A neighbor (Northern NJ) had his electric meter replaced (he says the POCO just did it for no apparent reason) with a brand-new, shiny digital meter. His service was relatively new, 200 amps. (Installed less than 5 years ago.)

Now he can't watch the wheel go 'round (wheeee!) anymore. Is there any advantage to the digital meters? Do they allow for remote reading? I would think that the pole-mounted transformer would kill any ability to "converse" with the meter via PLC. If there is a workaround for that, then I guess remote shut-offs will be next

I'll try to have more info later (brand name, etc.)

Mr. Endean: Have you seen these?

TG:
THe digital meters are the replacements from PSE&G and GPU (JCP&L)
You're up north, so it could be Orange/Rockland also.
A phone call to them may get you some info on the digital meters.
What I heard is they are "cheaper" than the mechanical models that they are replaceing, and they can be read with a "scanner" device instead of "reading" the dials.
I know a meter supervisor from GPU/JCP&L and if you have any further interest, I could put you in contact with him. (Morristown, NJ, Ridgedale Meter Shop)
Also, PSE&G has "meter shops" in Clifton, and Secaucus if they are close to you.
BTW, did you find work??
John

Hi, John.

PSE&G is the one I'm not far from Clifton. OK, alright, I'll just throw it out there. I'm in Passaic.

Nope. Didn't find work yet. I did put an app in at the local in Paramus. I'm waiting for a testing date.

Thanks for asking and thanks for the answers. ( I figured there was a way the meters can be read more easily than the older ones. Seems all the utilities are heading that way. Yet a call to PSE&G indicated that I would need to pay them to install a remote on the gas meter. No thanks... )

Check to make sure that they are completely digital, PPL just ran around and changed all of ours to the remote read type. If you look at just the right angle, you can see that there is still a wheel inside going round and round .

BTW, My brand new service was in for two months, then they came around and replaced the meter, and the bill came in at 18000 dollars

Seems the remote read part isn't working yet, and the reader read it wrong

TW

TW, the type you described is officially called a "hybrid" meter.

Roughly five years ago, electronic meters became cheaper than electromechanicals for polyphase service. For 1ø, basic single-rate electromechanicals are still essentially a commodity item.

One advantage of microprocessor-based units is that many are configured with an alternate display mode that will read accurate per-phase voltage and current at the metering point.

Why do those $18k bills never come in as a credit? That would last you for a while

A huge credit bill can get you into legal problems. If you use the money before they find out that "they" have made a mistake, you're toast.

Regarding, the digital meters: I friend of mine worked for a company making remote read meters: They use radio or the cell phone system to transfer data to the Power Company. (I suppose it's cheaper than upgrading the power lines to carry data)

Bjarney: If it keeps track of the voltage, it wouldn't be to hard to design it also to warn in case of under- or overvoltage, would it? (And shut off power in severe cases)

In my area they are starting to use some of these digital models. I know that they did try a model that phoned in the reading, but they didn't use them for long. Some models send a signal and the meter reader just has to drive down the street slowing and gathers all the data without going to the meter. It won't be long before the meter reader is obsolete.

C-H, as for "…keeps track of the voltage,"—it sounds like a good idea, but would it imply a protective function {with switching and other external wiring.} Most utilities here make the customer/user responsible for that function.

ThinkGood...we have those meters here as well.we also have them on the gas and water service too.the truck drives down the street to read the meter.no more banging on the door to read the meter.but on the other hand i'm sure it cost someone there job too.

The digital "Cell-Net" meters here in Kansas City will give you a read out of volts, amps, kilowatts etc. for each phase. Also will show min and max values for each reading. They are read remotely, been in use here for about 5 years with no problems that I have heard about.

C-H:

Please note that I was joking relative to the credit balance comment. Yes, that certainly would be a way to get into a heap of trouble!

Bjarney:

My idea was that if there is a control mechanism at the costumers end, it would give the utility an opportunity to guarantee that the voltage stays within limits and - more importantly - that the neutral connection is intact and that the service therefore is safe to use. As a remote read meter already contains much of what is needed for this, it seemed logical to include these functions in it.

ThinkGood: I did understand that you were joking. But it reguarly comes up in the papers here. "The bank/my employer/some company sent me money by mistake and now want them back." One guy found himself $30 millions richer. Too bad that they won't let you keep the money

[This message has been edited by C-H (edited 01-28-2003).]

C-H: I hear you...

The meters are Schlumberger CENTRON™ . I didn't look closely, but I did see the big sticker on the side with a warning that the circuit boards have dangerous voltages.

Front:


Side:

TG:
The meter in your pic, is it at your neighbors??? There's no utility ID, meter #, etc. Did you block out the tag???
Or is the pic from the mfg website??
John

The major advantage of the newer digital meters is that they are a solid state device, therefore the starting wattage is much lower and there are no moving parts to wear out or get damaged in transit. A newer mechanical meter needs approx 30 watt of load to start the disk moving,(I remember reading GE literature in the 80s, that stated the starting wattage then was over 60 watts.) but the starting wattage for a digital is much lower, down arround 5 watts.

The digital meters are also capable of performing more than just energy measurement as others have stated, the processor allows for per phase measurement of voltage and amperage and easier interconnection to radio, telephone or power line carrier transmitters for data retrieval. Also, as the demand for these meters rose, the cost for a basic digital kilowatt hour meter has fallen below the cost of a Kilowatt hour mechanical meter.