MC Form
A lot of effort has obviously been put into the Direct Access Metering
Handbook - it's a great accomplishment! In reviewing it, I noticed that
only an ESP can submit a Meter Characteristics (MC) form, and that an MC
form must be submitted for each meter type before it can be installed in a
given UDC's service territory. The UDC has up to 30 days to process the
form. It is not clear to me if this process changes if/when there is a
CPUC list of approved meter types - whether those meter types will
automatically be allowed by UDCs' systems, or an MC form will still have to
be submitted to each UDC.
As a meter manufacturer, ABB would like to have the ability to submit an MC
form to a UDC for processing. A manufacturer's competitive advantages
include being able to be pro-active and responsive to the marketplace, and
being able to meet customers' tight deadlines. Not allowing manufacturers
to submit MC forms limits their ability to respond to customers, and
therefore limits their competitive edge. Meter manufacturers do not
typically come out with lots of new meter styles in a given year, so I
don't believe there would be an excessive number of requests.
I will be unable to attend the meetings in January, but request that this
be discussed at the OCC or Meter Specific meeting. In my absence, Phaser
has agreed to "champion" the issue. If there is a legitimate business
reason why a manufacturer should not be able to sumbit an MC, please let us
know.
In light of the above request, I asked one of our meter engineers to review
the MC form to verify we could provide all the data. We have the following
questions about some of the fields. It may be helpful to clarify these
definitions whether manufacturers are allowed to submit the form or not -
if we have the questions, a new ESP or MSP may also have the same
questions.
Thanks!
List of Questions about MC Fields:
Register Type is defined as "The type of register designated by the
manufacturer that the meter uses to record and store energy usage". Does
this mean solid state vs. electromechanical? Or does it mean demand, TOU,
etc?
Meter Kw is defined as "the watthour per pulse value programmed into a
solid state meter/recorder, with a formula of Ke = Pulse Constant / Billing
Constant x 1000." Our Ke is the Kh divided by the P/R, which does provide
a watthour per pulse value as required. We are not sure exactly what is
meant by Pulse Constant and Billing Constant.
Pulse Multiplier is defined as "the factor used on solid state meters to
convert pulses of energy to kilowatt usage per hour, also known as the
pulse constant." The formula is provided as "Billing Constant x Ke / 1000
= Pulse Multiplier". Again, what is the Billing Constant?
Dial K (Register Constant) is defined as "the multiplier applied to the
register reading to obtain kilowatthours (does not include CT, PT ratios)."
We are familiar with a term Kr as register constant, but it typically does
include CT and PT ratios. CT and PT ratios are not available until the
meter is actually installed, or you at least know where the meter will be
installed - they are not values that you can provide for a meter type.
Please confirm that the Dial K value is not expected to include CT and PT
ratios.
Register Ratio, defined as "the number of revolutions of the gear meshing
with the worm or pinion on the rotating element for one revolution of the
first dial pointer", applies to electromechanical meters. Please confirm
that this is not expected for solid state meters.
Meter capability requires that you "show the number of dials (on mechanical
meter) / display segments (on solid state meter) and decimal....". The
total number of display segments available on our solid state meter can be
provided, but the customer programs the actual number of segments to be
displayed. The customer can also program the number of decimal places to
be displayed. Please clarify what the expectations are here - just the
maximum possible values? Actual values can vary with each meter
installation as they are programmable.
TOU Capability requires that you "indicate whether or not there is TOU
display capability for the following time periods: On, Off, Mid,
Super-Off." Please confirm that what is requested is an indication of
whether the meter has the ability to display TOU periods - again, whether
the meter actually displays them (or actually uses a TOU Schedule) is
programmable. Also, the meter does not have specific time period
associations - I assume if a programmable meter has four TOU time periods
it would be considered to have On, Off, Mid, and Super-Off capabilities.
IDR Capability requests that you indicate the demand interval, defined as
"the time increment, in minutes, used to record demand data; for example,
energy usage may be recorded every 5, 15, or 30 minutes." Again, this is
programmable. A given meter type is not limited to one demand interval. A
list of all possible demand intervals for the meter type could be provided,
but the actual programmed value can change from installation to
installation. Also, this is listed as "demand interval" but is under IDR
capability. Please clarify what is required, and if this is really the
demand interval (such as used by a demand meter for peak demand, or a TOU
meter for TOU demand).
IDR Capability also requests the # of Channels, defined as "the maximum
number of channels on the meter/recorder". Please confirm that this is the
maximum number the meter type is capable of - again, the number of channels
actually used is programmable in the meter.
IDR Capability also requests the Interval Length, defined as "the time
increment, in minutes, used to record interval data; for example, usage may
be recorded every 5, 15, or 30 minutes." Again, the actual interval length
is programmable in the meter. A list of all possible interval lengths
supported by the meter type could be provided, but the actual programmed
value can change from installation to installation. Please clarify what is
required.
.