Episode 18 - Meter Bases transcript
Trevor Tremblay: We are seeing a lot of meter bases being installed unknowingly without any bond connections. It's pretty concerning. The meter base now is unbonded, so essentially have your utility conductors there. And for some unforeseen reason, say a burn off or something, and it makes contact with the metal case, it could pose a fire and shock hazard.
Saira Husain: Meter bases, they're everywhere and they're an important part of the grid infrastructure, a critical touch point between customers and local utility companies. Today we'll get into some key details about safe meter base installations and how contractors can avoid some increasingly common issues with bonding. Grounded in Ontario is a podcast for you, the province's licensed electrical contractors, master and certified electricians, and offers safety tips, tech and best practices. Now let's get grounded.
Hello. My name is Saira Hussain and I'm the new host of Grounded in Ontario. Like Karen, I work for the Electrical Safety Authority. Karen has passed the torch onto me going forward. We're also joined by Trevor Tremblay, who you're certainly familiar with if you've listened to any of our previous episodes. Trevor is a technical advisor at the ESA and we're going to pick his brain on the world of meter bases. Hi Trevor, welcome back.
Trevor Tremblay: Thanks, Saira. Glad to be back. And for those of you at home that don't know Saira, she's been the glue behind this podcast since day one. How does it feel now to be part of it?
Saira Husain: Well, I definitely have some big shoes to fill, but I'm excited to pick up the baton. As you mentioned, most people don't know this, but I've actually been the person behind the scenes since the podcasts' very first episode. So it's definitely a little strange to be on the side, but it's so much easier with good company. And who knows, maybe we'll even have Karen back on one day as a guest. And with that, let's move on to today's topic. Meter bases. I assume most listeners are familiar with these devices, but just to level set, these are the customer-owned boxes that sit at the junction at the utility company's wiring and the property's wiring. Essentially it's where the utility's meter is located to record power usage.
Trevor Tremblay: That's right. Every utility has its own demarcation point indicated in their conditions of service. And for residential overhead services it's typically at the top of the mast where the connections are made. And for residential underground services, it's typically at the line side of the meter base. And just remember to get your layout from your utility to make sure you're meeting all their requirements as well, such as location and what they need to run their conductors, so it could save you some time and effort at the end of the day.
Saira Husain: And that brings us to the topic we're here to talk about today is we've come across the meter base installs that weren't properly grounded and may become energized.
Trevor Tremblay: Correct. We're going to be getting into all those details.
Saira Husain: Oh, you know we will.
Trevor Tremblay: That's why we're here. We are seeing a lot of meter bases being installed without a bond unknowingly. We are creatures of habit. We've been doing something for the 20, 30 years the same, we don't get a defect, we like to do it the same way to ensure we're not getting a defect. So after the Section 10 rewrite and changes to the part two standards, we're looking at subtle changes in the code, but having pretty big impact on the installation. And in this day and age where we're seeing battery storage, solar, EVSEs, the industry is in a whirlwind right now. So the subtle changes in Section 10 for neutral grounding are being overlooked, so it's making it a little more challenging, especially since a lot of these meter bases look exactly the same.
Saira Husain: Wow. So before we get into some of the details here, just how big of a concern are we talking about here?
Trevor Tremblay: It's pretty concerning. There is a chance that in abnormal conditions or something doesn't work properly or something burns off and makes contact with the case, it could sit there energized, waiting for someone to come by and touch it. You're standing on the ground typically if we're a meter base, you're outside, so you'll get a fairly good shock and it could actually be a fire hazard.
Saira Husain: All right. So just so I understand, back in the day, meter bases didn't need bonding conductors, so contractors got used to not using them?
Trevor Tremblay: Yep. They just bonded it through the neutral.
Saira Husain: And as you mentioned already, there were some rule changes requiring meter bases to need bonding conductors, but thanks to the old habit of not using them...
Trevor Tremblay: We get improperly installed meter bases.
Saira Husain: Causing a potential hazard. Okay. So you mentioned that these rule changes resulted in newer models in meter bases coming out that were overlooked by many leading to the current situation.
