Module 3

Introduction to
Electricity Metering
 Objectives
• General introduction to the concept
of electricity metering
• A brief overview of the various meter
types and classification
• A look at metering systems.
 What is electricity Metering?
• The measurement of the quantity of
electric energy consumed by a load.
• Electricity meters are used by
distribution companies to measure
the energy consumed by customers,
which is used to bill them.
 What is Electricity Tariff?
• Cost per unit of electricity, or
electrical energy consumed, which is
usually per kWh.
• This price is fixed by the utility and
can vary from place to place.
• Tariff usually differs per customer
type: residential, commercial and
industrial
 Tariff types
Single-tariff
Same tariff for all customers (in the same Tariff
group e.g. Residential, and commercial), and at all
times.

Multi-tariff
Different tariffs for:
• Peak and off-peak hours
• Public holidays, weekends, or other special
days,
• Per total energy consumed monthly, the lower
your total energy consumption, the lower your
tariff.
 Electricity Billing
Electricity is billed in two ways:
• Cumulative kWh
• Demand
 Cumulative kWh Billing
• Customer is billed based on the total
amount of energy consumed over a
billing period (30days to a month
usually)
• Residential customers are billed on
cumulative kWh only
Bill = (Energy consumed x tariff) +
Fixed Charge + VAT
 Demand Billing
• Customers are billed based on the
maximum amount of power they draw
within the billing period.
• This is because the distribution company
must have infrastructure capable of
supplying the maximum power drawn by
any consumer at any point in time. So these
customers are billed specially for their high
energy demand.
• This is in addition to Cumulative kWh billing.
• This is done mostly for industrial customers
because they have the highest demand for
energy.
 Tariff in Nigeria

• Tariff rates for all DISCOS can be

found at:
http://www.nercng.org/index.php/m
yto-2/rates
• Nigeria mostly employs fixed tariff
for different customer groups, along
with fixed charges.
How do you classify meter types?
Energy meter classification
Classification by
• Operational technology
• Class
• Number of phases
• Connection Type
• Sensor Wiring
• Billing mode
Classification by Operational technology
• Electromechanical
The core of the functionality is based
on electromechanical principles, and
other mechanical parts.
Classification by Operational technology
• Solid state
The core of the
functionality is based
on solid state electronic
components and
devices.
 Classification by Accuracy Class
• Meter accuracy refers to the
maximum allowed error in the meter’s
energy computation in percentage.
• Every meter within a given class must
conform to the same maximum error limit.

Major determinants of meter accuracy

• Current and voltage sensor networks are the major
determiners of meter accuracy.
• Accuracy of the IC’s digital signal processor

• Class 1 (maximum error of ±1%)

• Class 2
• Class 0.5
• Class 0.5s
• Class 0.2s
 Classification by number of phases
Single phase
• Uses just 2 wires, Line (any one of the
three phases) and neutral.

Three phase
• Uses all three phases and/or neutral
inclusive
 Classification by Connection Type
• 1P2W – 1 phase 2 wire
• 3P4W – 3 phase 4 wire
• 3P3W – 3 phase 3 wire
Classification by Sensor wiring
• Direct Connection (LV meters)
– Current carrying conductors pass through the meter
directly
– Installed when standard distribution voltage of
415/240 and a maximum of about 100A current
demand.
• CT/VT Connection
– Current carrying conductors pass through an external
Current transformer (CT) for current measurement.
– Voltage transformer (VT) may be used to step down
the voltage to the meter’s rated maximum in the case
of HV.
– Installed at primary or secondary side of distribution
transformers or other parts of the generation and
transmission network.
CT/VT Ratio
• When a high current/voltage is to be
measured (usually above 100A, or
11/33kV) a current/voltage transformer
is used to step it by a defined ration
called the CT/VT ratio.
• 200/5 means that 200A on the main
conductor is converted to 5A on the CT
terminals
CTs

VTs
 Summary of meter types
Residential meters
• Operational technology
– Electromechanical and Solid state
• Class
– Class 1 mostly
• Number of phases
– Single and three phase
• Connection Type
– 1P2W
– 3P4W
• Sensor Wiring
– Direct connection
• Billing mode
– Post-paid
– Prepaid
 Summary of meter types
Commercial meters
• Operational technology
– Electromechanical and Solid state
• Class
– Class 1, 0.5 and 0.5s
• Number of phases
– three phase mostly
• Connection Type
– 3P4W
– 3P3W
• Sensor Wiring
– Direct connection (very light loads)
– CT connection (Requires dedicated transformer)
– CT/VT connection (Requires dedicated transformer)
• Billing mode
– Post-paid (mostly)
– Prepaid (rare)
Single phase meters
Three Phase Direct connection
Three Phase CT connection
Classification by Billing mode
Post-paid
• As the meter constantly measures energy and
stores it in an energy accumulation register (for
electronics meters) which is then displayed using
any suitable display mechanism
• Meter readings are taken periodically in a billing
cycle(e.g. A 30day cycle)
• The Energy register usually accumulates
indefinitely until a rollover
Bill =( (Present – Previous) x tariff) + Fixed Charge + VAT
Post-paid metering system
Manageme
Server nt System

