Quetion for all you electrician kind of guys

[Dargo]

Is it normal for an electric meter, from the utility company, to run with nothing attached to it? I haven't had a chance to wire up much in my newer barn and when I added it my utility company had to run another drop from the transformer to it because I was already using all of the 600 amp service run to my home and I wanted to put 200 amps to that barn. Anyway, it's a completely separate run with it's own meter. Since not much is attached to it except one outlet, two vehicle lifts (wired direct with their own breakers), overhead lights, 2 outlets for welders (nothing attached to them currently) and a dusk to dawn light (similarly with it's own breaker).

For some reason I looked at the meter a couple of days ago and noticed that the meter was slowly turning when nothing was on. I figured no big deal and that I likely had something with a transformer plugged into the outlet inside such as a cordless tool battery charger. Upon further inspection, nothing was plugged in. Getting more curious, I flipped all breakers off and looked again; still turning. Hmm, since I had the cover off of the panel, I pulled the 200 amp breaker out of the box, leaving absolutely nothing attached; still turning. Is that normal?

It's a really, really simple setup with the utility company riser coming up on the outside of the barn with a meter on top of it and my breaker panel directly on the other side of the meter inside the barn. Nothing else is fed from that run and nothing is attached to it now. Still, the meter makes 3.8 revolutions per hour, every hour, with nothing attached. What am I missing? That just doesn't seem right to me. With no panel attached and nothing but what the utility company sitting there shouldn't the meter be motionless? I can't help but wonder...

 

[jbos333]

I don't have the answer for you, but I have a similar situation. I have a 200a service to a utility building on some otherwise vacant land. Don't leave anything at all plugged in; in fact have only 1 110v outlet on 1 15a breaker- haven't got around to wiring it yet.

I haven't watched my meter turn, but I "use" about 1/2-1 Kwh a month. It still falls under my "minimum" charge for just being connected, which is about $16.50/mo.

So I too am curious about your situation.

 

[LBrown59]

Meter should not be turning .

 

[dave1949]

Meter should not be turning .

That's what we all think, we want to know why it is turning.
Dave.

 

[randy41]

does the meter itself use power? is there a leak to ground?

 

[zzvyb6]

My meters were just replaced by new ones which have an automatic "call home" feature to report the meter readings. This remote feature lets them get actual accurate digital readings without someone having to come onto the property. I presume it costs some juice to do this. You could pull the meter off and see if you have the perpetual motion version...

 

[Dargo]

does the meter itself use power? is there a leak to ground?

I've been told that the meters do not use any energy. However, the only thing hooked up is the utility company's equipment and all of it was installed by them. Call my cynical, but throw in an extra 3.8 turns per hour on every single meter with every single customer and I'm seeing a HUGE amount of additional income to the utility company through less than above board methods.

 

[Ductape]

The electric company charges you for the electricity it takes to run the meter.

 

[czechsonofagun]

When our pole transformer went bad, the meter was not moving, but I agree with Ductape - the company charges you for the power to measure your consumption.

 

[jinman]

About 10 years ago, I had a pole with a meter-drop on it and a main breaker box attached like you would have for an RV. Nothing was attached and the meter did not move. However, I got a bill every month with a minimum charge. I figured that was okay for the "if I ever need it" convenience. When the minimum charge jumped to $25, I made a call to the electric company to have them come disconnect the meter and pull their pole.

Dargo, my guess is that your meter is registering some power used, but it is below the minimum billable usage. What used to drive me crazy was the state and federal taxes they would attach to even the minimum charge when I was using zero electricity.

 

[LBrown59]

*I've been told that the meters do not use any energy. However, the only thing hooked up is the utility company's equipment and all of it was installed by them. Call my cynical, but throw in an extra 3.8 turns per hour on every single meter with every single customer and 2*I'm seeing a HUGE amount of additional income to the utility company through less than above board methods.

1*I have been too.
2*I couldn't agree more.

The electric company charges you for the electricity it takes to run the meter.

Point is the meter should not be running when no electric is being used.

When our pole transformer went bad, the meter was not moving, but I agree with Ductape - the company
charges you for the power to measure your consumption.

BB BU BUT There isn't any valid consumption for the meater to measure when there is nothing electrical connected to the meter. [/quote]

 

[ultrarunner]

I had to install a meter for my sprinkler timer and one 12 watt outdoor photo-electric driveway light.

Meter has been in for 5 years and only registered a few kilowatts... several months at a time the usage shows ZERO even though there is the 12 watt light and Lawn Genie Sprinkler Timer...

