Standard for Electromechanical Meters set for PubCon

The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has set the public consultation (PubCon) on the draft “Philippine National Standard for Electromechanical Meters” on 20 July 2007, nine o’clock in the morning (9:00 AM) at the ERC Hearing Room, 15^th Floor, Pacific Center Building, San Miguel Avenue, Ortigas Business District, Pasig City.

“It is high time for the electric power industry to have a Philippine National Standard (PNS) for electricity metering equipment to ensure safety, accuracy, and reliability. The standard sets the requirements and parameters for meters and meter-related equipment to ensure their quality and protect the consumers,” ERC Chairman and CEO Rodolfo B. Albano, Jr. said.

The PNS adopted the ANSI (American National Standards Institute) and the IEC’s (International Electrotechnical Commission) standards with some revisions to make them applicable in the Philippine setting. The ANSI contains the Code for Electricity Metering which: (1) establishes acceptable performance criteria for new types of AC watthour meters, demand meters, demand registers, pulse devices, and auxiliary devices; (2) describes acceptable in-service performance levels for meters and devices used in revenue metering; (3) includes information on related subjects, such as recommended measurement standards, installation requirements, test methods, and test schedules; and (4) provides a reference for those concerned with electricity metering, such as utilities, manufacturers, and regulatory bodies.

The IEC, on the other hand, (1) covers type tests for electricity metering equipment for indoor and outdoor application, which apply to newly-manufactured equipment designed to measure the electrical energy; (2) applies to electromechanical or static meters for indoor and outdoor application; and (3) applies to operation indicators and test outputs.

The PNS was jointly undertaken by ERC-BPS (Bureau of Product Standards) TC70, a Technical Committee created to develop such standard for electric watt-hour meters. It is composed of representatives from different stakeholders such as the academe, distribution utilities, consumers, suppliers and manufacturers, professional associations, and government agencies concerned.