Meter Tampering - Would You Risk This For a Customer?

- Coming up on this week's news, "Meter tampering is a ticking time bomb," say experts as it's revealed that 4 out of 10 electricians are regularly asked to slow down the devices. A council and a building firm appear in court this week after an electrician is killed by a falling tree and the daddy of all transformers brings chaos to the roads of Kent. Welcome to Electrical News Weekly, whether you're listening in the van, on site or down at the wholesale counter.

I'm Joe Robinson and I've been through the best of the electrical industry news to save you the trouble. And as always, if you think you've spotted the two words that I've been challenged to slip into this week's show, comment with them below for the chance to win a prize.

It's been revealed that 4 out of 10 electricians say that they have been asked by customers to tamper with their electricity meters. The astonishing figure comes from research by business insurance firm Direct Line. They say it reflects how the cost of living crisis is pushing people to extreme measures. Cheating a meter to avoid paying bills is, of course, classified as theft and can lead to serious consequences, including prison sentences and a fine of 30,000 pounds.

Additionally, 1/3 of electricians say that they have noticed signs of tampering at homes and businesses. David Powell, an electrical installation safety engineer at Electrical Safety First tells us that even he is no stranger to an off-the-cuff request to tamper with a meter. But he says, doing so is a ticking time bomb. And Direct Line has warned homeowners that it won't pay out in the event of a house fire if it's discovered that there has been interference with the meter.

It says, if your customers are struggling with their energy bills, advise them to speak directly to their energy provider instead of being tempted to have a snuffle about in the meter box.

In other news, a construction company and a district council are set to appear in court this week following the death of an electrician during a storm. 24-year-old Matthew Campbell was killed when he was struck by a falling tree as strong winds lashed Northern Ireland during Storm Ali in 2018. Campbell was working on restoring power to a water pumping station in Slieve Gullion Forest Park as winds reached 91 miles an hour.

It's alleged that Lagan Construction Limited and Newry, Mourne and Down District Council failed to make appropriate risk assessments. Campbell and his fiancee were due to be married the following August. The pair had sent out save the date cards and they collected their wedding rings on the very day the tragedy struck. The case at Newry Crown Court is expected to last for two weeks and we'll keep you posted on how it unfolds. Just so, so sad that story.

Our condolences to the friends and family of David.

The UK's first-ever apprenticeship for heat pump installers has been introduced. Until now, if you wanted to connect heat pumps, you had to train as a plumber or electrician first. But now a low carbon heating technical apprenticeship is ready and Salford College is expected to be one of the first to welcome students later this year. The UK needs to install 600,000 heat pumps a year by 2028. So it's a great game to get into. Around 15 colleges are expected to participate.

At the end of the three-year course, apprentices will be fully qualified heat pump installers. However, there are wider concerns that the uptake of apprenticeships is not keeping pace with the demand. There remains a perception issue in the UK that vocational qualifications are only for less academically successful students. And this is a long-term issue which needs more effort to change public perceptions.

Graham Hasting-Evans, chief executive of National Open College Network says that the biggest impact in the short term can only come from those already in the trade taking the opportunity to work on renewable technologies. If you know anyone who's interested in the heat pump apprenticeship, I've popped the link in the show notes for you.

Staying on education, the ECA has given its backing to Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham's proposed new Manchester baccalaureate or MBacc. The MBacc is designed as an alternative to the existing national English Baccalaureate or EBacc and will focus on subjects which improve young people's chances of securing employment in the greater Manchester economy, including electrical installation. The city typically has around 300 electrical apprentices start a year.

The ECA hopes the new qualification will bring it closer to 500 a year if the region is to achieve its low carbon targets.

In product news, Hager says it's set to supply factory built switchboards from its factory in Telford. The boards will use the firm's well-established ACBs and MCCBs. The product is based on the quadro evo platform but will be designed to comply with BS EN 61439-2. The UK version allows you to create customized disk boards up to 1,600 amps. And there's a wide range of choice in terms of form 4A and type 27 arrangements.

Now, calling all tool geeks out there. How would you like to review tools like Gary and Gordon? We've teamed up with Spit to find five electrical tool champions who want to help us shape the gear of tomorrow today. Sign up and if you're selected, we'll send you a PULSA a 27 Enail gun for you to test. You just need to share your opinions on it in a video and share it on socials. We'll train you to make sure you get the most out of your new tool.

And as a thank you, you'll get to keep the tool and you'll get future kit to test before it hits the shelves. If that sounds like you, click the link in the show notes but hurry, there's just over a week to enter. All the best.

Now, if you're proper old, like say the aforementioned Gary and Gordon, you'll remember the olden days before central heating when times were tighter than an earwig's pinch, the days when you warmed your house with real coal fires and if you were a youngster, you were often given the task of cleaning out the ash. The cinders, of course, were considered useless and were thrown away, until now that is because a product designer from London started making lights from coal ash.

Rosy Napper mixes it with some waste ceramic and then fires it in a kiln. She says that the resulting material has a beautiful translucent quality. It's also 110% recycled. She uses LEDs to illuminate the lights and says they're perfect for homes. And remember, you can see lots more innovations

at the InstallerSHOW later this month. Big brands at the event include Tesla, Easee, Knipex, Milwaukee, RIDGID, and Ring. The eFIXX team will be milling around too, checking out the new product. So if you see us, come and say hello. It takes place at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham on the 27th, 28th, and 29th of June. And finally, a humongous transformer has been bringing chaos

to the roads of Kent. The Titanic transformer, which weighs in at a hefty 330 tons got the M20 to itself as it was moved up five miles per hour from Dover to National Grid Substation near Sellindge. The beast sat on an 86-meter-long trailer supported by no fewer than 20 sets of wheel axles. Engineers even had to remove the central reservation at certain points so that the convoy could complete a turn.

The procession was supposed to cross Kent at night but a series of delays saw it interfere with commuter traffic to the fury of the county's motorists. National Grid tells us that its substations were built between the 1950s and 1970s and aging equipment, such as transformers now need to be replaced.

And before you go, just to let you know that if you'd like to be featured in next week's news, simply visit the news tab on efixx.co.uk. Tell us about any exciting new products you've discovered, any stories you've spotted, or simply any issues that you believe deserve the community's attention. The eFIXX team will then get on it and everything will be considered for future news bulletins.

And just before we get to your favorite bit of the show where I reveal last week's challenge words and winners, we want to thank our premium partners. We couldn't make the news without you. First up for all your circuit protection needs, they're like having an Italian star striker on your Premiership team, it's Lewden Palazzoli, and the best thing to come out of Yorkshire since stainless steel, it's Doncaster cables, the home of EV-Ultra and other groundbreaking and quality cables.

Big thanks to you both. We really appreciate your ongoing support for the news. If you think you know the words that I've smuggled into this week's show, pop your guess into the comments and we'll dig out a goodie bag prize to the first to get the right answers. Last week's words were riff-raff, and chinwag. And the first person to get both right was Norbert Kajubi EE. So well done to you, Norbert. Click the link in the description to claim your prize.

Thanks for listening to this episode of Electrical News Weekly. Make sure you subscribe to receive the next update. Thanks for listening, and until next time, have a great week. Stay safe out there, and remember, there's no such thing as a torque calibrated arm.