Resolution No. 12, S. 2009ERC issues new rules for meter testing and meter test shops
The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) approved on 01 June 2009 the Rules and Procedures for the Test and Maintenance of Electric Meters of Distribution Utilities (DUs). The Rules and Procedures were promulgated to ensure the highest level of confidence of the consumers on the accuracy of their electric watt-hour meters. The Rules will take effect fifteen (15) days after publication in a newspaper of general circulation.
The ERC mandated all DUs to ensure that all electric meters put into service are tested and sealed. Meters that are already in service, on the other hand, should be tested in an ERC approved Meter Shop at least once every two (2) years in accordance with a statistical sampling program approved by the ERC. A Meter Shop is a place where routine testing, repair, and calibration of electric meters and other auxiliary devices are undertaken. It should have equipment essential to the metering of electric power and energy and must be readily available for inspection during office hours by an authorized ERC representative.
A DU or a consortium of DUs should file with the ERC an application for a Certificate of Authority (CA) to operate and maintain a Meter Test Shop. In case a DU proves that it is more feasible to engage the services of an outside Meter Shop, an application for exemption should also be filed. These applications must be filed within six (6) months after effectivity of the Rules. A CA has validity period of three (3) years.
Under the said Rules and Procedures, the ERC shall establish and maintain reference standards with highest accuracy traceable to United States of America’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) standards or an equivalent institution. The ERC shall conduct, at least once a year, a scheduled on-site verification or surveillance assessment of authorized meter shop for verification of continued compliance with the CA requirement and the Rules. The ERC may suspend or revoke the Certificate of Authorization (CA) for just cause. A Meter Shop can even be blacklisted for repeated offenses.
At present, it is the ERC’s own personnel and meter laboratory that are utilized for the actual testing and calibration activities of the DUs’ meters which number in the millions nationwide. The move of the ERC to have routine testing and calibration of meters done by the DUs, subject to ERC’s statistical sampling program, will considerably shorten the process turnaround time.
“The ERC assures electricity consumers that it will closely monitor the operations of Meter Shops to ensure their strict compliance to the Rules and Procedures. For the protection of all consumers, it will see to it that every meter undergoing testing and calibration maintains an accuracy level that has an error tolerance of nearly zero,” ERC Chairperson Zenaida G. Cruz-Ducut concluded.
June 30, 2009