NEC and utility meter

[lacajun]

I'm helping a friend upgrade his electrical service to install A/C over winter. He needs to replace the main breaker box, near the meter, with a 200 A service. The feeders from the transformer are adequate. The wire from the meter to the main breaker box needs to be replaced with larger wire.

One master electrician said the NEC requires him to replace the meter, with a new one that has a lever disconnect, as soon as he touches it. I skimmed Art. 200 and didn't see anything requiring a need to replace the utility's meter with a new one, for any purpose. The meter is capable of 200 A and doesn't need to be replaced. Do any of you NEC savvy EE's know more about code and the claim to replace the meter with one that has a disconnect? Can you point me where this requirement is, if the master electrician is correct?

Thank you.

Pamela K. Quillin, P.E.
Quillin Engineering, LLC
NSPE-CO, Central Chapter
Dinner program:

http://nspe-co.org/events.php

 

[wayne440]

Ask whoever will be doing the electrical inspection- that person is the one who gets to decide what is required.

 

[wroggent]

If the current service disconnect is indoors I think 230.85 would come into play, depending on what the AHJ requirements are.

 

[davidbeach]

Also be sure you know what the governing code really is. Many states adopt the NEC with amendments. The meter requirement may be a state or local addition that doesn’t show in the NEC but has the same affect. Could also be a utility requirement.

I’ll see your silver lining and raise you two black clouds. - Protection Operations

 

[stevenal]

Pam is confusing meter with meter base. The meter is regulated by the owning utility, the NESC, and PUC. The meter base and the rest are under the NEC. There is a new NEC requirement for a whole house disconnect on either side of the meter base, and I suppose could be incorporated into the meter base. I would check with the AHJ to see if "touching" a healthy meter base brings up the new requirement.
The advanced meters used by many utilities detect outages and alert the serving utility. Utilities with these systems would prefer the disconnect be placed on the load side of the meter base.

 

[lacajun]

Boulder County still uses the 2014 NEC. I don't see anything there that requires single service residential buildings to have a disconnect.

I have reached out to the Boulder County inspectors. Hopefully they'll answer soon. If a disconnect is required, I would prefer to install a new main breaker box that has the disconnect. They want more than $1000.00 to replace the meter base.

Thank you all for the feedback. It's much appreciated! It's always better to have more eyes on it than not.

Pamela K. Quillin, P.E.
Quillin Engineering, LLC
NSPE-CO, Central Chapter
Dinner program:

http://nspe-co.org/events.php

 

[Palletjack]

Best call to make is to call the inspector and ask them. Most are more than happy to give advice on what’s required, then there are no surprises when inspection time comes up.
That electrician may be quoting 2020 NEC because of a class he took regarding the disconnect.
If your on 2014 there’s no requirement like that.

 

[stevenal]

The meter base lever disconnect is a product I haven't seen. Perhaps the electrician is speaking of a bypass? This might be a utility requirement. bypass-or-disconnect-whats-the-difference

 

[jraef]

Some utilities require a disconnect ahead of the meter, most do not. I would ALSO call your utility and see what they have to say about it.

As of July 2022, only 15 states have adopted the 2020 NEC so far, although anecdotally I have heard tell that some jurisdictions have gone ahead and added the outside disconnect requirement ahead of that adoption. But that said, Colorado IS one of the states that HAS adopted the 2020 NEC. So the main disconnect for the entire house mounted outside IS required (assuming your "Boulder County" is the Boulder County in Colorado).

https://www.esfi.org/2020-national-electrical-code-adoption/

Now whether that has to be a disconnecting meter or not is another question. In most cases I have heard about, a Main Breaker on the service entrance is all that is needed. But again, IF your utility is one of those that requires a disconnect AHEAD of the meter, then that may be why the electrician is telling you this. It might also just be his way of jacking up the price...


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