Re: Grounding meter enclosures
There is a 200 amp single phase meter underground fee, underground load near where I live that was recently installed to serve a cellular tower about 150 feet away. It does not seem to have a local ground rod and it most certainly does not have a service switch. I do know that Parma, Ohio requires PVC or gavanized rigid conduit for underground services in new construction and permits service cable for replacement overhead services.
However, sooner or later the meter manufacturers are going to require an effective lightning ground for meter sockets. Most lightning damage comes from very small lightning strikes. I was told by a cable plant technician for Ohio Bell ( now SBC ) that 97% of lightning damage in a telephone cable plant comes from silent lightning and invisible lighting. This was after grandmother's phone died during a rain storm during which we heard no lightning. Then he told me that when one you can see and hear strikes, there are about 100 side strikes over a 100 yard radius.
There is a 200 amp single phase meter underground fee, underground load near where I live that was recently installed to serve a cellular tower about 150 feet away. It does not seem to have a local ground rod and it most certainly does not have a service switch. I do know that Parma, Ohio requires PVC or gavanized rigid conduit for underground services in new construction and permits service cable for replacement overhead services.
However, sooner or later the meter manufacturers are going to require an effective lightning ground for meter sockets. Most lightning damage comes from very small lightning strikes. I was told by a cable plant technician for Ohio Bell ( now SBC ) that 97% of lightning damage in a telephone cable plant comes from silent lightning and invisible lighting. This was after grandmother's phone died during a rain storm during which we heard no lightning. Then he told me that when one you can see and hear strikes, there are about 100 side strikes over a 100 yard radius.
