PG&E just moved from the collar as a special thing to a regular tariff with an install price. They insist that only PG&E may install the meter collars.
Here brothers and sisters is the heart of the matter. The utilities want to keep meter socket mounted transfer equipment as a profit center and allowing electricians to install them would cut into there exclusive access to that profit. Their claim of a safety concern is completely BOGUS!
Decades ago I had a client who had the manual version of the Generlink brand of meter socket mounted transfer switch which they had
used at their previous home. The utility's local field installation manager swore it would be a "Cold Day In Hell" before he would connect to the service because of the presence of the listed Generlink transfer switch being a hazard to his Linemen. He adamantly said that it could not be mounted on "their" meter socket. Like most meter sockets that Meter Socket Enclosure was mounted on the premises side of the State Utility Commission identified demarcation point. The demarcation point is that point in the electrical system were all control over the premise wiring system is in the hands of the premise owner.
The utility's problems were that the residential tariff did not give the supplying utility any control of the premises side of the Demarcation Point. They could only insist that the State Utility Commission approved service Standard be complied with. That utility's service standard only required that a transfer switch's utility connection be made on the load side of the meter or current transformers. The Generlink's manufacturer had gotten the product listed by complying with that practice. His refusal to connect also violated the Utility Commission's rules about requiring Commission permission to refuse to connect. His employing utility had not even applied for that.
I demanded that the refusal be provided in writing under the Seal and signatures of State recognized Corporation Officers as required by State law.. When he would not provide it I asked the Commission staff to intervene. By that time the AHJ's Chief Electrical Inspector was looking for blood. I had worked with him on some elderly home repair work and a Boy Scout Eagle project's supervision and he liked me. He was dammed if he was going to let the utility staff start undermining his inspectors. He got the Utility Commission to issue a subpoena for the required written refusal to connect permission application.
I needed to get paid in order to avoid serious financial hardship as I was a 1 man shop. So I came up with the idea to install a second meter socket enclosure right under the one that would hold the Utility owned meter. The Chief Electrical Inspector gave me written permission to do that. I then installed the the second meter socket, mounted the Generlink, inserted listed meter shunts, and a listed meter socket cover to avoid any need to insert a meter into the Generlink to complete the installation. I presented the signed off inspection report to the client and got paid. With money in hand I connected the client's 10,000 watt continuous rated generator to the Generlink and powered up their new home. Another member of the local Scout Master community installed a gas line from the meter tree to the generator's location to connect the clients tri fuel generator to Natural Gas with propane backup. Since I had been paid I went on to the next job with a deep sigh of relief.
Under pressure from the client's State Delegate and Senator the Utility Commission lit a fire under the utility's legal office and reminded them who it was that would approve, or not, their next rate increase request. Nothing is more persistent then a swarm of State Bureaucrats that one has carelessly made angry. All of a sudden the connection was made under the direct observation of a Utility Commission engineer.
I can assure all of you that I never made that mistake again. If this particular problem ever came up again I would have installed a cheap analog meter in the socket or waited until after the utility had connected before adding that meter socket. Like many of you a prolonged delay in getting paid would have hurt my family a lot. When I was single and didn't have such responsibilities I could get in regulatory battles any time I got my nose our of joint. I even did so a couple of times.
