Meter Base Grounding

4_adam_12

4_adam_12

Member
Location
NW Indiana
Occupation
HVAC/ Geothermal Systems
This may be a silly question but I'm a little turned around from readying code.

I want to ground the meter base and the xfer switch and bring the earth ground wire back inside from the xfer switch enclosure and run it down the interior framing and out a hole I've drilled in the rat wall at the bottom to connect to the ground rods.
Is there anything preventing me from doing this? I've always ran it traditionally down the building in a separate conduit down to the rod. The owner wants to avoid this by running this inside and down.

NEC 240 doesn't specifically forbid this but I may not reading into it enough or missing something obvious. It's been a long day...

Thank you for any opinions/ thoughts.

Picture for reference. And no, It's not complete. There's much more to do. :)



Screenshot 2025-05-10 185329.png
 
You say you want to "ground" the meter base. In the meter enclosure the neutral is factory bonded so the meter enclosure is grounded. Sounds like your asking about running the GEC from the ATS to the ground rods?
 
4_adam_12 said:
I want to ground the meter base and the xfer switch and bring the earth ground wire back inside from the xfer switch enclosure and run it down the interior framing and out a hole I've drilled in the rat wall at the bottom to connect to the ground rods.
Click to expand...

Just to expand on what Rob said: Think about what you are actually trying to accomplish. Unfortunately, "grounding" means many different things: earthing equipment, earthing a system, bonding to provide a fault clearing path..... IT sounds like you want to connect the grounding electrode conductor to the service. Here is what the code says about where you may land the GEC, 250.24(A)(1):

1) General. The grounding electrode conductor connection shall be made at any accessible point from the load end of the overhead service conductors, service drop, underground serv‐ice conductors, or service lateral to, including the terminal or bus to which the grounded service conductor is connected at the service disconnecting means.
Click to expand...

So you can just land it in the service disconnect (the ATS). You dont need to also run it to the meter socket. As Rob said, the meter base enclosure is already factory bonded to the neutral, so there is nothing else to do.

Dont forget to tape your neutral conductors white.
 
infinity said:
You say you want to "ground" the meter base. In the meter enclosure the neutral is factory bonded so the meter enclosure is grounded. Sounds like your asking about running the GEC from the ATS to the ground rods?
Click to expand...
You clarified exactly what I was trying to say. They wanted to run the ATS conductor inside and out of the rat wall low and have me terminate it to the rods from there. I poorly explained that.
 
4_adam_12 said:
You clarified exactly what I was trying to say. They wanted to run the ATS conductor inside and out of the rat wall low and have me terminate it to the rods from there. I poorly explained that.
Click to expand...
No problem. There is no real restriction on how the GEC gets from the ATS to the electrode. If it's subject to physical damage then it would require some form of mechanical protection.
 
4_adam_12 said:
You clarified exactly what I was trying to say. They wanted to run the ATS conductor inside and out of the rat wall low and have me terminate it to the rods from there. I poorly explained that.
Click to expand...
If you run the GEC to the meter base, that's all you need to do as far as connecting the GEC. No need in running it to both the meter base and ATS.
 
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