AEIC's Meter and Service Committee provides the text of the
Physical Meter Requirements document developed for Direct Access
Metering in California. This information may be of interest to AEIC members
who may want to strengthen their new meter purchasing documents.

This document contains references and requirements
for new meter types. The manufacturers have signed on to these
requirements, that are in addition to the ANSI C12.1-1995 tests requirements
for new meter types.

AEIC does not attest to the accuracy of the document.
Document accuracy should be verified by the original authors.

_______________________________________________________

CHAPTER A

PERMANENT METER PRODUCT STANDARDS

Table of Contents

I. TABLES OF STANDARDS

I-1 Standards Required for Meter Products Used in Direct Access

I-2. Standards Not Required for Meter Products Used in Direct Access
I-3. List of Tests in ANSI C12.1 and C12.20 Standards

II. CERTIFICATION TESTING REQUIREMENTS

II.1. General

II.2. Meter Product Failure Definition

II.3. Meter Type Certification Rejection Criteria

II.4. Test Setup

II.5. ANSI C12.1 Tests

II.6. ANSI C12.20 Tests

II.7. Test A1 - Sunlight Interference Test

III. REGISTRATION AND CENTRALIZED DATABASE

OF FOR DIRECT ACCESS COMPLIANT METERS

IV. REQUIREMENTS FOR STICKERS, SEALING
AND LOCKING HARDWARE

V. REQUIREMENTS FOR LABELING MANUFACTURING DATE
ON NEW METER PRODUCTS

VI. REQUIREMENTS FOR REBUILT, RETROFIT AND REPAIRED
METER PRODUCTS

I. TABLES OF STANDARDS

Definitions of Terms

Meter Product: A device which measures, calculates, records and/or communicates energy consumption data for the purpose of determining the financial obligation for an entity consuming energy. Shall include any optional circuit boards, devices, or modules enclosed within the meter cover.

The following Tables provide a list of standards for meter products. Table I-1 lists standards which shall be requirements for meter products used in Direct Access. Table I-2 lists standards which shall not apply to meter products used in Direct Access and therefore are not requirements.

Table I-1: Standards Required for Meter Products Used in Direct Access

Table I-1: Standards Required for Meter Products Used in Direct Access (continued)

Table I-2: Standards Not Required for Meter Products Used in Direct Access

Table I-3 provides a summary list of tests in ANSI C12.1 and C12.20 Standards, a sunlight test, and ANSI C37.90.1 test. All shall be applied in conjunction with Section II: Certification Testing Requirements. This list also shows the eight tests required to be performed in series.

Table I-3: List of Tests in ANSI C12.1 and C12.20 Standards

II. CERTIFICATION TESTING REQUIREMENTS

This Section describes the certification testing requirements that Meter Products used in Direct Access metering must comply with. These tests are extracted and modified accordingly from the Meter and Data Communication Standards (MDCS) Workshop Report, Appendix A, filed with the California Public Utilities Commission on July 25, 1997 and the Joint Parties Letter, Appendix B, filed with the CPUC on November 24, 1997. This Section shall be used in conjunction with ANSI C12.1 and C12.20 Standards to cover issues that are not currently addressed in the ANSI C12.1 and C12.20 Standards. Some of these issues are: 1) duplication of the field electrical and environmental conditions is necessary to assure safety, 2) not all components of a meter product are required to be included in the meter product during certification testing, 3) reporting of certification tests is not based on all meter products tested, 4) no certification rejection criteria is provided for declaration of success or failure upon completion of certification tests.

II.1. General

II.1.1. The tests specified shall be conducted by qualified facilities. A qualified facility is a facility that has access to the necessary equipment and personnel to perform the testing requirements specified in this document.

II.1.2. Complete performance testing is required for new meter types and for major design changes to existing meter types. If an incremental change or changes are made to an existing meter type, applicable tests shall be performed to assure that Meter Products meet the certification testing requirements as stated in this section.

II.1.3. The manufacturer shall provide a certified test report documenting the tests and their results to the purchaser. The test report shall be signed by the appropriate manufacturer representative(s) and shall include appropriate charts, graphs, and data recorded during testing.

II.1.4. No Meter Products and metering equipment shall be installed before all tests, as outlined in this section, are conducted.

II.1.5. Meter Products selected for certification testing must be representative of production run Meter Products and must meet all applicable FCC regulations.

II.1.6. The following tests shall be conducted in sequence using the same Meter Products selected as specified in II.1.5 above: Insulation, Voltage Interruptions, Effect of High Voltage Line Surges, Effect of Fast Transient/Burst, Effect of Electrostatic Discharge (ESD), Effect of Operating Temperature, Effect of Relative Humidity, and ANSI C37.90.1 (Surge Withstand). Other tests required by ANSI C12.1 and C12.20 may be done either in parallel or in sequence with the same Meter Products or a separate group of Meter Products; however, with the understanding that the same Meter Products must be used for all test procedures within each ANSI-numbered or FCC-numbered test.