Trevor Tremblay: Right. In 2018, Section 10 was a complete rewrite essentially saying, "Hey, your neutral now could only be grounded in one location at the consumer service," so no longer can you do the meter base and at the panel board, that's where the real change is. And we've not withstood that for the years just to make sure to give contractors and the meter based manufacturers time to actually manufacture their products to make a co-compliant installation, part two standards had to be changed, and we're still going to accept the practice of using the neutral to bond your meter based until October 2025. And once October 2025 rolls around, you'll have to have a code compliant installation.
Saira Husain: So that's a really important distinction, especially with the upcoming October 2025 enforcement. But could you clarify for our listeners what you mean by notwithstanding the rule?
Trevor Tremblay: Well, notwithstanding is used a lot in the code. So essentially you'll be reading a rule and you think, hey, this is perfect. I understand completely I can do this. And then one rule later it'll say, "Notwithstanding that, in this circumstance you can't do that or you can do that." My recommendation is always read the whole rule from bold to bold. That means you read the whole rule, because I've been guilty of that, a lot of our inspectors are guilty of that, we read the one rule and we think we know exactly what we're doing, and then one rule later contradicts us and we're like... And also appendix B is also a good reference to read after you read the rule.
Saira Husain: Okay. So in your opinion, what do you think is leading to the confusion in the field?
Trevor Tremblay: For the most part, the confusing thing is that these meter bases look almost exactly the same as the meter bases you've used for years. We are creatures of habit. I pick up a meter base, I mount it to the wall, I run my conductors in raceways, everything's good. I just don't notice that some are marked permanently bonded neutral assembly or have a marking permanently isolated neutral assembly. Usually these are little stickers somewhere in there, they could be just below one of the lugs. Not that easy to notice. They don't stand out. They're just like a little white label. We have some manufacturers that put it in the model number, so you'll just have an IN for isolated neutral in the model number. So it's really challenging to see which one you have. Just make sure you do order the proper one, depending on your installation. We do have one manufacturer that you can actually visibly see the big green conductor going from the neutral to the case so you know that it's actually bonded to the frame.
Saira Husain: So just so I understand, we have the historical habit of not using a bonding conductor coupled with the fact that there's different models available?
Trevor Tremblay: Right. And if you're ever in doubt, please do a test. Most electricians carry multimeters, so you can ring them out and make sure that they're properly bonded to the frame. And we also have a lot of questions that arise from using armored cable with the bond, and so that confuses things too on people how to do things with that.
Saira Husain: Are there any other questions that you're seeing?
Trevor Tremblay: Well, when you talk about armored cable, when are ground bushing is required and what do we have to do with the bond conductor in the cable?
Saira Husain: So given that, what's the recommended or proper way for contractors to approach the armored cable issue, especially with the recent code updates you just mentioned?
Trevor Tremblay: In the previous code in 2021, if there was a bond running with the conductors and if the bond was not in contact with the armor, you had to put ground bushings at service equipment, that means the meter base and the panel board or at the meter base out to the field, depending on where it terminates, sometimes you can't terminate it where the utility is because it comes in a transformer pit or something like that, so we didn't really worry about it there. And essentially we did end up paralleling the neutral with the armor, and hence the ground bushings, they wanted a good connection just in case you lost the neutral. And in the new code cycle, now that if the bond wire is run with the conductors, you only have to put one ground bushing at either end of the tech cable. And if you have a bond wire in there, you connect it at both ends.
Saira Husain: Okay. So armored cables are a good example of nuance that piles onto the whole new models issue. I can think of a few more like what about multi-gang meter bases, how do you properly bond those today?
Trevor Tremblay: For multi-gang meter bases, a system bonding jumper has to be installed at the meter base. This would be a code compliant method for multiple metered services. It eliminates the need for multiple ground electrodes and the requirement to interconnect all the ground electrodes when installed at the same building. These meter bases should have enough termination points for all the bonding and grounding conductors required. And contractors should also take note that as of October 1st, 2025, the grounding is only permitted at the meter base for the multi-gang meter base. This easement will still be allowed until October.
