According to Dan Lanciani ddl@danlan.*com:
In article ,
(Chris Lewis) writes:

| This device conceptually just makes the meter base larger, and has
| provisions for security sealing it too. Otherwise, FPL wouldn't
| permit it. Obviously they do.
|
| But I would imagine that the local power authority has to approve
| of the device before they'd allow you to install one.
|
| [I believe that contractors have to contact the power
| company to inform them that the meter base has been diddled
| with so they can come out to reseal the meter.]
|
| If you were to somehow get a hold of one up here, you really should
| call the power company before installation.
|
| Is UL listed the same as UL approved?
|
| Yes. Which means it's approved up here unless it runs afoul of
| something specific in the CEC, or Hydro throws a fit.
|
| [Ontario Hydro has two separate "special" meter trial programmes going
| on, similarly restricted in region. "Smart meters" and something
| else I forget...]
|
| To tell you the truth, I'm _very_ much surprised I haven't seen
| something like this before. It's the obvious place. It's
| just not something a homeowner is usually able to install
| themselves ....

One concern I have is the neutral/ground connection between the base
and meter. To the extent that it exists at all it is not intended to
handle much current; most split-phase meters are 4-wire devices. I
assume (hope?) that installation of the adapter involves some sort of
jumper which in turn might require an additional lug to be added to the
original base.

You'd have to install a jumper on the neutral bar to the special
generator plug I guess.

| An even simpler way would be to have some sort of object that "mimics"
| the back of the meter and has a plug for the generator. Power out, yank
| the meter, install the adapter, plugin the generator, and voila!
|
| When power comes back, pull out the adapter and plug the meter back
| in.
|
| Problem being that you'd have to get the power company back to
| reseal the meter after grid power is restored.

[Obviously it wouldn't work as stated, because the meter plug doesn't have
a neutral.]

In addition to the neutral/ground problem, what if you accidentally
install the adapter upside down? Around here bases are typically
symmetrical so I'm not sure you could make the adapter failsafe
against back-feeding without modifying the base. But then you'd
want to arrange that the adapter couldn't be inserted into an
unmodified base which would make the base incompatible with a
normal meter...

There's a patent on that:

http://www.okpatent.us/medicinal_den...wer_meter.html

If you can get past the patent idiocy of being able to unwind your power
meter by rotating the meter 180 degrees ;-)

Note that if the generator doesn't bond ground and neutral, you apparently
don't have to switch neutral.
--
Chris Lewis,

Age and Treachery will Triumph over Youth and Skill
It's not just anyone who gets a Starship Cruiser class named after them.