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jchambers28
Premium Member
join:2007-05-12
Peculiar, MO
·Comcast XFINITY

jchambers28

Premium Member

[Electrical] Smartmeter dead by power surge.

Had a storm last night smart meter took a power surge. It's dead any one heard of such a thing? the LCD is blank It's also not reporting back to the POCO I check thier usage monitoring page showing no power use. How long before they notice it's dead? Free power this weekend.

tschmidt
MVM
join:2000-11-12
Milford, NH
·Consolidated Com..
·Republic Wireless
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tschmidt

MVM

Interesting: complex electronic meters are more vulnerable to lightning then old style mechanical meters. We took a direct lightning hit many years ago and both mechanical meters (power and hot water) came through fine.

Wonder how often that sort of failure occurs? That represents big bucks to the utility, lost usage reporting and the cost of a truck roll to replace the meter.

Our utility is in the process of upgrading to electronic meters. But due to citizen resistance they are not calling them smart meters but AMR - automatic meter reading. Bottom line they have the same measurement electronics the only difference is how the information is accessed.

/tom

jchambers28
Premium Member
join:2007-05-12
Peculiar, MO
·Comcast XFINITY

jchambers28

Premium Member

My friend Mike who works for them said "we replaced your $30 meter with a $300 smart meter IMO they cost us more money that what it's worth". One time a meter reported a power outage from a electrician upgrading the electric service and they had to drive 45 minutes away to see what caused the outage. He did not call the POCO to say work was being done. They lost some money that day.

Grumpy4
Premium Member
join:2001-07-28
NW CT

1 recommendation

Grumpy4 to jchambers28

Premium Member

to jchambers28
If this were to occur with CT's CL&P, I would be willing to wager five figures that an estimated amount would be tacked on to the next bill.

More CL&P fun stuff -- if CL&P does not feel like doing meter readings, they estimate bills, ALWAYS way on the high side, and in my experience, at roughly twice the amount due. I am of a belief they does this for cash flow tweakage.

When I paid my estimated bill in it's usual amount and less than their extreme price, they billed me interest on the artificially created unpaid balance due. I checked my back for lash marks after I opened said bill.

If I had a lot of money and time, I would have overpaid them by $600,000 or so, then take them to court for interest balance due to me while awaiting a refund. Probably wouldn't have won, but it would somehow have been worth it to make them hire a lawyer and shove a bug up their "bonnet."
lutful
... of ideas
Premium Member
join:2005-06-16
Ottawa, ON

lutful to tschmidt

Premium Member

to tschmidt
said by tschmidt:

Wonder how often that sort of failure occurs?

I looked at the PCB guts of several smart meters. They had basic surge protection only for the AC terminals.

Many meter enclosures are plastic, with no shielding around the smart circuitry. That could allow lightning induced current directly on the PCB tracks.

comeonreally
@69.118.94.x

-1 recommendation

comeonreally to jchambers28

Anon

to jchambers28
So you know the meter is not working and you are not gona call it in, you think saying HEY GUYS LOOK I'M STEALING POWER online is a better plan.

Okay...

jchambers28
Premium Member
join:2007-05-12
Peculiar, MO

jchambers28

Premium Member

I already called their "EMERGENCY NUMBER" they told me to call back Monday.

TX meter
@70.198.132.x

TX meter to jchambers28

Anon

to jchambers28
My meter failed three times in four years. Twice it was due to lightning and once the are thinking it was the extreme heat of the west Texas sun on the west side of the house. My nearest neighbors are over four miles away and the highest thing around are the power lines and it gets hot in Texas, I guess someone didn't think this electronic meter thing through very well. After the third failure, my meter is now an electromechanical unit with an AMR module. At least the meter is registers the correct usage even if the module fails. Haven't had any problems since they ditched the electronic meter.

As for free power, they'll estimate your usage and bill accordingly. Any errors in estimating will more than likely be in favor of the POCO or COOP. I'd let them know ASAP so your estimated usage is kept to a minimum.
TX meter

TX meter

Anon

Never mind the notify the POCO part. Our posts "crossed in the mail".

jchambers28
Premium Member
join:2007-05-12
Peculiar, MO

jchambers28

Premium Member

Like I said they told me to call back Monday That tells me they are thinking it's not urgent at all.
tomupnorth
join:2005-01-14
UpperMidwest

tomupnorth to jchambers28

Member

to jchambers28
said by jchambers28:

Free power this weekend.

