statements in the NEC should be used to reduce wiring costs.

Copper can’t be mined fast enough to electrify the United States

Daleep asked Mike to do a Case Study session on the NEC lighting power density change (NEC 220-14) for the IAS Annual Meeting in October.  Mike agreed.

Exterior Campus & Distribution:

Illumination.  Gary Fox reported that IEEE 3001.9 was endorsed as an ANSI accredited standard for illumination systems.

2024-ICPSD24-0012 PERMANENT DESIGN OF POWER SYSTEMS Parise

This paper details primary considerations in estimating the life cycle of a campus medium voltage distribution grid.   Some colleges and universities are selling their entire power grid to private companies.  Mike has been following these transactions but cannot do it alone.

Variable Architecture Multi-Island Microgrids

District energy:

Generator stator winding failures and implications upon insurance premiums.  David Shipp and Sergio Panetta.  Mike suggests more coverage of retro-fit and lapsed life cycle technicals for insurance companies setting premiums.

Reliability:

Bob Arno’s leadership in updating the Gold Book.

Mike will expand the sample set in Table 10-35, page 293 from the <75 data points in the 1975 survey to >1000 data points.   Bob will set up meeting with Peyton at US Army Corps of Engineers.

Reliability of merchant utility distribution systems remains pretty much a local matter.  The 2023 Edition of the NESC shows modest improvement in the vocabulary of reliability concepts.  For the 2028 Edition Mike submitted several proposals to at least reference IEEE titles in the distribution reliability domain.   It seems odd (at least to Mike) that the NESC committees do not even reference IEEE technical literature such as Bob’s Gold Book which has been active for decades.  Mike will continue to propose changes in other standards catalogs — such as ASTM, ASHRAE and ICC — which may be more responsive to best practice assertions.  Ultimately, improvements will require state public utility commission regulations — and we support increases in tariffs so that utilities can afford these improvements.

Mike needs help from IEEE Piscataway on standard WordPress theme limitations for the data collection platform.

Mike will update the campus power outage database.

Healthcare:

Giuseppe Parise’s recent work in Italian power grid to its hospitals, given its elevated earthquake risk.  Mike’s review of Giuseppe’s paper:

Harvard Business School: Journal of Healthcare Management Standards

Mike and David Shipp will prepare a position paper for the Harvard Healthcare Management Journal on reliability advantages of impedance grounding for the larger systems.

The Internet of Bodies

Forensics:

Giuseppe’s session was noteworthy for illuminating the similarity and differences between the Italian and US legal system in handling electrotechnology issues.

Mike will restock the committee’s library of lawsuits transactions.

Ports:

Giuseppe updates on the energy and security issues of international ports.  Mike limits his time in this committee even though the State of Michigan has the most fresh water international ports in the world.

A PROPOSED GUIDE FOR THE ENERGY PLAN AND ELECTRICAL INFRASTRUCTURE OF A PORT

Other:

Proposals to the 2028 National Electrical Safety Code: Accepted Best Practice, exterior switchgear guarding, scope expansion into ICC and ASHRAE catalog,

Apparently both the Dot Standards and the Color Books will continue parallel development.  Only the Gold Book is being updated; led by Bob Arno.  Mike admitted confusion but reminded everyone that any references to IEEE best practice literature in the NFPA catalog, was installed Mike himself (who would like some backup help)

Universities with Quantum Computing Facilities

Papers in Process:

Impedance Grounding Papers 1 and 2 with David Shipp.  Previous Discussion:

https://ieeetv.ieee.org/channels/ieee-region-events/uc-berkeley-s-medium-voltage-grounding-system

Over Coffee and Beers:

Mike assured Christel Hunter (General Cable) that his proposals for reducing the 180 VA per-outlet requirements, and the performance-base design allowance for building interior feeders do not violate the results of the Neher-McGrath calculation used for conductor sizing.  All insulation and conducting material thermal limits are unaffected.

Other informal discussions centered on the rising cost of copper wiring and the implications for the global electrotechnical transformation involving the build out of quantum computing and autonomous vehicles.  Few expressed optimism that government ambitions for the same could be met in any practical way.

Are students avoiding use of Chat GPT for energy conservation reasons?  Mike will be breaking out this topic for a dedicated standards inquiry session:

GPT Power Grid

Education & Healthcare Facility Electrotechnology Committee

Workspace IEEE 1366: Guide for Electric Power Distribution Reliability Indices

Largest U.S. Electric Utility Companies Ranked by Generation Capacity  For IEEE 493 update we seek outage data from the 100 largest campus power system experts.

Stray Voltage: Sources and Solutions

March 5, 2026
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Michigan State University

 

Stray Voltage: Sources and Solutions

Truman C. Surbrook – Norman D. Reese – Angela M. Kehrle

 

Abstract.  Stray voltage is caused by voltage drop and ground faults and may have its origin on the primary electrical distribution system or on the customer’s secondary electrical system. The rms value of the neutral-to-earth voltage along a primary distribution line may be at a value of zero some distance from the substation depending on the condition of the conductor resistances, grounding resistances, and the amount of load. Neutral-to-earth resistance is not the cause of stray voltage; however, the value of this resistance to earth at a particular location will affect the level of stray voltage. A four-wire single-phase feeder system supplying farm buildings from a single metering point is effective in preventing on-farm secondary neutral voltage drop, provided the four-wire system is extended to all farm loads, and provided no high-magnitude ground faults are present. Isolation of the primary and secondary neutral systems at the distribution transformer is effective in preventing off-farm sources from entering the customer’s system. This separation may be accomplished using a number of commercially available devices.

CLICK HERE for access to the entire paper

2022 Guide for Animal Deterrents for Electric Power Supply Substations

March 5, 2026
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1264-2022 – IEEE Guide for Animal Mitigation for Electric Power Supply Substations

IEEE Power Engineering Society

Abstract: Documented in this guide are methods and designs to mitigate interruptions, equipment damage, and personnel safety issues resulting from animal intrusions into electric power supply substations, thereby improving reliability and safety, and minimizing the associated revenue loss.
Scope: This guide documents methods and designs to mitigate interruptions, equipment damage, and personnel safety issues resulting from animal intrusions into electric power supply substations, thereby improving reliability and safety, and minimizing the associated revenue loss.
Purpose: Intrusion by animals into electric power supply substations has been a problem experienced by most of the electric utility industry. The costs associated with outages caused by animals continue to escalate. Although animal problems differ in nature geographically, the damage to equipment, interruption of or loss of service to customers, and safety problems encountered by operating personnel result in similar general concerns. This guide identifies various animals, the problems they cause, and mitigation methods. Further, it recommends criteria for applying mitigation methods, documents survey-reported effectiveness of various methods, and recommends factors for evaluating effectiveness of methods once they are applied.

CLICK HERE to order the guide

Related:

IEEE Standards Association

PES General Meeting 16-20 July | Orlando

Clearance Envelopes

March 4, 2026
mike@standardsmichigan.com
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We revisit first principles regarding the a safety “buffer zone” enforced by code to make high-voltage infrastructure compatible with surrounding development. Ignoring it risks lives, property, and legal issues—hence the detailed regulatory focus on design (calculations), construction (compliance checks), and management (lifetime enforcement), especially critical around expansive campus boundaries. Often these zones define where new facilities can be built.

Transmission Line Right-of-Way

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