Help your meter reader help you

Some electric cooperatives use automated meter-reading systems; others send a meter reader to visit your property and determine your electricity usage. It’s a hazardous job—just ask Ken Cobb.

“We’ve been chased by all kinds of critters: bulls, horses, emu, donkey, squirrels and even alligators,” says Cobb, project supervisor for Tru-Check, a company contracted to read meters for Monroe-based Walton Electric Membership Corp. Anita Pruitt, Tru-Check meter reader adds, “One time an ostrich snuck up from behind and pulled my hair!”

Have a heart—make a meter reader’s job easier. If he or she didn’t read your meter, your co-op would have to estimate your bill, and during extreme-temperature months that estimate would likely be a high one. Besides, when you signed up for electric service, you agreed to provide clear access to your meter. Here are two important things you can do to help:

Watch your dog. Even if he’s a nice dog, he might prove extra protective when a stranger comes around. If he bites a meter reader, not only does that employee lose time on the job, but you are legally liable for injuries or damage sustained (and likely to be cited for violating leash laws, too). Consider the following suggestions:
-If you use a leash or other line to secure your dog, make sure the leash or line isn’t long enough to reach the path to the meter.
-Make sure it’s a strong leash or line.
-Better yet, stay in the house with your pet while the meter reader is in your yard; your pet is less likely to feel threatened and, therefore, react.
-If you see a meter reader on the street, call all dogs inside and offer them (the dogs, not the meter reader) a treat.

Keep your meter accessible. Don’t build a fence around your yard that blocks access to your meter (even if you’re building it to contain the dog!). If you have a fence around an area that includes the meter, or your meter is enclosed in a porch, keep the gate or porch door unlocked. Keep foliage trimmed back from the meter.

Why the big blackout was avoidable

On Aug. 14, 2003, an estimated 50 million people in the Midwest, Northeast and the Canadian province of Ontario suddenly, without warning, found themselves in the dark. It was the nation’s biggest-ever blackout; because of it, the economy took a $10 billion hit.

It didn’t have to happen. A final report issued by the U.S. and Canadian governments indicates the massive power outage was avoidable. Citing inadequate awareness of the situation, insufficient tree trimming and lack of support by electric reliability coordinators at the Midwest Independent System Operator, which is charged with ensuring reliability in that part of the country’s power grid, the report “makes clear that this blackout could have been prevented,” says U.S. Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham. “First and foremost, compliance with reliability rules must be made mandatory, with substantial penalties for noncompliance.”

As it stands, rules or penalties have little to do with ensuring dependable delivery of power. A voluntary organization, the North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC), develops standards and works with utility companies to keep the bulk of the electric system reliable, adequate and secure. But NERC relies on peer pressure and mutual self-interest to sustain the operation of the power grid; it is not able to levy financial or legal penalties against electric utilities that violate their standards.

The federal government is urging NERC to clarify its policies and standards to make compliance easier and more enforceable. (NERC is currently conducting “readiness audits” of utilities nationwide to make sure they’re prepared in case of emergencies.) The single most important recommendation, the report says, is that U.S. Congress enact the reliability provisions in two pending bills to make compliance with reliability standards mandatory and enforceable. Currently, those bills—one from the House and one from the Senate—are stalled on Capitol Hill as debates about them continue.

The saga continues, but at least one thing is resolved: “It is clear from the final report that while the blackout affected co-op territories, electric cooperative actions and operations did not contribute to the root causes of the blackout,” says Barry Lawson, manager of power delivery for the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, based in Arlington, Va.

Strangely innovative

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has protected inventors’ ingenuity for more than 200 years, allowing innovation to propel all areas of American industry. In the world of electricity, where innovation is king, odd-yet-legitimate patents are common. For example:

-Earthquake detector/nightlight. Lynda Samen of Palm Desert, Calif., was awarded U.S. Patent #4,978,948 in 1990 for an earthquake sensor/nightlight/decorative lamp. In the event of seismic activity, light in the unit is reflected and diffracted by a multifaceted spherical crystal (not unlike a disco ball), indicating vibration. In other words, the earth rumbles, the light vibrates and the disco ball goes crazy.

-Microwave clothes dryer. Patented in 1995, this brainchild of Palo Alto, Calif.-based Electric Power Research Institute quickly dries clothing by introducing microwave energy into a sealed “drying chamber,” evaporating all moisture. To keep the process safe, the unit includes an alarm and sensors that detect the presence of gas that can cause fire or explosion.

-PC reward candy dispenser. In 1998, Anthony Peter Vandenberg of Kitacho, Japan, received Patent #5,823,386 for a candy dispenser hooked into a personal computer, giving students candy as a reward for every problem they correctly complete while using educational software.

—Dan Nadolny

It won’t kill you to leave that meter alone...

...conversely, tampering with it could—and not because the penalty for electricity theft is death row.

Your electric cooperative treats electricity theft by reporting the crime to the police; then the perpetrator is charged with theft, possibly sent to jail and definitely slapped with fines costing about triple the amount of money the thief assumed he or she would have “saved.”

The thief doesn’t even have to be caught red-handed; the law assumes that anyone benefiting from the use of stolen electricity has tampered with the meter.

Worse, meter-tampering endangers both perpetrator and meter reader. Altering or bypassing a meter can result in shock, fire, explosion or electrocution.

Myth understandings

Q. I keep my batteries in the refrigerator so they’ll last longer—good idea?
A. No. It doesn’t work, and cold batteries perform poorly, which is why some manufacturers (Kodak and Rayovak among them) advise against refrigerating them. Instead, store batteries in a cool, dry place, away from sunlight and heat.