These are from NFPA so that is what they are thinking. I agree the whole cludge around the meter to service disconnect(s) is one big conductor but they stopped worrying about that sometime around 1999 or 2002. They are specific that you can't reground the neutral on the load side of the service disconnect but they are silent on the line side. The utility will ground it in the meter base if nothing else.
For that matter, you also carry current on the ground electrode system too. We just don't like to think about it.
