Electric Meter Responibility??

[Fishinguy40]

My daughter is buying a bank owned house. One item that was noticed during the home inspection is that the box which contains the electric meter is no longer anchored to the house. Only thing holding it in place is the conduit. The meter would have to be removed to re-anchor. Is this the utilities responsibility? I know I can't remove the meter but will the utility charge us to come out and do it? If so, any idea how much? We may upgrade the existing service panel also. Keep the same rating, 125 amp, but one with more breaker spaces as the current panel has no room for expansion. It would be nice to coordinate the jobs, especially if the utility charges to come out for the meter box repair.

[Steve Foss]

I don't know who is responsible for the meter, but it only takes a few minutes to pull it, re-anchor and put it back. I'd reckon the electrician who upgrades the circuit panel would do the meter anchoring for little or no additional money.

[Farmboy1]

Usually the electrician wiring the home will install the meter socket and feeds to the panel. The utility comes out and installs the meter in the socket already installed and then they tag it closed.

This is the way I have always seen it handled. IMHO it would be your daughters responsibility to remove the meter socket and reattach to the building. You then need to call the utility and they will come out and tag it locked against tampering.

[JohnMickish]

Here is how it works, the electric company ownes the overhead wires up to the point where they attach right before they make the turn and go into the conduit. That is called the demarkation point. Anything after that is the homeowners responsibility. The electric company also ownes the meter, the just let you use it. You own the meter socket and the conduit above and below it.

Pulling the meter to re-attach the meter socket is no biggie, but there are exposed live electrical parts in there so if your not sure what is what in there, pay the $100 to have it done by a pro. Also make sure that you notify your electrical company that you are going to remove their seal and remove the meter. Some companies are more particular that others on the removal of their seal than others are.

Depending on how old the meter socket is there might be a bypass in there that will keep electricity going to the house, if not, the house will lose electricity, so keep in mind that the freezer wont work while the meter is out. It shouldn't take more than 30 minutes but stranger things have happened. If the wood is all rotted out behind it there won't be much to attach to and that will take time to repair.

[Whoaru99]

Also make sure that you notify your electrical company that you are going to remove their seal and remove the meter. Some companies are more particular that others on the removal of their seal than others are.

Yeah, I'll say. The guy here came unglued when I told him I pulled the meter to replace the fuse panel. Gave me this big lecture on how it's their meter and only they can cut the seal and so on.

[BobT]

The primary purpose for that lock is so they can identify a potential threat of stolen electricity. It’s one thing if they came out on routine service work and discover the lock had been removed but an entirely different matter when you call them and tell them you removed it. You did the right thing by telling them and he had no cause to treat you with disrespect.

[delcecchi]

Aren't you supposed to tell them BEFORE you pull the meter?

[CAMAN]

I know Xcel will come out and disconnect the meter free of charge if you just call and ask them. My main breaker went bad so I called and they came out the next day and disconnected it, told the guy I would be done in a couple minutes so he waited and when I got done he reconnected everything again.

I would never open the meter myself, no matter if I had permission from the electric company or not, too much uncontrolled power to be messing with in there.

[Whoaru99]

Aren't you supposed to tell them BEFORE you pull the meter?

Apparently.

But that's not what I did. Figured no big deal I'll call them to reaseal it when I'm done and inspected. Found out that's not the way it works, or at least not supposed to work.

[BobT]

Quote:

But that's not what I did. Figured no big deal I'll call them to reaseal it when I'm done and inspected. Found out that's not the way it works, or at least not supposed to work.

Or how they would like it to work. At any rate they still had no cause to be disrespectful and I for one would not put up with it.

[delcecchi]

Hard for them to know how many weeks you had it pulled, eh?

[BobT]

About how hard it is for me to know how long their defective meter has resulted in overcharging me for power I guess. It’s a two-way street. That lock doesn’t do anything more than raise awareness to the possibility of someone tampering with the meter or possibly stealing power but proves nothing. It’s put in place as a measure of protection and although a legitimate concern they have no cause to be disrespectful to their customers – at least not on a first time occurrence. There’s no reason they can’t just request their customers contact them before removing the lock rather than lecturing the customer and treating them with condescension after the fact. This is business school of courtesy 101.

[bobbymalone]

This is business school of courtesy 101.

Yeah, I'd be so steamed I'd switch service providers... Oh, wait.

[delcecchi]

Yeah, no need to be snotty for sure. But I suppose after you have dealt with a bunch of people, some number of whom are trying a scam one might lose his perspective.

[BobT]

There's truth in that too.

[delcecchi]

I recall the meter at the cabin, Lake Country Power, having some sort of big warning about not breaking the seal. So I went outside at my house here in Rochester to see. This is a meter that is only a few years old due to a service upgrade. Nada. One tiny sticker saying only certified people should risk messing around. No warnings, no "do not remove" on the seal, nothing. This was Rochester Public Utilities.

For what that information is worth....

[jentz]

Those older meters you clip the seal and turn them upside down and they run backwards.There is the main reason for leaving the seal attached.Now my new service has no seal,If I try to steal any elec. the computer controled meter reads it anyway.

Who ever is replacing or repairing a older meter it may need upgraded to a socket with a bipass,check with your elec.supplier.