The shift to battery-powered tools and portable power stations in the trades has been hampered by hazardous materials regulations set before the battery revolution. A new US ruling better clears the way for the portable storage industry.
From ESS News
The transition to battery power on the job site is seemingly inevitable, but in the US, hazardous material classifications were relatively strict for commercial-sized operations. For contractors actually hauling gear, the logistics themselves have been strangling adoption. When scaling up, portable power stations may have seen some unwittingly classified as hazardous materials transporters.
A long-awaited regulatory update from the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), part of the Department of Transport (DOT), is fixing a bottleneck with a 16-part rulemaking change.
The regulation update, known HM-268A through HM-268P, was published as the set of 16 changes earlier this month by PHMSA/DOT, with most changes taking effect on September 3, 2026.
