All meters normally will be located outdoors. The Customer shall provide and maintain space to accommodate the meters. This space shall be readily accessible to Company representatives for meter reading, testing or maintenance.
Meter-mounting equipment for various kinds of service installations shall be installed so that the top of the socket or enclosure will be the following distances above the final ground level or floor:
Residential, Outdoor 3-1/2 to 6 feet
Residential, Indoor 5 to 6 feet
(Special Permission Only)
Mobile home pedestal 3-1/2 to 5 feet
Free Standing Meter Installations 5 Feet
(See Figure 21) Contact the Division Office for Instructions
Meter enclosures with doors opening up, to an overhead position 6 feet
All Transockets 5 to 6 feet
All other non-residential installations 5 to 6 feet
Apartment group installations with combination meter and breaker assemblies mounted indoors (See Figure 21).
Locations which interfere with pedestrian or vehicular traffic shall be avoided. A level three-foot clear space in front of the meter, suitable for a repairman to work from, shall be provided and maintained at all times.
The Customer shall install the meter socket or transformer cabinet so that it is plumb, tight and level. All mounting holes provided in the meter socket shall be used, and no additional mounting holes shall be drilled.
Sockets mounted hardware shall be installed into brick, concrete block, studs or the equivalent. On metal, vinyl or wood lap siding, a backing of 3/4 inch thick outdoor plywood shall be attached to two studs and shall be of sufficient strength to securely mount the socket.
Meters may be mounted on a Customer's pole or support structure. Approval for such an installation shall be obtained from the Division Office. A pole-mounted meter is shown in Figure 8. An example of a support structure is shown in Figure 21.
Where aluminum conductors are used, an oxidation inhibitor shall be applied in a proper manner to all conductors before they are placed into the meter socket terminals.
Except for multimeter installations having more than six meters, the meter socket or the instrument-transformer cabinet shall be located on the supply side of the Customer's service equipment.
Meter sockets for use on single-phase, 120/208 volt services shall have a fifth terminal mounted in the 9 o'clock position. The Customer shall provide, install and connect the fifth terminal shown in Figure 16.
Metered and unmetered conductors shall not be installed in the same meter socket, conduit, wireway, or wiring trough. Meter sockets shall not be used as junction boxes. All cabinets, pull boxes and wireways or wiring troughs which contain unmetered conductors shall have provisions for sealing.
In all three-phase installations the service-entrance conductors shall be identified at the service head or fitting in accordance with the connections at the meter socket or Transocket. This is necessary to ensure proper metering.
For the proper method of connecting line and load conductors, see Figure 16 for meter sockets and Figure 17 and Figure 18 for Transocket assemblies.
Meter Socket Grounding
Meter sockets or enclosures shall not be used for the purpose of grounding cable TV, telephone or any other service lines.
Self-contained meter sockets and transockets shall not be separately grounded unless the electrical inspection agency requires the neutral conductor to be isolated in the socket, or the socket is used on an ungrounded 230 volt service. All instrument transformer rated sockets and enclosures shall be grounded. Refer to Figure 21.
Refer to Section 3.4 Service Grounding for more information.
Company representatives, who are properly identified, shall have full and free access to the customer's premises at all reasonable times for the purpose of reading Company meters, for inspection and repairs, for removal of Company property, or for any other purpose or incident to the service. The customer should immediately communicate with the Company in case of any question as to the authority or credentials of Company representatives.
When scheduled readings of kilowatt hour and demand meters are not obtained, the Company may render an interim statement for each month until the meters are read.
Duquesne Light Company (DLC) also may terminate electric service and remove its equipment from the premises upon reasonable notice in case meter readers or other authorized representatives of the Company cannot gain admittance or are refused admittance to the premises for the purpose of reading meters, making repairs, making inspections, or removing Company property, or in case the customer interferes with Company representatives in the performance of their duties.