12.3 Wind Electric Systems and Fire Pumps

Alaska Journeyman Electrician Study Guide Exam

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1 Chapter 1: Alaska Certificates of Fitness, Law & Exam Logistics

1.1 The Alaska Certificate of Fitness System 1.2 Journeyman Eligibility: 8,000 Hours and How Alaska Counts Them 1.3 Trainee, Residential Wireman, Lineman, Provisional & Reciprocal Certificates 1.4 The Journeyman Examination: Format, Scheduling, Open-Book Rules & Retakes 1.5 Adopted Codes, Fees, Renewal, Inspection & Enforcement

2 Chapter 2: Using the 2020 NEC

2.1 Article 90: Purpose, Scope, Arrangement & Enforcement 2.2 Navigating the Code Book: Structure, Index & Tabbing Strategy 2.3 Article 100 Definitions You Must Know Cold 2.4 Electrical Theory for the Exam: Ohm's Law, Power & Three-Phase

3 Chapter 3: General Requirements — Article 110

3.1 Approval, Listing, Interrupting Rating & Terminations 3.2 Temperature Limitations of Terminations — 110.14(C) 3.3 Working Space, Access, Egress & Illumination — 110.26(A) through (D) 3.4 Dedicated Equipment Space, Guarding & Over-1000-Volt Installations

4 Chapter 4: Conductors and Ampacity — Article 310

4.1 Conductor Types, Insulation Markings & Table 310.16 4.2 Ambient Temperature Correction and Alaska's Cold 4.3 Adjustment for More Than Three Current-Carrying Conductors 4.4 Putting It Together: Full Conductor-Sizing Problems 4.5 Parallel Conductors, Dwelling Service Sizing & Conditions of Use

5 Chapter 5: Wiring Methods and Materials — NEC Chapter 3

5.1 Article 300 General Requirements and Underground Cover 5.2 Thermal Movement: Expansion Fittings and Table 352.44 5.3 Boxes and Enclosures: Box Fill and Pull Box Sizing 5.4 Cable Assemblies: NM, MC, AC, SE, UF and TC 5.5 Raceways: RMC, IMC, EMT, FMC, LFMC, PVC and ENT 5.6 Conduit Fill: Chapter 9 Tables and Annex C 5.7 Cable Trays, Wireways, Busways, Gutters and Surface Raceways

6 Chapter 6: Branch Circuits and Feeders

6.1 Branch-Circuit Ratings, Conductor Sizing & Multiwire Circuits 6.2 Required Outlets and Receptacle Spacing in Dwellings 6.3 GFCI Protection — Article 210.8 6.4 AFCI Protection and Receptacle Requirements 6.5 Feeders and Outside Branch Circuits — Articles 215 and 225 6.6 Grounded Conductor Identification, Switches & Panelboards

7 Chapter 7: Overcurrent Protection — Articles 240 and 242

7.1 Article 240 Fundamentals: Ratings, Locations & Conductor Protection 7.2 Feeder Tap Rules — 240.21(B) 7.3 Transformer Secondary Conductors — 240.21(C) 7.4 Fuses, Circuit Breakers, Series Ratings & Article 242 Surge Protection

8 Chapter 8: Services and Load Calculations

8.1 Service Conductors, Clearances and Service Equipment 8.2 Service Disconnects, the 2020 Rule Change, SPDs and Service GFPE 8.3 Article 220 Part II: General Lighting, Receptacles and Demand Factors 8.4 The Standard Dwelling Calculation — Article 220 Part III 8.5 Optional Dwelling and Multifamily Calculations 8.6 Commercial and Industrial Load Calculations 8.7 Neutral Load Calculations and Harmonics — 220.61

9 Chapter 9: Grounding and Bonding — Article 250

9.1 System Grounding, 250.24 and the Main Bonding Jumper 9.2 The Grounding Electrode System — 250.50 through 250.53 9.3 Grounding Electrode Conductor Sizing and Installation 9.4 Bonding: Services, Metal Piping, Structural Metal and Other Systems 9.5 Equipment Grounding Conductors: Types, Sizing and Continuity 9.6 Separately Derived Systems and Separate Buildings 9.7 Ground-Fault Protection of Equipment and Grounding of Specific Equipment

10 Chapter 10: Equipment for General Use — NEC Chapter 4

10.1 Flexible Cords, Cables and Fixture Wires 10.2 Switches, Receptacles and Industrial Control Panels 10.3 Luminaires, Lampholders and Recessed Installations 10.4 Appliances and Fixed Electric Space Heating 10.5 Deicing, Snow Melting, Pipeline and Vessel Heating 10.6 Motors Part I: Full-Load Current, Conductors and Overload Protection 10.7 Motors Part II: Short-Circuit Protection, Controllers, Disconnects and HVAC

11 Chapter 11: Transformers, Generators and Special Occupancies

11.1 Transformers — Article 450 11.2 Generators, Storage Batteries and Energy Storage Systems 11.3 Hazardous (Classified) Locations — Articles 500 through 506 11.4 Garages, Hangars, Fuel Dispensing, Bulk Storage and Spray Application 11.5 Health Care Facilities — Article 517 11.6 Agricultural Buildings, Manufactured Homes, RV Parks and Marinas 11.7 Assembly, Theaters, Carnivals, Temporary Installations and Pools

