Like everything in the digital revolution, new electronic meters are programmable and provide more information than just kWh and kW demand for cooperatives and their larger power customers. Solid-state electronic meters have other advantages. Safety, for example, is enhanced because of the extended 120 to 480 voltage range. Extended ranges mean significantly lower inventory cost. And without moving parts, solid-state meters are inherently tamper resistant.
Vendors sell features with single-phase electronic meters to sweeten the deal.
We just want a little old single-phase meter that has the numbers across the front that says this is how much power the customer used. We are self-read on the residential side, and servicemen read the large power account customers. The co-op has been using polyphase electronic meters from General Electric, ABB, Siemens and Schlumberger for six years. The diagnostic tools coming with electronic meters now are just phenomenal. Load profiles will be extremely important in a deregulated market, he adds.