II.1.7. All test Meter Products shall be kept as a certification proof for one year after the conclusion of the testing. These test Meter Products shall be made available during this period to any purchaser for inspection, if requested.

II.1.8. Meter Products which fail during the test shall not be repaired or tested further, but can be analyzed to identify the cause of failure.

II.1.9. When the test Meter Products fail to meet these testing requirements and after any correction is made on the new test Meter Products, all tests shall be re-started with the new test Meter Products.

II.1.10. If requested by the purchaser, the manufacturer shall notify the purchaser of the certification test schedule for purchaser’s test witnessing.

II.1.11. If more than a minimum number of Meter Products are certification tested, the test results shall be based on and reported for all Meter Products tested.

II.2. Meter Product Failure Definition

A Meter Product shall be designated as failed if any of the following events occur during or after any certification test:

II.2.1. Failure of the Meter Product to perform all functions as specified in a test procedure.

II.2.2. Failure of the Meter Product to meet the fundamental technical performance specifications as specified by the manufacturer. The fundamental performance must include safety, accuracy and reliability of the Meter Product, and any other functions included in the Meter Product.

II.2.3. Signs of physical damage as a result of a test procedure.

II.2.4. The occurrence of a loss of data or other unacceptable mode of operation for the Meter Product as a consequence of a test procedure.

II.2.5. Failures of either hardware, firmware or software, or a combination thereof.

II.3. Meter Type Certification Rejection Criteria

The meter type certification will be rejected if any of the following events occur:

II.3.1. The Meter Products fail the certification tests as specified in Table II.3.1-a below:

Table II.3.1-a: Table of failures based on Meter Products tested

Examples: The following examples explain how to apply Table II.3.1-a. Also, reference to "the series tests" in this paragraph means tests required to be performed in the series manner as specified in Section II.1.6., and reference to "the parallel tests" means testing is not required to be performed in any particular sequence (either series or parallel).

Example 1: If 3 Meter Products are selected for the series testing and one failure occurs in any test procedure, the meter type certification will be rejected and the entire eight series tests will be started over from the beginning.

Example 2: If 9 Meter Products are selected for the series tests and the first, second, and third failures occur separately in three different tests or test procedures, the meter type certification will be rejected. These failures described here mean that a failure of the first Meter Product during one test procedure, a failure of a second Meter Product during another test procedure, and a failure of a third Meter Product during another test procedure different from the tests that the first two Meter Products have failed previously. Once such failures occur, the entire eight series tests will be started over from the beginning.

However, if 3 Meter Products are selected for a parallel test performed concurrently with the 9 Meter Products selected for the series tests, the rejection criteria for the 3 Meter Products tested in a parallel test shall not apply to the 9 Meter Products tested in series, or vice versa. In addition, if a group of Meter Products tested in a parallel test(s) fails according to the rejection criteria, only the particular failed test(s) needs to be repeated.

II.3.2. The failure of two or more Meter Products during the same test procedure.

II.4. Test Setup

II.4.1. The Meter Product shall be connected to its normal operating supply voltage with a fully charged power failure backup system and shall be energized throughout the duration of the test procedures, unless otherwise stated.

II.4.2. Before testing commences, if necessary, the Meter Product shall be energized for a reasonable period at room temperature for stress relief.

II.5. ANSI C12.1 Tests

All Meter Product certifications shall be performed in accordance with the certification tests described in ANSI C12.1 (NEMA, 1995), unless noted otherwise below.

* Tests 1 through 29: no clarifications required.

* Test 30: meter covers removed during test, temperature limits are defined for operations under California weather conditions as

+85° C = T oper-max,

-20° C = T stor-min

* Test 31 through 38: no clarifications required

* Additional test A1: sunlight interference test is needed for optical pick-up type retrofit modules (not within scope of existing ANSI C12.1-1995 tests) and is further defined below.

* Additional test A2: ANSI C37.90.1 Surge Withstand Testing

The same set of selected Meter Products, as defined by unique meter numbers, will be tested with the following tests performed in series: 15, 16, 17, 25, 28, 30, 31 and A2. Other tests required by ANSI C12.1 may be done either in parallel or in sequence with the same Meter Products or a separate group of Meter Products; however, with the understanding, however, that the same Meter Products must be used for all test procedures within each ANSI-numbered or FCC-numbered test.

These ANSI C12.1 tests are listed and described in Table I-3 above.

II.6. ANSI C12.20 Tests

All Meter Product certifications shall be performed in accordance with the certification tests described in ANSI C12.20 (NEMA, 1998) for 0.2% and 0.5% accuracy class meters, unless noted otherwise below.

* Tests 1 through 26: no clarifications required.

* Test 27: meter covers removed during test, temperature limits are defined for operations under California weather conditions as

+85° C = T oper-max,

-20° C = t stor-min

* Test 28 through 35: no clarifications required

* Additional test A1: sunlight interference test is needed for optical pick-up type retrofit modules (not within scope of existing ANSI C12.20, NEMA-1998 tests) and is further defined below.

