True or False: An EGC must maintain an effective ground-fault current path even when it is isolated or insulated.

An Equipment Grounding Conductor (EGC) plays a critical role in ensuring safety in electrical systems by providing a path for ground-fault currents to return to the source. By maintaining an effective ground-fault current path, the EGC helps to ensure that overload or fault conditions will cause protective devices to operate correctly, thus preventing hazardous situations like electric shock or fire.

If an EGC were to become isolated or insulated from the grounding system, it would compromise this effective fault current path. The intent of grounding systems is to keep the equipment at earth potential, minimizing the risk of voltage differences that could be dangerous. Therefore, it is essential that the EGC remains functional and not insulated so that it can carry fault currents safely back to the ground, regardless of whether the equipment is in operation or out of service.

Maintaining this effective path is imperative for the system's safety and performance, which is why the assertion is true.