Do you trust your smart meter's remote shut off feature?

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iwire said:
There are many different power companies in the US each with their own rules. Few if any allow a customer owned and / or controlled disconnect switch ahead of a meter at typical homes with 120/240 or 120/208 volt services. In almost all cases the power company has to literally cut a wire or open the primary to a transformer but that will usually knock out many homes.
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I have a recollection that some jurisdictions in CA require a disconnect on the outside of the premises so the fire department can disconnect the service while fighting a fire. I'm sure no one has ever run down the block popping a dozen or so of them for fun, or to facilitate a burglary.
 
Besoeker said:
Tradition I can understand.
The theft not so much.
You just as easily disconnect the live side of the breaker as the live side of the meter.
Here the live side has seals that you would need to break to steal.
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Besoeker said:
Yes. But that doesn't invalidate my other point.
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Allow me invalidate that for you.

Service drop -> Meter -> Main:
To tap ahead of the meter here you would have to work it hot. A deterrent for some.

Service drop -> Disconnect -> Meter -> Main:
To tap ahead of the meter here you can open the switch to work in safety. So easy even a caveman could do it.
 
mivey said:
Allow me invalidate that for you.

Service drop -> Meter -> Main:
To tap ahead of the meter here you would have to work it hot. A deterrent for some.

Service drop -> Disconnect -> Meter -> Main:
To tap ahead of the meter here you can open the switch to work in safety. So easy even a caveman could do it.
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The way it is arranged, you can't get to the terminals between the breaker and the meter.
It's just different to what you are accustomed to.
Maybe I'll take some pics.
 
Besoeker said:
Tradition I can understand.
The theft not so much.
You just as easily disconnect the live side of the breaker as the live side of the meter.
Here the live side has seals that you would need to break to steal.
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If the disconnect ahead of the meter has overcurrent devices within then the occupant needs to have access to reset or change these devices if necessary.

It is fairly common to have a disconnect ahead of the meters in a multimeter device. These are usually designed in a way that it is more difficult to try to tap unmetered power from the main than it would be from a typical stand alone disconnect. The load side usually doesn't have any easily accessible termination points and goes to bus supplying the meter bank.
 
electricguy61 said:
In answer to the original post: NO
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Cool. That seems to be the consensus. It will be later in the summer or fall before I will be working on my own prelude to an upgrade in which I will need the power off. If they don't just automatically agree that the meter has to be pulled or my lines cut (on my end, visible from my yard) I will post a follow up.

The lady I talked to may have been just a misinformed sales person and the POCO may, in actuality, not even allow for remote shut offs for service or repair work.

The last time I needed a shut down here, they sent out some linesmen and they snipped the line. When it came time to re-connect, they did it with bolt on connectors. I asked the linesman what was to keep someone from just unbolting the line. He took out a little plastic cover and said 'this', and clipped it on, over the nut. And then with a grin he said 'and tape....to keep the plastic thing from falling off' and wrapped it a couple times with tape.

For years they only used a certain kind of crimp connector so if anyone had done a disconnect besides the POCO, it would be plainly visible. Not so anymore, I guess.
 
Were it my fine self involved the answer woiuld be a reasounding NO, my safety will not depend on a remote control device that I can not defeat. On top of that, I'd approach it from a LOTO standpoint - it is a totally unacceptable safety because you have no means to visually verify its state. think of it like a discinnect hidden behind a locked cabinet door. Absolutely unacceptable.
 
mivey said:
Very wise indeed.
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Very wise indeed! A year or so ago after pulling a meter on a rural meter loop I discovered one of the load side conductors still "Hot". I call these an "up/down" loop. At some time in the past they had overhead ACSR short circuit until it blew the fuse on the transformer. POCO fixed the overhead but did not realize one of the line side conductors insulation had melted into one of the load. First time for me in 30+ years.
 
It's odd that the power company is willing to say a remote controlled switch is safe when I bet the same power company requires a visible break disconnecting means with provisions for LOTO for all PV interconnections for them.

I have tried to get them to accept shunt trip breakers with no luck at all.
 
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