It seems obvious to me that the heat situation pertaining to AFCI's is the reason Eaton submitted the proposal to end the 42 max OCPD's (which has been accepted in principal) in a panel, this will go along with their proposal for all circuits to be AFCI protected.

It will allow more spaces for selective positioning of the AFCI's [Linked Image]

See proposals 9-117 and 2-111

I actually don't have a problem with allowing more OCPD's in a panel but, IMHO, Eatons reason for wanting it is way to predictable.

Roger