Handbook for Electricity Metering 10th Edition

[Metermama]

I was reading through my Handbook again over the weekend, I reread the section on Meter Security in Chapter One.
"As the cost of electricity rises to become a significant portion of the cost of living, the temptation to violate the security of metering equipment for the purpose of energy theft becomes irresistible for some. In addition, the possibility of an organized effort to tamper with metering equipment increases with the increased cost of energy. Therefore, the meter employee must be aware of various techniques of energy theft and be constantly on the lookout for such violations. Since meter security system vary throughout the industry, it becomes necessary for meter employees to completely familiarize themselves with their company's policy for securing meters and associated devices, and to keep constant vigil for violations."
My question in this forum is how does your utility address Meter Security? Most utilities meter security begins with a simple seal, but I am curious whether you use ring-type or ringless type sockets and if you lock your meters with a higher security ring and lock.

 

[iwire]

Around here they are pretty lax until evidence of tampering and then they put on the heavy locks.

 

[JoeTroubleShoot]

Yeah the company I work for does not care about seals at all, but if you're suspected of tampering they will put a locking band on. If you're suspected of tampering after that, we will cut the service at the pole or the hole until people pay. They are allowed triple damages if the said person keeps doing it or doesn't pay, but they don't seem to go hard on residentail customers. There have been a few industrial customers in the past that they settled for almost one million in damages from stolen electricity. We have locking bands for meter sockets with rings and a lock that sits on the side of the trough cover to the ring-less trough so you can't open the cover.

 

[fmtjfw]

I was involved in a metering bypass situation at a former employer where a panel was installed in front of the CT's rather than behind them. I found the error (helps to have a father who was an EE at the power company specializing in metering and telemetry). It was an old service with the fused disconnect before the CT's rather than after them, as is the current practice. I think it was an error on the part of one of our "brilliant" electricians. The power company calculated the current flow possible through each circuit breaker at 100% capacity in the panel, multiplied the sum of the amps by 120V and then multiplied that by 24 hours and 365 days and that by 7 years which was the estimated time the panel was installed. That gave them the MVA to bill for. (I think it was about $35K per year).

After that was sorted out, we rebuild most of the service. We still had the main before the CT's and we had an emergency circuit that tapped before the main. (Such was common in several of the buildings and the POCO was fine with that.) I did run the emergency service conductors through the CT windows so it would be metered as well.

What can I say, the spinning disk, fed and clothed me as a child.

 

[fmtjfw]

Security? Meh.

Security? Meh.

The POCO has dropped readings to 6 per year for residential and small commercial. Larger commercial have telephone lines connected to the meters. Currently there are no "smart meters". When they go to smart meters it isn't clear that a meter reader will even look at the meter for years.

Sockets now being installed are ringless and sealed by plastic murray seals. I come across unsealed meters that have remained that way for months. CT cabinets are locked using "compression" padlocks and may have a seal as well. Demand metering reset levers are sometimes not sealed. Boxes containing transformer grade meters and test switches are not always sealed either.

A non-city electrical inspector was caught doing car door window inspections, including ones of meter installations in which the wire from the service drop to the line meter jaw to the load meter jaw to the main disconnect was uncut. The POCO is going for reinspections of his inspections probably to be paid for by his E&O insurance.

I have a peanut butter jar full of the old metal murray seals. My dad used to use them for key rings.

 

[don_resqcapt19]

For a number of years, there was a house a few blocks from me that had two meters, one on the house and a second one about 20' up on the pole across the street. That solved the problem of meter tampering for that house.

 

[meternerd]

It is becoming a bigger problem every year. With the "popularity" of remote read meters and smart meters, meter readers do not visit every meter every month as in the past. Sometimes they aren't visited for a year or more. We tend to look for usage trends and flag accounts that have a drastic decrease in usage from one year to the next. If we find no obvious evidence of tampering such as broken seals or meter ring damage, we can install a "check meter" on the pole (disguised as a pole mount transformer) to compare actual usage to the customer metered usage. But the cost is prohibitive, so unless its a big account, we just visit the service, inspect for tampering and install a locking meter ring. Prosecution for theft is not a common resolution. Usually just a back charge. You'd be amazed at the ingenuity of thieves, though. Bottom line is that it happens and will continue. I'd describe some of the stuff I find, but I don't want to "lead anyone to temptation."