Electrical Manufacturers Association Expands Membership Base to Transportation Systems

The National Electrical Manufacturers Association is bringing on a whole new tier of members—those that bring power to the world of transportation.

NEMA announced on Thursday  (opens in a new tab) that it would create a new division focused on transportation systems  (opens in a new tab), or infrastructure meant to help people get from place to place. Such manufacturers are creating products including outdoor lighting, energy storage, and equipment for supplying electric vehicles with a charge. With its new division—notable as it designates the field as a major industry sector within NEMA—the association and its president and CEO, Kevin Cosgriff, hope to further underline the role of electrical engineering in industrial contexts.

“U.S. electrical manufacturers are deeply involved in the electrification and digitization of America’s infrastructure, to include roads, rails, air- and waterways as well as the electric grid,” Cosgriff said in a news release  (opens in a new tab). “NEMA and its Member companies are well positioned to play a leading role in the electrification of America’s transportation system, which accounts for 25 percent of total U.S. energy use.”

Steve Griffith, NEMA’s industry director who will be put in charge of the new division, says that the decision was timed to take advantage of “the coming wave of the connected, electrified vehicle landscape and ultimately including autonomous vehicles of all types.”

“As NEMA Members represent the ‘I’ in the ‘V2I’ framework (Vehicle to Infrastructure), being more active in this emerging vehicle ecosystem becomes an imperative,” Griffith said. “This new division will provide growth opportunities in the entire spectrum of transportation such as parking, ports, rail terminals and crossings, and airports.”

NEMA, which now has seven divisions, is also making some changes to its existing divisions, including renaming the Utility Products division to the Utility Products & Systems division, and changing the name of the Commercial Products division to the Building Infrastructure division.

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