Heck you could have free power ALL MONTH if you wait instead for THEM to notice it. I'm a little surprised that they would make you call them back and not say instead "THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR TELLING!" and report it to the repair dept themselves.

donald kwth
@206.47.249.x

donald kwth

Anon

free hydro!!! dont complain, enjoy it while it lasts

chip89
Premium Member
join:2012-07-05
Columbia Station, OH

1 recommendation

chip89 to jchambers28

Premium Member

to jchambers28
This might be why Firstenergy still does't use smart meters.

Grumpy4
Premium Member
join:2001-07-28
NW CT

Grumpy4 to jchambers28

Premium Member

to jchambers28
said by jchambers28:

... they told me to call back Monday.

Translation:

"Even though you are the paying customer, we're too lazy to take a message."

"Enjoy your 2nd and unnecessary foray into our web of voice prompt Hell, and thank you for choosing Incompetent Electric."
kherr
Premium Member
join:2000-09-04
Collinsville, IL

kherr to jchambers28

Premium Member

to jchambers28
Around here they'll hang you by your balls if an individual/electrician pulls a meter. They unplug'em and plug'em back in, unless it's an emergency.

IowaCowboy
Lost in the Supermarket
Premium Member
join:2010-10-16
Springfield, MA

IowaCowboy to tschmidt

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to tschmidt
Our utility (Western Mass Electric/ Northeast Utilities) has been using AMR since the mid '90s.

Difference is AMR is like an old fashioned meter but the total usage is read by driving by in a truck as opposed to a meter reader entering the yard to read the meter. Smart meters are online meters that are either connected by either a mesh network/Wi-Max/Cellular that report much more than total usage and they report things like load/demand/and minute by minute usage. Grandma's utility has smart meters and I have her house set up for the online management tool and watching the usage hour by hour is kind of cool, but some people don't like the concept. When I turn on the lamp by the WeMo switch I have set up I can see the jump in usage.

As for the OPs concern, I'd say the meter is cooked. Lightning can do a number on household appliances. He'd be lucky if his electronics still worked. One of the personalities on the Weather Channel said if your house takes a direct lightning hit, you can kiss your electronics goodbye no matter how good the surge protectors you have on them.

Jack_in_VA
Premium Member
join:2007-11-26
North, VA

Jack_in_VA

Premium Member

said by IowaCowboy:

One of the personalities on the Weather Channel said if your house takes a direct lightning hit, you can kiss your electronics goodbye no matter how good the surge protectors you have on them.

That was an accurate statement. Nothing can protect electronics or just about everything else from a direct lightning strike. Most of us don't have a lightning protection system on our homes with air terminals that are properly grounded.

pende_tim
Premium Member
join:2004-01-04
Selbyville, DE

pende_tim to jchambers28

Premium Member

to jchambers28
said by jchambers28:

That tells me they are thinking it's not urgent at all.

No not urgent to them. They will estimate the bill for the weekend and however long replacement takes, probably in their favor as you have no proof they are incorrect.
microphone
Premium Member
join:2009-04-29
Parkville, MD

microphone

Premium Member

The difference is that with the old meters an estimated bill would be corrected once a real reading of the analog meter was conducted. Now it will remain the power company's guess forever since the true measure was lost. It should be law that if you cannot later resolve an estimated reading to a factual result the power is free. That will ensure that damaged meters are quickly replaced.

nunya
LXI 483
MVM
join:2000-12-23
O Fallon, MO
·Charter

nunya to jchambers28

MVM

to jchambers28
I have to call the power company and tell them I'm pulling a meter. In St. Louis, I can pull them myself. In the St. Charles area, they send a guy out.
They do roll on "unresponsive" meters. AFA they know, it's an outage. It's a good way to catch "electricians" who we refer to as "meter poppers". They pop the meter and try to swap the panel without a permit. The power company arrives shuts off the service and won't restore until it's stickered (passed inspection). I've had quite a few of these "electricians" call me in a panic because they got busted. I use the term "electrician" loosely. Most of these chumps are unlicensed handymen or unlicensed moonlighters who have no business changing out services.
lutful
... of ideas
Premium Member
join:2005-06-16
Ottawa, ON

lutful to Jack_in_VA

Premium Member

to Jack_in_VA
said by Jack_in_VA:

said by IowaCowboy:

One of the personalities on the Weather Channel said if your house takes a direct lightning hit, you can kiss your electronics goodbye no matter how good the surge protectors you have on them.

