[RE-wrenches] mechanical vs. electronic kwh meter

[Glenn Burt]

We too have had this happen - customer didn't feel he had to wait for
utility approval, turned on the system after we left.
His next bill came & he tried to blame it on us...
All the meters the utilities are replacing here are electronic AMR style
units. It has been a long time since I saw a mechanical utility meter.

-Glenn

-----Original Message-----
From: re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org
[mailto:re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org] On Behalf Of Jason
Szumlanski
Sent: Friday, August 12, 2011 12:09 PM
To: RE-wrenches
Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] mechanical vs. electronic kwh meter

That is absolutely true. We have a customer who sent in his
interconnection agreement and assumed the meter would be swapped. It
never happened, the utility did not swap the meter, and energy sold to
the utility actually showed up as purchased energy. The utility
acknowledged the oversight in getting the meter swapped, and they are
working with the customer on an equitable resolution.

That is definitely a reason consider keeping the system off until the
meter is swapped, but then you are relying on the customer to go flip
the switch once installed.

Jason Szumlanski

-----Original Message-----
From: re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org
[mailto:re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org] On Behalf Of Dave
Click
Sent: Friday, August 12, 2011 11:15 AM
To: RE-wrenches
Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] mechanical vs. electronic kwh meter

I just asked a guy I know in utility metering, and he confirms that 
there's no basis for the utility's concern. Their claim that backfeeding

is a safety hazard could be an attempt to dissuade some non-PV folks 
from flipping their meters to steal power. Or that could be their 
justification to charge the customer for the new electronic meter (some 
utilities do this, apparently).

As an anti-theft precaution, some mechanical meters don't actually spin 
backwards- so whether you're importing or exporting a 1kW, after an hour

your counter has ticked up by one. So just because it's a mechanical 
meter doesn't mean that you should necessary leave it running until the 
utility installs that bidirectional electronic meter.

On 2011/8/12 9:45, Kirk Herander wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I am now in a debate with the metering dept. of a local utility. They
> don't want a PV system to be energized and tested until a
bidirectional
> electronic meter is installed. They insist that an old plain Jane
> mechanical meter can be damaged and is a safety concern if power is
> pushed through it (its running backwards) to the grid. I have never
> heard of, witnessed, or been told this by any utility or AHJ inspector
> until now. Have any of you ever?
>
> I don't know the reason for their paranoia. I assume that many utility
> districts don't to this day install bidirectional electronic meters.
And
> rely on the original mechanical meter to count backwards reliably and
> safely.
>
> Kirk Herander
>
> VT Solar, LLC
>
> dba Vermont Solar Engineering
>
> NABCEP^TM Certified installer Charter Member
>
> NYSERDA-eligible Installer
>
> VT RE Incentive Program Partner
>
>
>
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