W. Va. Code R. § 150-3-6

Current through Register Vol. XLI, No. 50, December 13, 2024

Section 150-3-6 - Inspections and Tests

6.1. Meter testing facilities and equipment.

6.1.1. Meter test shop -- Each utility furnishing electric service shall provide such laboratory, meter testing shop, instruments and equipment as may be necessary to determine the accuracy of its customers' meters, as required by these rules. A utility desiring to have tests made by another utility or agency may, upon application to the Commission, be relieved of the requirement to own and operate testing equipment, upon condition that the proposed arrangements for tests meet with the Commission's approval.

6.1.2. Measurement standards -- All meter measurements standards shall be calibrated in accordance with national measurement standards traceable to the Bureau of Standards, and all standards owned by the utility for meter measurement purposes shall be recalibrated to such national standards not less frequently than annually.

6.2. Meter test records.

6.2.1. Reporting.

6.2.1.a. All "As Found" and "As Left" (where applicable) tests for accuracy shall be recorded so that the average accuracy can be calculated as specified in Rule 6.4.

6.2.1.b. The test records shall be so kept that they may be readily inspected and checked by the Commission's representative.

6.2.2. Meter records.

6.2.2.a. All meters shall be identified by either a utility assigned number or by the use of the manufacturer's serial number.

6.2.2.b. Suitable records of each meter shall be kept which will show identifying number, location, type and size.

6.2.3. Reports to Commission -- Each utility shall also make monthly or quarterly reports, in accordance with the requirements of the Commission, on Form E.D. No. 2 or such other form as may be prescribed, of meter tests, number of customers and amount of refunds. These reports must be filed not later than thirty (30) days after the expiration of the period covered by the reports.

6.3. Sealing meters -- All meters tested to comply with these rules shall be sealed by the metering technician performing the work. The seal shall be of a type acceptable to the Commission. Those utilities using a compression type lead seal shall have as a sealing tool a device furnished with dyes which shall bear the initial of the utility. Utilities using a snap tin type seal shall have the seal stamped in a similar manner.

6.4. Accuracy requirements for watthour meters -- Meter Testing Requirements specified in the most current edition of the American National Standard for Electricity Meters (ANSI C12.1) shall apply unless noted.

6.4.1. Installation accuracy.

6.4.1.a. New meter devices shall be 100% tested by either the utility or the manufacturer. If the new metering devices are 100% tested by the manufacturer, then the utility shall sample test those devices in accordance with the ANSI/ASOC Z1.9 (Mil Std 414) Standard.

6.4.1.b. All meters being returned to service, once removed from service, should be tested before being returned to service, unless

6.4.1.b.1. a meter is being transferred from a temporary service to a permanent service at the same premises, or

6.4.1.b.2. the meter is the manufacturer's latest single-phase model- or series-type and,

6.4.1.b.2.A. the meter is not damaged or in need of repair and,

6.4.1.b.2.B. the register can easily be read through the cover and,

6.4.1.b.2.C. the meter's seal is intact and no evidence of tampering is present.

6.4.1.c. All tests provided for in this rule shall be made at the place of permanent location of the meter on the customer's premises or in a mobile testing unit or in a suitable meter testing site, including the utility's meter testing shop.

6.4.1.d. No final tests or checking of any customer's watthour meter, or other device employed to measure in any way the service furnished to a utility's customer, shall be made by other than an employee or agent of the utility who has been qualified by the utility, and certified by the Commission to do such work or a meter manufacturer.

6.4.1.e. The custom sometimes followed in the past of putting a meter in service without adjusting it, if it is found to be less than two percent (2%) in error, is not satisfactory. It is required that meters be adjusted to the highest degree of accuracy commercially practicable before installation. A tolerance of one percent (1%) fast or slow is sufficient for any utility which carefully supervises its meter shop. With such tolerance, meters will start in service as nearly correct as it is practicable to have them. It is possible to set all but a very few old type meters within one-half percent (1/2%) of one hundred percent (100%) percent accuracy, and these older styles can be set within one percent (1%) of one hundred percent (100%) accuracy. It shall be understood that the allowance of this variation from one hundred percent (100%) accuracy does not mean that the meter be set in error by this amount; the tolerance allows only for the unavoidable irregularity of the work on a commercial scale, and the average of the errors should be practically zero, substantially as many being slightly slow as are slightly fast. Polyphase meters shall be so adjusted at full rated test current and fifty percent (50%) lagging power factor within a tolerance of two percent (2%) fast or slow when tests are made in laboratory.

