GUIDE FOR INVESTIGATION OF CUSTOMERS’ HIGH-BILL ELECTRICITY INQUIRIES ON THE CUSTOMERS’ PREMISES

As a representative of the company, an employee who is assigned to investigate a customer’s inquiry concerning his billing has a dual responsibility. First, make absolutely certain that all service used by the customer is being accurately registered on the meter. Attempt to explain some of the metering factors to a customer who does not understand them to assure the customer of the accuracy of the meter.

The following is a plan suggested for conducting metering investigations. Steps 1 and 2 are frequently performed by a representative of the commercial department of the company. In many companies, only Steps 3 and 4 are performed by meter department personnel.

Step 1
A. Upon arriving at the customer’s home or place of business, the company representative should introduce himself, show his identification card or badge when requested, and explain the purpose of his visit. He should also advise the customer that, in the process of checking, the electric service might be momentarily interrupted.

B. The meter readings should be compared with those on the last bill. If an error is apparent, it should be explained to the customer and reported to the billing section.

C. If the customer’s question concerning his bill cannot be explained from the aforementioned, the company representative should ask the customer if any appliances have been added recently. Inquiry about appliances that affect seasonal loads is particularly important.

These may include air conditioners, dehumidifiers, space heaters, and heating cables. It should also be determined whether the customer has replaced any major appliances recently. The replacement of a refrigerator with a newer, frost-free model may result in an increase in operating cost, and this should be explained to the customer.

D. Ask the customer if there has been an increase in the number of persons living in the household.

E. Ask the customer if situations have occurred that were out of the ordinary routine of the household. These would include such things as more entertaining than usual, guests visiting in the home, an illness in the family, and other factors that would increase the customer’s bill.

F. If the customer’s inquiry can not be explained after carrying out the parts of Step 1, proceed to Step 2.

Step 2
A. Check for causes of abnormally high consumption.
1. Dirt- or lint-clogged filters on furnace or air conditioning units.
2. Leaky hot-water faucets where electric water heaters are used.
3. Defective water pump.
4. Use of electric range units for space heating.
5. Heating water on range.

B. If the preceding investigation is sufficient, discuss these factors with the customer briefly, pointing out any reasons you have found for the increase in the customer’s electric bill.

C. If further investigation is necessary, proceed to Step 3.

Step 3
A. If there is a load on the meter, ask the customer to shut off all appliances and lighting at the appliance or light switch. Recheck if the meter continues to indicate a load and determine absolutely whether rotation is due to a missed load or loss to ground. If there is a loss to ground, this should be checked with a stop watch and the rate of loss established.

B. If possible, it should then be determined which circuit is grounded and, if convenient to the customer, the circuit should be disconnected by removing the fuse or opening the circuit breaker. The condition should be explained to the customer and he should be advised to have the condition corrected by a wireman before using the circuit again. If the loss to ground is found to be a defective appliance, it should be disconnected and the customer advised to have repairs made before reconnecting the appliance.

Step 4
If no explanation for the bill has been reached, the meter should then be checked for accuracy, creep, proper constant, and correct register ratio. The results of each check should be noted on the investigation order.

ACCURATE METER READING – REVENUE IMPORTANCE

The accurate reading of meters is an operation of major importance for any electric utility company, not only from a revenue standpoint but also in the promotion of strong customer relationships. In gaining access to meters, the meter reader makes many personal contacts with customers and is often the only utility employee seen by the customer.

With this in mind, most electrical utility companies choose, for their meter reading personnel, employees who are conscientious and have the natural attributes of friendliness, courtesy, and a

neat appearance.

A meter reader’s initial training course usually includes the fundamentals of good public relations, familiarization with the types of metering equipment likely to be encountered, and thorough explanations of the terms used in customer billing.

It is important that meter readers be familiar enough with their company’s organizational structure to be able to channel a customer’s requests and questions to the proper departments.

Meter reading is carried out under a carefully planned program, and meter routes are arranged in proper reading order. Readings are taken on a pre-arranged schedule to make the billing cycle practicable and to provide an even flow of work for other operations, such as billing, auditing, and collecting.

To prevent undue annoyance to customers and to expedite the work, meter-reading records usually contain notations showing the exact locations of meters, means of access, keys needed (if applicable), and notes of any unusual conditions, such as physical hazards and/or dangerous pets.

If it is necessary to enter a customer’s premise, it is a good practice for readers to announce themselves courteously and produce proper identification when requested.

Meter readers can be of considerable help to the company in reporting irregularities, such as changes in customers, meters without a reading record, vacant buildings, stopped meters, unsealed meters, unmetered service, and any other condition that might adversely affect customer billing, safety, or the quality of service rendered.

The principal duty of a meter reader is to obtain the meter readings and to make certain that these readings are entered on the correct reading records by verifying addresses and meter numbers. A good meter reader will enter the readings on mark sense cards or meter reading sheets in a clear, precise, and legible manner.

HOW TO READ WATT HOUR (ELECTRICITY) METER – THE IMPORTANCE OF CORRECT READING

Note: This article is specific for Electromechanical Meter Types.

There are three styles of mechanical kilowatthour meter register types in general use. One has individual dial circles as shown below:

Conventional Five-Pointer Kilowatthour Dial.

Another has interlocking dial circles as shown below:

Conventional Four-Pointer Kilowatthour Dial with Overlapping Circles.

The third style of register uses cyclometer-type dials.

Registers with dial circles have either four or five dials; five dials being provided to avoid a dial multiplier of 10 and the possibility of a register “turn-over” during the normal billing period.

Adjacent pointers rotate in opposite directions and are geared for travel so that the pointer on the right will make one complete revolution while the one next to it on the left makes one-tenth of a revolution.

When a pointer is between two figures, the smaller figure is the one to use for the reading. A watthour meter is read from right to left by reading all dials and recording the reading on a meter reading form in this same sequence.

The reason for reading the dials from right to left is that the right-hand dial governs the one to its left in each instance. With all pointers at zero and a dial multiplier of one, one clockwise revolution of the unit’s dial pointer will indicate a reading of 10 kilowatthours on the register.

A complete counterclockwise revolution of the 10’s dial pointer will indicate a reading of 100 kilowatthours on the register and so on. When reading the dials the procedure is analogous to reading 1s, 10s, 100s, and 1,000s.

Remember that each pointer must complete a revolution to advance the pointer located to its left by one division. Therefore, to correctly determine the reading of a pointer, the previous pointer (located to the right) must be consulted.

Unless this pointer has completed a revolution by reaching or passing the 0, the pointer in question has not completed the division on which it may appear to rest. For this reason, reading the meter from right to left increases both accuracy and efficiency.

A simple analogy can be made to a wristwatch. When the hour hand is near 8 and the minute hand is at 11, it is not yet 8 o’clock, but it is 7:55 and, obviously, it will not be 8 o’clock until the minute hand has advanced to 12.

Figures 17-3 and 17-4 show examples of typical watthour meter readings. To obtain the use in kilowatthours over a designated period of time, it is necessary to subtract the previous reading from the present reading.

When the dial multiplier is one, the difference will be the number of kilowatthours consumed between the two readings. When the dial multiplier is a number other than one, the difference between the readings must be multiplied by the given dial multiplier to obtain the kilowatthours consumed.

Dial multipliers of one generally are not shown, but those other than one are shown on the dial faces. Double- or two-rate registers employ two sets of dials and two complete register mechanisms that are automatically switched into gear with the moving element shaft at predetermined times. These two-rate registers are generally used in conjunction with off-peak water-heating rates.