To make a long story short... the property is a duplex and the tenant complained to the city the driveway was too dark and city had me install a light... then she complained I was using her electricity to light the light... I offered to pay her and the city sided with her that it's a common area light and it's my responsibility...

Anyway, I pulled a permit after showing the building the department why... they got a laugh after they determined I was trying to add another unit...

Standby Meter fee is about $6 per month and that is what I'm charged...

 

[kenstrac]

Do you have a smart meter thats a meter that the power co. does not come out to read its done at the office and sends a signal back to them and if you loose power they know in a matter of minutes and check for a problem and correct it.A small price to pay for not loosing electricity,heat ,fridge etc.
If you have a large service it will have current transformers and I have seen those turn a slight amount with the power off.

 

[Dargo]

Do you have a smart meter thats a meter that the power co. does not come out to read its done at the office and sends a signal back to them and if you loose power they know in a matter of minutes and check for a problem and correct it.A small price to pay for not loosing electricity,heat ,fridge etc.
If you have a large service it will have current transformers and I have seen those turn a slight amount with the power off.

I hate to sound a dumb as I look, but I don't know what kind of meter it is other than it says it's made by GE and has that glass cover over the meter sort of like the bottom half of a gallon can of paint, if the can was glass. Generally I do only pay the minimum charge because I don't use much there right now. My main thought is that everybody, at least in my area, is getting overcharged for their electric power due to these meters not being correct.

I did call my utility company and that was frustrating to say the least. The woman on the phone kept telling me that she's sure that I'm just forgetting about some clock or TV being plugged in somewhere that I forgot about. She seemed unable to grasp the fact that, without any doubt, nothing is hooked up to the service and that I've even pulled the 200 amp breaker that would have to be in place for anything to receive power.

Personally, I now honestly think that the utility company intentionally has their meters running just that little bit extra to charge everyone on their entire grid just a bit more each month. No one place really notices the extra amount, there seems to be no way to prove what they are doing, and with a million or two meters showing a bit of "extra" usage the additional profit is quite substantial. When they won't send someone to check it and the customer service person 'assures' me that I have something plugged in (It's not a freaking house!!) and promptly dismisses me, I smell a rat. Now the real question; is there anything that can be done about it? Maybe it only amounts to an extra $3 to $5 a month on a person's bill. Still, it seems like this monopoly of a service is completely free to overcharge if they choose with no possible repercussions.

Heck, since GE made the meter and their stock is in the toilet, maybe they are in cahoots with the utility company to regain some lost capital.

 

[kenstrac]

My meter is also a GE it looks like a regular meter it has a little flashing diode that you can not see in the daylight and the meter reader never comes to the house.That's what they call a smart meter.

 

[ultrarunner]

In CA you could always file a complaint with the Public Utilities Commission... or start the process.

Had a problem with the water company once and was not getting anywhere over a meter issue... I said it was wrong and they replaced it... but it was still wrong.

I met the supervisor at his office to verify nothing could be done to resolve the issue and that I had exhausted all my options... he said yes that nothing more could be done...

I took out a complaint form and started filling it out in the waiting area and asked the clerk several questions to make sure I was filling it out accurately... when she didn't know the answers, I asked her to call someone that did... my problem was magically resolved that day by the operations director... imagine that?

Seems the first one that had been there 50 plus years just wore out and the replacement was defective...

In another life I was an arbitrator of consumer disputes... always be polite, verify the information and jot down names and dates before escalating to the next level... and be persistent!

 

[LBrown59]

I did call my utility company and that was frustrating to say the least. The woman on the phone kept telling me that she's sure that I'm just forgetting about some clock or TV being plugged in somewhere that I forgot about. *She seemed unable to grasp the fact that, without any doubt, nothing is hooked up to the service and that I've even pulled the 200 amp breaker that would have to be in place for anything to receive power.

*But she did work for the power co. didn't she?
That makes her automatically know more about it than you do don't Ya know?

 

[jayste]

I'd try a few more attempts to the power company. If they don't seem too interested maybe the TV station reporter would. Especially if they suspect this is being done to a lot of people.

Jay

 

[MossRoad]

Here, read the last letter on this page...
Ask Mr. Electricity: Questions about Electric Meters

 

[dmccarty]

Nice link. The guy needs a haircut though! His hair looks like what happens to a Looney Tune character who sticks his finger in the electrical outlet.

Later,
Dan