12 Chapter 12: Special Equipment, Special Conditions and Exam Strategy

12.1 Signs, Cranes, Elevators, Electric Vehicle Charging and Welders 12.2 Solar Photovoltaic, Interconnection and Stand-Alone Systems 12.3 Wind Electric Systems and Fire Pumps 12.4 Emergency, Legally Required Standby, Optional Standby and COPS 12.5 Class 1, 2 and 3 Circuits, Fire Alarm, Optical Fiber and Communications 12.6 Cold-Climate Practice in Alaska: Code Basis and Engineering Judgment 12.7 Exam-Day Strategy: Navigation, Calculation Workflow and Time Management

12.3 Wind Electric Systems and Fire Pumps

Key Takeaways Explain This Topic AI

NEC 694.23 requires wind electric systems to have a manual shutdown button or switch located at a readily accessible location, with the shutdown method placing the turbine in a parked state.

NEC 695.4(A) permits a direct connection from the service to the fire pump controller, and 695.4(B) permits a supervised connection through a disconnecting means and overcurrent device meeting specific requirements.

NEC 695.4(B)(2)(a)(1) requires the overcurrent device in a supervised connection to be selected or set to carry indefinitely the sum of the locked-rotor current of the largest fire pump motor and the full-load current of all other pumps and accessory equipment.

NEC 695.6(B) requires fire pump supply conductors to have an ampacity of not less than 125 percent of the sum of the fire pump motor and pressure maintenance pump full-load currents plus 100 percent of associated accessory equipment.

NEC 695.7(A) limits voltage drop at the fire pump controller line terminals to not more than 15 percent below normal during motor starting, and 695.7(B) limits it to not more than 5 percent below the motor voltage rating when operating at 115 percent of full-load current.

Last updated: August 2026

Article 694 — Wind Electric Systems

694.1 Scope. Article 694 applies to wind electric systems that consist of one or more wind electric generators. These systems can include generators, alternators, inverters, and controllers.

694.7 Installation. (A) Wind Electric Systems. A wind electric system shall be permitted to supply a building or other structure in addition to any service(s) of another electricity supply system(s). (B) Equipment. Inverters, motor generators, wind generators, surge arresters, and charge controllers shall be identified and listed for use in wind electric systems. (C) Qualified Personnel. The installation of equipment and all associated wiring and interconnections shall be performed only by qualified persons .

694.12 Circuit Sizing and Current. (A) Calculation of Maximum Circuit Current. The maximum current for the specific circuit shall be calculated as the rated continuous output current of the wind turbine at its rated output power for the output circuit, and the maximum current output rating of the inverter for the inverter output circuit. (B) Ampacity and Overcurrent Device Ratings. Wind turbine output circuit conductors and overcurrent devices shall be sized to carry not less than 125 percent of the maximum currents as calculated in 694.12(A).

694.22 Additional Provisions. (A) Disconnecting Means. Means shall be provided to disconnect all current-carrying conductors of a wind electric power source from all other conductors in a building or other structure. (B) The disconnecting means shall be readily accessible and shall be lockable open in accordance with 110.25 where remote from the turbine. (C) The disconnecting means shall be permanently marked to identify it as a wind electric system disconnect.

694.23 Turbine Shutdown. Wind electric systems shall be provided with a manual shutdown button or switch . The shutdown button or switch shall be located at a readily accessible location . The shutdown method shall not require the turbine to be in a parked state before initiation, and the shutdown procedure shall place the turbine in a parked state .

694.24 Loss of Interactive System Power. An inverter or AC module that is used in an interactive wind electric system shall automatically de-energize its output to the connected electrical production and distribution network upon loss of voltage in that system and shall remain in that state until the electrical production and distribution network voltage has been restored.

694.28 Grounding Electrode System. (A) A grounding electrode system shall be provided in accordance with 250.50 through 250.60. (B) Tower and Turbine Grounding. Towers and turbine nacelles shall be connected to a grounding electrode system. 694.40 Equipment Grounding and Bonding requires exposed non-current-carrying metal parts of towers, turbine nacelles, and other equipment to be grounded.

694.30 Wiring Methods. All raceway and cable wiring methods included in the Code and other wiring systems and fittings specifically listed for use on wind turbines shall be permitted. Flexible cords and cables , where used to connect the moving parts of turbines or where used for ready removal for maintenance and repair, shall comply with Article 400 and shall be listed for extra-hard usage , be water resistant, and be sunlight resistant.

Small wind systems are meaningful in Alaska for remote village power, telecommunications sites, and off-grid homes, often combined with PV and battery storage in the DC microgrid architecture of Article 712.

Article 695 — Fire Pumps

Fire pump circuits invert the Code's usual priority. Everywhere else, the objective is to open the circuit on a fault. For a fire pump, the objective is to keep the pump running as long as physically possible, even to the point of destroying the motor. A burned-out fire pump motor in a burning building has still done its job; a fire pump that trips offline has not.