Generate
Bill

Post-paid Get Present

Meter Reading
Classification by Billing mode
Prepaid Metering
• Like other prepaid solutions involves
paying for energy before using it.
• By inference, this means that once
the energy paid for is exhausted, the
customer is no longer entitled to use
energy, until a “recharge” is made,
therefore, the customer is cut off.
 Prepaid meters
• In addition to an energy accumulation
register, prepaid meters have a CREDIT
REGISTER which is decremented as energy
is consumed.
• The unit of the credit register is either
currency or energy (kWh)
• Prepaid meters only have a load switch in
the form of a latching relay to connect
and disconnect the load based on credit
levels.
Prepaid metering system
 Prepaid metering system
• Server
– Contains the database
• Vending Station
– Dispense Tokens
• Credit Transfer Medium
– Smartcard
– Token Slips
– Remote transfer
• Prepaid Meter
– Standard metering system
– Relay cut-off mechanism
– Credit Transfer interface (Modem or keypad)
 Prepaid metering solutions
• Smartcard
• Token (STS)
 Smartcard
• Employs the use of Chip cards for a two-way
transfer of information from a prepaid meter to a
Utility Management Server.
• The implementation is largely proprietary
 STS

STS stands for:

Standard Transfer Specification
As the name implies, it is a
standard for the transfer of energy
from a vending station, to a
prepaid customer.
 STS
• STS employs an encrypted numeric
token mapped specifically to a prepaid
meter, meaning it can only be decoded
by the meter for which it was encoded.
• For Credit transfer, the tariff is used at
the vending station to convert the
amount paid by the customer to
equivalent energy in kWh. This energy
is then transferred to the meter as
credit in an encrypted token.
 STS Token types
• Credit Token – to recharge the meter
• Key change token
• Set energy parameters (load limit)
• Clear tamper
• Test Token
• Proprietary Tokens
 STS Parameters
• Vending Key
– Used by the vending system to generate
tokens for the meter.
• Decoder Key
– Unique to each credit meter and created
using the meter’s unique 11digit number,
Vending key, SGC, TI, KEN and KRN.
• SGC (Supply Group Code)
– Unique code assigned to each vending
station, like its ID number. Also used to
create the decoder key
 STS Parameters
• Tariff Index (TI)
– Used to identity the type of tariff the
customer is on
• Key revision number (KRN) and
Expiry number (KEN)
– Used to identify and encrypt the
decoder key
• Manufacturer ID
– First two digits of the Meter number
 STS Parameters
• Token
– 20 digit encrypted data used to transfer
data or command to the meter.
– Encrypted using a valid vending key, SGC,
TI, KRN, KEN and the meter number
– Decrypted using the meter’s decoder key
generated from the same Vending key and
key parameters used to encrypt the token
 STS Token
The STS token is a 20-digit number.
 STS Token Transfer medium
• Token slip
– Like a receipt containing the 20digit
token, along with other parameters like
the meter number and a breakdown of
the amount paid.
• Magnetic strip card
– Not in popular use
• Remote transfer
– Via SMS or GPRS
 Payment methods
• Cash paid directly to the utility
This works for all prepaid solutions
• Remote recharge via GSM/GPRS
Can only be implemented with STS
• Purchase of Scratch Cards
Can only be implemented with STS but not directly.

A dedicated server will be needed to interpret the

scratch card code and covert to STS token for the
specified meter
 Advanced metering concepts
• Dual tariff meter
– Able to switch between two tariff rates based on
the energy source (e.g. PHCH and private
generator)
– Requires an intelligent device to notify the meter
when to switch tariff
• Smart meter
– an integral part of an advanced metering system
capable of intelligent energy decisions based on
energy consumption patterns and records, as well
as being able to communicate these records back
to a remote management server.
 Smart metering features
• Record energy consumption patterns at fixed
intervals
• Two way communication between the meter and a
management application and sometimes the
consumer via SMS/GPRS, RF, etc
• An integral part of and AMI
• Power quality data collection and analysis. E.g.
Outage, harmonics, sags/swells, etc.
• Interaction with other smart devices in the home
via home networks (e.g. Zigbee)
• Smart metering features differ based on the
infrastructure installed and the Utilities desired
implementations
 Advantage of Smart metering
• To the Utility
– Enable real time monitoring of metering points.
– Enable matching of energy generated or supplied,
to energy consumed
– Enables the utility to understand consumption
patterns of consumers in various areas.
• To the consumer
– Enables consumers to save more energy via
features that provide consumption patterns to the
consumer
MEMMCOL Smart metering solutions
• Smart prepaid meters
– SMS recharge
– SMS query of metering data
• MD Meters
– Real-time pull notifications of energy
consumption and demand parameters via
GPRS.
 MD Metering
• MD meters are also called Demand meters, Time-
of-Use meters
• Meters that measure Demand or Maximum
Demand in addition to cumulative kWh.
• Demand is average instantaneous power drawn by
a customer as recorded by the energy meter over
an integration period, usually 5-15minutes.
• Maximum demand (MD) is the highest value of
demand over a billing period.
• The MD value is usually reset on a monthly basis.
• MD meters are usually HV meters, installed at the
primary or secondary side of a distribution
transformer.
 AMR/AMI
• Automatic Meter Reading
– Enables remote reading of meters for billing
purposes. This is basically one-way
communication
• Advanced Metering Infrastructure
– Enables remote two-way communication between
the meter and a management server.
• Communication is via
– PLC
– Wireless (RF mesh, Zigbee, Wifi, etc)
– GSM/GPRS
– Etc.
AMI/AMR
 ANY
QUESTIONS?
THANK YOU