New STANDATA Interpretation & Variance: Use of Neutral Conductors in Consumer’s Service Reporting of Electrical Incidents

October 6, 2025

There are two new STANDATA releases for the province of Alberta:

• 2024 Canadian Electrical Code, Part 1, Rule 6-308 – Use of neutral conductors in consumer’s service
• Legislation; Safety Codes Act, Administrative Items Regulation – Reporting of electrical incidents

The purpose of these two releases is to clarify requirements for reporting electrical incidents in Alberta and to permit the use of underground service entrance cable (USEB) with a bare neutral conductor in underground installations at service entrance equipment.

STANDATA variance 24-ECV-006-308: 2024 Canadian Electrical Code, Part 1, Rule 6-308 – Use of neutral conductors in consumer’s service

Purpose

To permit the use of underground service entrance cable (USEB) with a bare neutral conductor in underground installations at service entrance equipment.

Discussion

n the electrical industry, it has been common practice to use USEB with a bare neutral to supply electrical service to buildings for many years. This practice was permitted under previous versions of the Canadian Electrical (CE) Code Part 1. However, the 2024 edition of the CE Code Part 1, which came into force in April 1, 2025, introduced a revision to Rule 6-308 to support single point grounding.

As a result, the reference permitting USEB, table 19 and Rule 6-300 was unintentionally left out. Following this discovery, Alberta submitted an amendment to CSA for Part 1 to permit the use of USEB installed at service entrance equipment.

More Information

STANDATA interpretation 25-LEG-SCA-059: Legislation; Safety Codes Act, Administrative Items Regulation – Reporting of electrical incidents

Purpose

To clarify the requirements for reporting electrical incidents and to remind industry stakeholders and members of the public in Alberta that all electrical incidents are required to be reported to the Provincial Electrical Administrator.

Discussion

While reporting to Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) is a standardized protocol in the event of an injury or fatality, the obligation to report electrical incidents to the Provincial Electrical Administrator or local authority having jurisdiction (AHJ) it is not always formally integrated into established reporting framework.

Under the provisions of Section 59 of the Safety Codes Act (SCA), it states incidents must be reported.

More Information

STANDATA interpretation : electrical : 2024 Canadian electrical code