Basic Meter School August 19-21, 2015 HISTORY OF METERING

Prior to 1870, Electricity had little use except for Telephone and Telegraph. Shortly thereafter came arc lamps connected in series.

Prior To Watt-Hour Meters Customers first were billed on a “per lamp bulb basis” Meter readers counted bulbs… Was this fair?

“War of the Currents”

Initial years, Thomas Edison’s direct current was US standard. George Westinghouse advocated alternating current. The Two Became Adversaries In the end, (around 1894) AC current became the standard

Electric Metering… “Competitors” Elihu Thompson George Westinghouse Oliver B. Shallenberger Robert C. Lanphier Thomas Duncan Thomas Edison

Elihu Thomson 1853 – 1937 British-Born American Electrical Engineer /Inventor Established the Thompson- Houston Company at age 27. Merged with Edison in 1892 to form the General Electric Co.

Elihu Thomson “There is scarcely a day passing on which some new use for electricity is not discovered. It seems destined to become at some future time the means of obtaining light, heat and mechanical force.” (Age 16)

George Westinghouse Born in New York October 6, 1846 Over 360 Patents. Founder of Westinghouse Electric Corporation

Oliver B. Shallenberger (1860 – 1898) Design engineer along with George Westinghouse (Founded the Westinghouse Electric Company) Invented the first Ampere-Hour (Induction) Meter.

Shallenberger

Oliver B. Shallenberger Oliver B. Shallenberger Internal Display of Ampere-Hour Meter Without Its Cover

Thomas Duncan Formerly Of General Electric, Founded The Duncan Electric Manufacturing Company In Focus On Extended Range Metering (greater than 400 amps.) Landis & Gyr

Thomas Edison Thomas Edison Great Inventor Invented The First True Form Of Power Measurement Electric Chemical Watt-Hour Meter.

Meter Manufacturers Westinghouse Electric & Mfg. –1886 General Electric – 1892 Sangamo Electric Company Duncan Electric Manufacturing Company

Major Meter Manufacturers GENERAL ELECTRIC WESTINGHOUSE / ABB / ELSTER SANGAMO / SCHLUMBERGER /ITRON DUNCAN / LANDIS & GYR / SEIMENS INVENSUS / SENSUS OTHERS

“The Watt-hour Meter” Cash register of the Utility industry Accurately measuring energy consumed. Not a Penny More/Not a Penny Less Certainly more accurate than counting light bulbs.

WATT-HOUR METER Watt-hour Meters - 130,000,000,000 Annual Revenues - $200,000,000,000 Average cost in $0.65/KWH Average cost in $0.08/KWH First Patent issued Worldwide Population without electricity 200,000,000

120+ YEARS OF METERING

Metering Has Changed Even the light bulb is not the same.

AMR Automated Meter Reading One-way Communications TOU Improved Accuracy Set Billing Cycles Tamper Detection

AMI Advanced Metering Infrastructure Residential Metering Two-Way Communications TOU Critical Tier Pricing Local Area Network (LAN) Tamper Detection Remote Connect/Disconnect

High-End Metering Long-Term Memory Storage Load Profile Provide Historical/Real-Time Data Bi-directional Metering Relay Operation (Equipment On/Off capabilities) Customer Read-Only Access Many More Features

WATT-HOUR METER The watt-hour meter is an engineering marvel. It operates continuously in the field for 30 years or more, Withstands lightning strikes, heat, cold, and humidity, Requires practically no maintenance Makes complex measurements with superb accuracy, Single-phase Residential Meter cost about $60.00

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