That was an accurate statement. Nothing can protect electronics or just about everything else from a direct lightning strike. Most of us don't have a lightning protection system on our homes with air terminals that are properly grounded.

It is certainly possible to protect ALL indoor electronics from a direct lightning strike to an improperly grounded home, a totally ungrounded home, a home floating in water, or even the flying home in the movie UP.

Some of the technical aspects, which usually confound typical electricians, have been described in various threads in that WISP forum FAQ.

pjsutton
join:2013-06-25
Kempton, PA

pjsutton to chip89

Member

to chip89
said by chip89:

This might be why Firstenergy still does't use smart meters.

I have First Energy (Met-Ed) in PA and the PA PUC requires them to charge us "smart meter fees" in order to one day be able to provide everyone with a smart meter. So we are paying for it now and don't even have one yet!

Met-Ed estimates readings every other month.

chip89
Premium Member
join:2012-07-05
Columbia Station, OH

1 recommendation

chip89

Premium Member

Ouch I don't I do. As far I know FirstEnergy does't have any plans to put smart maters in anytime soon.... (Probably because power is so cheap here.)

Anonymous_
Anonymous
Premium Member
join:2004-06-21
127.0.0.1

Anonymous_ to microphone

Premium Member

to microphone
said by microphone:

The difference is that with the old meters an estimated bill would be corrected once a real reading of the analog meter was conducted. Now it will remain the power company's guess forever since the true measure was lost. It should be law that if you cannot later resolve an estimated reading to a factual result the power is free. That will ensure that damaged meters are quickly replaced.

they will not lose much money 50-95% of your bill is just TAXES and FEES.

they get you on

solar fee
nuclear waste fee
nuclear production fee
taxes
misc taxes
fuel costs
regulatory fees
etc....

so the 5$ is the actual cost of the power used

with taxes & fees it's about $30-$35

power co have a big giant scam going on
Hellrazor
Bah Humbug
join:2002-02-02
Abyss, PA

Hellrazor to pjsutton

Member

to pjsutton
said by pjsutton:

I have First Energy (Met-Ed) in PA and the PA PUC requires them to charge us "smart meter fees" in order to one day be able to provide everyone with a smart meter. So we are paying for it now and don't even have one yet!

Yup, it is great isn't it. The big companies can't afford them and the little electric coop at my cabin has them installed for years. Figure that out...

Montana48
@166.147.104.x

Montana48

Anon

Doesn't make sense. The coop here started offering "Turtle Meters" back in the early 90's for no extra charge as a convenience so members didn't have to self read and either mail in the bill card or call the reading in. They've since upgraded the SCADA system to TWACS, added the ability to monitor daily usage, pulling readings on-demand via the coop website, system status and reliability monitoring, remote disconnect/reconnect and prepay service for those who have trouble paying their bill. Here again, no extra charges. Here they retrofitted most of the single-phase mechanical spinner meters with modules for AMR. Aside from the module, my meter is the same one that was installed in 1984 before the coop did any sort of AMR.
scooper
join:2000-07-11
Kansas City, KS
·Google Fiber

scooper to jchambers28

Member

to jchambers28
For the first time ever - we got an estimated bill . It appears to me that Duke charged about 6/7th of what our usual bill should be, so I'm expecting an additional $30 charge on the JUly bill to make up. It seems strange to me that they can't "read the meter" over the power lines - there was a power outage to the house for a short time while we were on vacation - that may be when our meter reading was scheduled...

LadyL
Premium Member
join:2002-09-18
Lorain, OH

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Boooost
@76.65.143.x

Boooost to jchambers28

Anon

to jchambers28
So who ever looks at their electric meter if their electricity is on? Why would anyone ever expect you to notice a problem or to call it in?

jchambers28
Premium Member
join:2007-05-12
Peculiar, MO
·Comcast XFINITY

jchambers28

Premium Member

Click for full size
Because I am on Standard High critical summer rate. between 2 and 7 and at a low rate after 7PM If I did not monitor it my bill would be threw the roof.