David - welcome to ECN!
Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your point of view), there is nor "national" accredidation or licensure for electrical workers in the US. I'm mostly familiar with residential / light commercial level (my area); maybe some of our linemen and PoCo folks could fill you in on the high voltage (distribution level) stuff.
The closest thing to it (a national license) would be an International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Journeyman level union card, as that would allow you to work in any IBEW Local around the country.
As far as being independently licensed, most municipalities (and some counties or states) have their own testing and license process, with different examinations based on different versions of the NFPA's National Electrical Code or the jurisdiction's version thereof (Chicago or New York Code, the California Electrical Code, etc). Most jurisdictions also have "time-in-work" requirements in addition to the "theory" and "Code knowledge" requirements.
While an IBEW card will normally get you into the test (on time in work), it usually is not enough on it's own to simply get you a license without testing. Of course, sometimes, the hardest thing is just getting into the test!
Hope I was of some help...
[This message has been edited by DougW (edited 04-22-2004).]