* Additional test A2: ANSI C37.90.1 Surge Withstand Testing

The same set of selected Meter Products, as defined by unique meter numbers, will be tested with the following tests performed in series: 12, 13, 14, 22, 25, 27, 28 and A2. Other tests required by ANSI C12.20 may be done either in parallel or in sequence with the same Meter Products or a separate group of Meter Products; however, with the understanding that the same Meter Products must be used for all test procedures within each ANSI-numbered or FCC-numbered test.

These ANSI C12.20 tests are listed and described in Table I-3 above.

II.7. Test A1 - Sunlight Interference Test

A. This test verifies the Meter Product accuracy and full functional operations
under direct sun light.

B. The meter cover shall be removed during this test.

C. The Meter Product shall be exposed to both the incandescent light
source (Lab Test) and sunlight (Outdoor Sunlight Test).

Lab Test:

D. The incandescent light source, Smith Vector #710 or equivalent, shall be used to simulate the sunlight. The incandescent light shall be 600 watt and 3,200° K blackbody radiation as a minimum.

E. The Meter Product shall be exposed to the incandescent light source for a minimum of five minutes for each position of the incandescent light source.

F. The incandescent light source shall be pointed directly toward the Meter Product and positioned at a maximum direct distance of 19 inches from the center of the meter rotor shaft as follows:

1. Twelve positions around the meter base.

2. Eight positions at a 45° angle from the meter base.

3. One position at a perpendicular to the face of the meter.

G. Verify the Meter Product operations and report the direct and remote meter reads before and after each incandescent light exposure.

Outdoor Sunlight Test:

H. The sunlight conditions shall be outdoors, clear sky, bright sunny day, and no shades over the Meter Product.

I. The Meter Product shall be exposed to sunlight conditions for 24 hours.

J. The Meter Product shall be set in a position as normally installed the field. All Meter Products under test shall be exposed to the sunlight conditions at the same time and evenly face different directions starting with one Meter Product facing towards the sunrise direction.

K. Record and compare direct and remote meter reads at every hour under the sunlight conditions.

L. To pass this test the Meter Product shall operate as specified with no observed anomalies and have an accuracy of ± 0.3% on both direct and remote meter reads.

III. REGISTRATION AND CENTRALIZED DATABASE OF FOR DIRECT ACCESS COMPLIANT METER TYPE:

Manufacturers shall file with the CPUC their meter type self-certification document to state that their meter type meets the CPUC certification testing requirements. After the CPUC’s review and approval, the CPUC will post a list of the Direct Access-compliant meter types on a public web site. This list will not include the proprietary information of meter products.

IV. REQUIREMENTS FOR STICKERS, SEALING AND LOCKING HARDWARE:

Below are the requirements for the stickers, sealing and locking hardware used in Direct Access. Requirements for application of these devices are covered in Chapter D: Permanent Meter Installation and Maintenance Standards, Section II.

IV.1. Sealing and locking hardware:

Sealing and locking hardware shall be imprinted with company name and/or logo and be made with material other than lead. Sealing hardware owned by the MSPs shall be orange in color and be imprinted with its certification number.

IV.2. Life-support sealing hardware:

Life-support sealing hardware used for identifying a customer premise which has a life support system shall be white in color and imprinted with a red caduceus (medical symbol).

IV.3. Life-support sticker:

A life-support sticker used for identifying a customer premise which has a life support system shall be imprinted with a red caduceus (medical symbol).

IV.4. 480 V sticker:

A 480 V sticker used to identify a 480 Volt service panel and meter shall be legible.

V. REQUIREMENTS FOR LABELING MANUFACTURING DATE ON NEW METER PRODUCTS:

New Meter Products shall be permanently labeled with a manufacturing date.

VI. REQUIREMENTS FOR REBUILT, RETROFIT AND REPAIRED METER PRODUCTS:

VI.1. Rebuilt Meter Product:

A Meter Product shall not be rebuilt and repackaged for resale by any entity except its original manufacturer or a manufacturer-authorized licensed agent. Once a Meter Product is rebuilt and repackaged, it shall be tested for accuracy, labeled as rebuilt and by whom, and dated accordingly.

VI.2. Retrofit Meter Product:

A Meter Product may be retrofitted with other devices or modules. Retrofitted Meter Products shall be tested in accordance with the above Section II.1.2 of the Certification Testing Requirements. Prior to use, retrofitted Meter Products shall be tested for accuracy, labeled as retrofitted and by whom, and dated accordingly.

VI.3. Repaired Meter Product:

A Meter Product shall not be repaired for resale by any entity except its original manufacturer or a manufacturer-authorized licensed agent. Once a Meter Product is repaired, it shall be labeled as repaired and by whom, and dated accordingly.

VII Interval Data Meter Product:

The meter or the meter data system must be capable of providing and storing required interval data for a minimum of 35 days.