6.4.2. Load definition -- Light load shall be approximately five (5) to ten (10%) percent of rated test current. Heavy load shall be not less than sixty-five percent (65%) nor more than one hundred ten percent (110%) of rated test current. When, however, operating conditions are such that the greater portion of the consumption is recorded at a point possible of determination, the test for heavy load should be at that load level.

6.4.3. Meter test loads.

6.4.3.a. Meters, upon customer's complaint or request, should be tested at two (2) points, namely, light load or approximately ten percent (10%) of rated test current, and at heavy load or from sixty-five percent (65%) to one hundred ten percent (110%) of the rated test current of the meter.

6.4.3.b. The final average accuracy of tests shall be determined as equal to the weighted average of the percentage registration at light load (LL) and at full load (FL), giving the full load registration a weight of four. Thus, average (or weighted) percentage accuracy = (4FL + 1LL) / 5.

6.4.3.c. For meters tested by a manual test method, at least two (2) tests shall be made at each load, but should they fail to agree within one percent (1%), additional tests shall be made until consistent results are obtained which do not vary one from another by more than one percent (1%).

6.4.3.d. A watthour meter shall be considered as creeping when, with potential coils energized, but with the load side disconnected, the disc makes one complete revolution in five (5) minutes or less.

6.4.4. Test - how made.

6.4.4.a. All tests to determine the accuracy of registration of any watthour meter shall be made with a suitable portable watthour meter standard or with other proper instruments.

6.4.4.b. The recommended method of testing service type meters is by the use of a suitable portable watthour meter standard. In making such tests the following general method is recommended.

6.4.4.c. The number of disc revolutions used to determine the accuracy of a watthour meter in service shall depend on the test point being determined. In order to eliminate the personal errors inherent in the manual starting and stopping of the reference meter or observing indicating instruments, the time shall not be less than that required to make ten (10) revolutions at the full load point of the moving element of the meter being tested. When suitable devices are employed to automatically start and stop the reference meters in such a manner as to eliminate personal errors, the above number of revolutions may be reduced.

6.4.4.d. Attention is here drawn to the method of determining the error in registration of past consumption as set out in Rule 4.4. That is, the error is, the registration of past consumption divided by the percent accuracy and not registration multiplied by the percent error.

6.5. Accuracy requirement for demand meters -- Demand meters must be adjusted to meet the following accuracy requirements on installation and after periodic or any other test.

6.5.1. Curve drawing instruments -- Electrical element error shall not exceed two percent (2%) of full scale deflection and timing element (rate)....... shall be 0.25 percent (.25%).

6.5.2. Integrated-demand meters -- Electrical element shall be the tolerance specified in Rule 6.4, watthour meters. Where the timing element serves only to measure the demand interval, it should be adjusted if its rate is more than plus or minus two percent (2%) in error. Where the timing element serves also to keep a record of the time of day at which the demand occurs, it should be adjusted if its average rate is more than plus or minus 0.25 percent (.25%) in error.

6.5.3. Lagged-demand meters -- Electromagnetic type meters shall meet two percent (2%) of full-scale deflection. Thermal type meters shall meet four percent (4%) of full-scale deflection.

6.6. Periodic test.

6.6.1. Watthour meters -- All watthour meters installed by the utility for the determination of customer's use of electrical energy shall be tested to insure continued reliability and commercial accuracy of the entire meter system in a manner acceptable to the Commission. Two methods designated A and B are recognized by the Commission for the purpose of scheduling watthour meters for periodic testing. See ANSI C12.1-1995, Appendix D, or the most current edition of the applicable ANSI standard.

