Ala. Admin. Code r. 770-X-6-.07

Current through Register Vol. 43, No. 1, October 31, 2024

Section 770-X-6-.07 - Meter Tests

(1) Test Schedule - Each utility shall make and record tests of service meters according to the following:

(a) Every gas service meter to be installed, whether new or repaired, shall be in good order and correct to within two (2) percent when passing gas at 25 percent of the meter's capacity as rated by the manufacturer; provided, however, any gas meter with a rated capacity of less than 500 cubic feet per hour which is removed from service for a reason other than being defective and which has been in service for less than five years since it was last tested may be installed at a different location without being tested for accuracy.

(b) Each gas utility shall establish a program of testing its meters so as to assure their reasonable accuracy of gas measurement to the public. In following this program, a statistical sample of at least six (6) percent of all meters in service twelve (12) years old or older must be tested each calendar year.

(c) In the event that an error of more than plus two (2) percent is found in more than fifteen (15) percent of the meters included in the sample of meters of a particular age group, then the entire age group of meters represented by that sample shall be removed from service within eighteen (18) months following such determination. Nothing contained in this rule shall prevent a utility from removing and testing a meter at any time.

(2) Meter Test on Request of Customer

(a) Each utility shall, without charge, make a test of the accuracy of the registration of a meter upon the request of a customer, provided that the customer does not request such test more frequently than once in sixty (60) months.

(b) If any customer shall request a test of the accuracy of the meter through which gas service is supplied to such customer and the meter has been tested and found accurate within the last sixty (60) months, the utility shall notify the customer of the conditions under which the test will be made by the utility. Such notification of conditions shall include, but not be limited to:

(1) the cost of the test;

(2) the time of the test; and

(3) the right of the customer to be present or to have a representative present. If such test is requested under this section, the customer shall make a deposit before the test is made equal to the testing fee set out in paragraph (5) below. If, when tested, the meter is found to be more than two (2) percent fast or slow, the testing fee shall be promptly refunded to the customer.

(c) A report giving the name of the customer requesting the test, the date of the request, the location of the premises where the meter had been installed, the type, make, size, and serial number of the meter, the date of removal, the date of the test, the result of the test, and notice of refund or back billing if the meter was found more than two (2) percent fast or slow shall be supplied to the customer within ten (10) days after the completion of the test.

(d) Adjustments to past bills for inaccuracies shall be made in accordance with Rule 770-X-1-.16.

(e) The amount of the fee to be charged by the utility for testing meters upon written request of a customer shall be determined by the manufacturers' designated rating, as follows:

1. Displacement meters (except rotary type) -

2. Meters having a rated capacity of 300 cubic feet per hour or less $20.00

3. Meters having a rated capacity of over 300 cubic feet per hour and not more than 600 cubic feet per hour............................................................ $20.00

4. 4Meters having a rated capacity of over 600 cubic feet per hour and not more than 1500 cubic feet per hour.......................................................... $45.00

5. Meters having a rated capacity of over 1500 cubic feet per hour and not more than 3500 cubic feet per hour.......................................................... $85.00

6. Meters having a rated capacity of over 3500 cubic feet per hour $85.00

7. Orifice meters - all sizes...........................................................$100.00

Rates for testing meters not included in the above classifications or which are so located that the cost is out of proportion to the fee specified, will be established by the Commission upon receipt of complete specifications.

(f) This rule shall not interfere with the practice of a utility with reference to its regular tests of meters, except that in the event of an application by a customer to the Commission for a test, the utility shall not knowingly remove, interfere with, or adjust the meter to be tested without the written consent of the customer and approval of the Commission.

(g) Installation Test - Each gas meter shall be in good order and shall be correct at all test rates of flow to within two (2) percent fast or slow before being installed provided, however, that in case of an emergency, a meter not meeting the requirements of this rule may be installed temporarily; and that any gas meter with a rated capacity of less than 500 cubic feet per hour and which is removed from service for a reason other than being defective and which has been in service less than five years since it was last tested may be installed at a different location without being tested for accuracy.

(h) Method of Determining the Accuracy of Small Meters - For the purpose of determining compliance with this rule, the registration of a displacement meter shall be determined by one test at a rate of flow of approximately one-fourth of its rated capacity (check flow) and by a second test at approximately the full rated capacity of the meter. The capacity of the meter for test purposes shall be the capacity at one-half (0.5) inch differential pressure. Prior to installation of a meter, the tests at the two rates of flow shall agree within two (2) percent. In determining compliance with this rule and for the purpose of computing adjustments, the check flow test may be considered as the accuracy of the meter. A utility may, at its option applicable to all of its small meters, consider the accuracy of a meter to be the algebraic mean of two errors found, one at check flow and one at capacity flow. If unusual conditions indicate that an unusual test rate of flow should be used, the test record must show the rate used.

(i) Meter Prover Required - All tests to determine the accuracy of any gas-service meter used to measure gas at standard distribution pressure shall be made with a bell type meter prover; unless, because of unusual capacity or construction of the meter, such method of test shall be considered impracticable, under which condition the test shall be made by some other method approved by the Commission.

(j) Methods of Testing Large Displacement Meters - All tests on displacement meters shall be made with approved testing apparatus. It is recommended that such meters be tested in their permanent locations on customers' premises, whenever practicable. When critical flow provers, low pressure flow provers or transfer provers are used for making such tests, it is recommended that the accuracy be determined at two (2) or more rates of flow, ranging from twenty (20) percent of the rate capacity at one-half (0.5) inch differential pressure up to flow at maximum operating rate.

(k) In such tests, when testing with the critical flow prover, the meters shall be operated at a static pressure which approximates average operating static pressure. When similar tests are made with a low pressure flow prover, average operating pressure should be maintained on the meter under test and the prover operated at a range of low pressures required for such a prover. However, in installations where meters operating on pressures higher than standard service pressure are limited in their maximum operating dial rate so as to keep the differential pressure equal to or less than two (2) inches water column, low pressure flow prover tests may be run with low pressure on the meter. In the flow tests by either method the maximum dial rate should be such that it will ensure test being run at meter differential pressures equivalent to normal operating meter differential pressures in all cases. Where it is not practicable to test rotary displacement meters with a flow prover, they shall be inspected and tested by approved methods to determine whether they conform reasonably to the original factory test data.

(l) Method for Testing Orifice Meters - All tests on orifice meters shall be made with approved testing apparatus and in their permanent locations on the customer's premises. The accuracy of the differential pressure registration shall be determined on a rising and falling pressure throughout the entire operating pressure range of the gauge. The accuracy of the static pressure registration shall be determined at the operating pressure.

(m) Methods for Determining the Accuracy of Orifice and Large Displacement Meters - In determining the accuracy of orifice and large displacement meters, the average of the errors determined at the various rates of flow at which the meter was tested shall be taken and shall be considered as its accuracy in determining compliance with this rule and for the purpose of computing adjustments; except where the rates of flow at which the meter has been registering in service can be definitely established, in which case the weighted average error shall be determined and used.

(n) Capping Meters - All incoming meters must be capped when removed from service and awaiting test. All meters that have been tested or are ready for installation must be capped and remain capped until installed.

Ala. Admin. Code r. 770-X-6-.07

Effective January 1968. Amended October 1988. Filed with LRS February 5, 2013. Filed for Codification in the Alabama Administrative Code by the Alabama Public Service Commission on February 5, 2013, pursuant to the Code of Ala. 1975, § 41-22-7.

Author: Alabama Public Service Commission

Statutory Authority:Code of Ala. 1975, §§ 37-1-32, 37-1-38, 37-1-52, 37-1-53.