Saira Husain: That's really helpful guidance for multi-gang setups. Another scenario that comes to mind when contractors need to install a combination meter mounting device, how should they approach grounding in those situations?
Trevor Tremblay: Well, a combination meter mounting device is essentially just a meter base with a service entrance compartment with the main breaker. So the service entrance requirements and the part two standards means that the main breaker has to be in its own little section, so there's a divider between your utility conductors and your consumer conductors. You don't want them mixing. And the grounding should be done at the service entrance compartment where the main breaker is located. These meter bases will also be marked either permanently or isolated neutrals.
Saira Husain: Trevor, you know this, but I recently looked into getting my meter base changed at my house, so can you walk me through what a contractor should do if they want to replace the meter base?
Trevor Tremblay: Where the meter base configuration ratings don't change, so if you have a 200 amp meter base, 12240, specifically the instances underground, most utilities require a 200 amp oversized meter base anyway. So that meter base, if you had 100 amp service, would still be good for your 200 amp service. So if you upgraded to 200 amp service, we're not going to make you change the meter base just for the sake of the neutral grounding. We'll still make you let it do it inside and not run a bond. It is a good idea, aging infrastructure leads to failure, so we would recommend changing it no matter what, but we won't force you.
Saira Husain: That makes sense. It's always best practice to upgrade if possible. Finally, will the bulletin regarding whole home transfer switches also be changing to reflect these new bonding requirements?
Trevor Tremblay: We already changed the bulletin. It'll be posted on our website under the podcast. When adding a service-entrence-rated transfer switch to an existing service, it should be code compliant, and where the meter base is not replaced, the bonding arrangement for the meter base will not be required to be brought up to the current code since the code is not retroactive, but now you would have to establish neutral grounding at that service entrance transfer switch. And all these requirements of single point grounding as of October 1st, 2025 will be enforced for new installations. Until then we'll be issuing postponements to help educate the industry. So we're just going to let the contractors know through postponements that, "Hey, single point grounding is coming," and that it's more of an education program for them.
Saira Husain: Well, that's definitely a lot to think about. See, I knew we'd get into the nitty-gritty details. We're coming to the end of our time, so that means we have time for one last question from one of our listeners. Here's one from Steve in Cambridge, Ontario. Steve asks, "Where can I mount a receptacle on kitchen island, on the side or on the top?"
Trevor Tremblay: Most typical installations are on the side, but in a lot of modern kitchens it's really hard to find a spot to mount it with the overhangs, people are using them as kitchen tables now, they're not really a work surface for cooking. It's more of the social center of the house now when people come over. Ideally, front side, not under the overhang, and one of the best places to put it would be a pop-up. You can't mount the receptacle facing up in the work surface, but you can use a pop-up. They're actually really aesthetically pleasing and they're actually usable as opposed to some of these. If the only place you can put it is under an overhang, then appliances have three-foot cords, so it hangs over the side, the appliances next to it, small child walks by and says, "Hey, a cord," pulls it and possibly get hot water or a heavy appliance falling on them. So be careful where you put them, but, yeah, you can put them on the side, stay away from overhangs or keep them as close to the edge as you can, and pop-ups are a good option.
Saira Husain: And there we have it, another episode in the books. Thank you so much, Trevor, for joining us for this episode.
Trevor Tremblay: It's been fun. I look forward to doing many more with you now that you're on this side of the microphone.
Saira Husain: Same. And thank you as always to our amazing listeners. We want to hear from you, so please email us at podcast@esasafe.com. We're open to topic suggestions and comments. Make sure you subscribe on any platform where you get your podcast so that you'll get notified about our next episode. And remember, this podcast is for general informational purposes only. While we endeavor to provide information that is relevant and current as of the date of initial broadcast, you should always consult the current edition of the Ontario Electrical Safety Code bulletins and applicable technical guidelines. Until next time, be safe, work safe, and stay grounded.