695.3 Power Source(s) for Electric Motor-Driven Fire Pumps. Electric motor-driven fire pumps shall have a reliable source of power . Acceptable sources include:

(A)(1) Electric Utility Service Connection. A fire pump shall be permitted to be supplied by a separate service, or from a connection located ahead of and not within the same enclosure as the service disconnecting means.

(A)(2) On-Site Power Production Facility. A fire pump shall be permitted to be supplied by an on-site power production facility, located and protected to minimize the possibility of damage by fire.

(B) Multiple Sources. Where reliable power cannot be obtained from a source described in (A), power shall be supplied by an approved combination of two or more of the specified sources.

695.4 Continuity of Power. Circuits that supply electric motor-driven fire pumps shall be supervised from inadvertent disconnection as covered in 695.4(A) or (B).

(A) Direct Connection. The supply conductors shall directly connect the power source to a listed fire pump controller , a listed fire pump power transfer switch, or a listed combination fire pump controller and power transfer switch.

(B) Connection Through Disconnecting Means and Overcurrent Device. A single disconnecting means and associated overcurrent protective device shall be permitted between the power source and one of the following: a listed fire pump controller, a listed fire pump power transfer switch, or a listed combination fire pump controller and power transfer switch.

(B)(1) Number of Disconnecting Means. A single disconnecting means and overcurrent device shall be permitted for each source.

(B)(2)(a) Overcurrent Device Selection. The overcurrent protective device shall be rated to carry indefinitely the sum of the locked-rotor current of the largest fire pump motor and the full-load current of all of the other pump motors and accessory equipment . Where the locked-rotor current value does not correspond to a standard overcurrent device size, the next standard overcurrent device size shall be used .

(B)(3) Disconnecting Means. The disconnecting means shall comply with all of the following: be identified as "FIRE PUMP DISCONNECTING MEANS" in letters not less than 25 mm (1 in.) in height and visible without opening enclosure doors or covers; be lockable in the closed position ; be located remote enough from other building disconnecting means that inadvertent contemporaneous operation is unlikely; and be supervised in the closed position by one of four listed methods including central station, local signaling service, locking the disconnecting means closed, or sealing with weekly recorded inspections.

The locked-rotor current requirement in (B)(2)(a) is the point of the whole article. A fire pump motor with a 100-ampere full-load current may have a locked-rotor current near 600 amperes. The upstream overcurrent device must carry that indefinitely — meaning the pump can stall and burn without opening the circuit and dropping the other fire pumps.

695.5 Transformers. Where a transformer supplies an electric motor-driven fire pump, it shall be rated at a minimum of 125 percent of the sum of the fire pump motor(s) and pressure maintenance pump(s) loads , and 100 percent of the associated fire pump accessory equipment supplied by the transformer. The primary overcurrent device shall be rated or set to carry indefinitely the sum of the locked-rotor current of the largest fire pump motor and the full-load current of all other pumps and accessory equipment.

695.6(A)(2) Supply Conductors — Services, Feeders, and Branch Circuits Supplying Fire Pumps. Supply conductors shall be physically routed outside a building and shall be installed as service-entrance conductors in accordance with Article 230, or shall be encased in 50 mm (2 in.) of concrete or brick as specified, or shall be protected by a fire-rated assembly listed to achieve a minimum fire rating of 2 hours .

695.6(B) Conductor Size. Conductors supplying a fire pump motor, pressure maintenance pumps, and associated fire pump accessory equipment shall have a rating not less than 125 percent of the sum of the fire pump motor(s) and pressure maintenance motor(s) full-load current(s), and 100 percent of the associated fire pump accessory equipment .

695.6(D) Pump Wiring. All wiring from the controllers to the pump motors shall be in rigid metal conduit, intermediate metal conduit, liquidtight flexible metal conduit, liquidtight flexible nonmetallic conduit Type LFNC-B, or Type MI cable .

695.6(H) Ground-Fault Protection of Equipment. Ground-fault protection of equipment shall not be installed in any fire pump power circuit. This is one of the very few outright prohibitions of a protective device in the Code, and it exists for the same reason as everything else in Article 695: an unwanted GFPE trip would stop the pump.

695.7 Voltage Drop.

(A) Motor Starting. The voltage at the line terminals of a fire pump controller shall not drop more than 15 percent below normal (controller-rated voltage) under motor starting conditions.

(B) Motor Running. The voltage at the load terminals of the motor controller shall not drop more than 5 percent below the voltage rating of the motor when the motor is operating at 115 percent of the full-load current rating of the fire pump motor.

These are mandatory voltage-drop limits, unlike the advisory Informational Notes in 210.19(A) and 215.2(A).

695.10 Listed Equipment. Diesel engine fire pump controllers, electric fire pump controllers, electric motors, fire pump power transfer switches, foam pump controllers, and limited service controllers shall be listed for fire pump service .

695.14(F) Electrical Circuit Protective Systems. Electrical circuit protective systems shall be installed in accordance with the listing requirements for the system.

695.15 Surge Protection. A listed surge protective device shall be installed in or on the fire pump controller.