6.6.1.a. Method A -- A sampling procedure acceptable to the Commission may be used in the selection of single phase meters for test each year and other types of meters may be sampled in lieu of periodic testing after the utility submits a sampling plan for non-single phase meters and approval is granted. The meters in a statistical sampling plan based on ANSI/ASOC Z1.9 (MIL std 414) shall be grouped into homogeneous lots, such as by manufacturer and type. Each lot shall contain meters manufactured within a consecutive time period and such lots are subject to review and approval as part of the submitted sampling procedure.

6.6.1.b. Method B -- The electric utility may test its watthour meters according to ANSI C12.1-1995, Appendix D, or the most current edition of the applicable ANSI standard.

6.6.2. Demand meters. -- Periodic tests should be made with sufficient frequency to insure continued reliability and commercial accuracy of the demand meter as a whole. The proper periodic test interval will depend upon the inherent reliability of the associated watthour meter.

6.6.2.a. Class 1. Curve drawing meters, except thermal: one (1) year.

6.6.2.b. Class 2. Thermal type meters, both curve drawing and indicating: same as schedule for associated watthour meters.

6.6.2.c. Class 3. Integrated demand meters, and lagged demand meters: same as schedule for associated watthour meters.

6.6.3. Meters with instrument transformers -- Where instrument transformers are used, the rated capacity of the meter is considered to be that of the complete metering installation and is determined by taking into consideration the ratio of the instrument transformers.

6.7. Complaint test.

6.7.1. Procedure -- Upon formal written application to the Public Service Commission by a customer, a test supervised by a qualified representative of the Commission, shall be made upon the customer's meter. The utility owning the meter shall be notified that such a test is to be made and shall have a representative present to perform the test at the direction of the Commission's engineer. A report giving the results of the test shall be made to the customer and the company and a complete record of the test shall be kept by the Commission. A representative of the customer may be present when the complaint test is made.

6.7.2. If a customer requests that a complaint test be made more frequently than once every twenty-four (24) months, and if the meter shall be found to register incorrectly to the customer's prejudice not more than two percent (2%) fast, the customer shall pay the utility the cost of making such test, in accordance with the utility's Commission-approved tariff.

6.8. Request test -- Each utility furnishing metered electric service shall, without charge, make a test of the accuracy of any electric meter upon request of the customer, provided the customer does not request such tests more frequently than once in twenty-four (24) months. If a customer requests a meter tested more frequently than once in twenty-four (24) months and if such meter shall be found to register not more than two (2%) percent fast, the customer shall pay to the utility the cost of making such test. A report giving the result of each test shall be made to the customer and the complete original record shall be kept on file in the office of the utility for at least five (5) years. The customer or his representative may be present when this test is run.

6.9. Meter testing employees.

6.9.1. General requirement -- Each utility shall have in its employ, or shall have access to, one or more competent employees whose duty it shall be to perform such tests, or to supervise such tests, as may be necessary to determine the accuracy of the utility's meters.

6.9.2. Qualification -- A utility desiring to certify an employee to test meters, or to supervise such tests, must secure a qualification card from the Commission; have same executed by the applicant and returned to the Commission; together with a certification by a responsible representative of the utility as to the facts contained on the card. The Commission will thereupon issue a card to the employee, if the applicant's qualifications are satisfactory, stating that the qualification card has been received and filed, and that the employee is authorized to test meters, or to supervise the testing of meters, of the type shown on the card.

6.9.3. Experience requirement -- No employee of the utility shall perform unsupervised testing and repairing of meters or supervise such tests and repairs, unless he/she has had at least six (6) months experience in an electric meter shop, or equivalent experience, part of which time must have been spent working on the type meter for which authority to test, or to supervise such tests, has been requested. All tests must be made or supervised by an authorized employee.

6.10. Direct current meter installation -- Every direct current commutator type watthour meter shall be checked within thirty (30) days after installation, but not before seven (7) days, for correct connections, mechanical condition, proper and suitable location, absence of creep, and accuracy of adjustment at light and heavy load.

W. Va. Code R. § 150-3-6