[MassHistPres] Electric Meters & other utility locations
Joanna_Doherty at nps.gov
Joanna_Doherty at nps.gov
Thu Jul 1 12:31:22 EDT 2010
A year or so ago, the Rhode Island General Assembly passed a law regarding
the placement of gas meters on properties in historic districts. This was
in response to National Grid relocating gas meters to the front facade of
residences, beginning in the Federal Hill section of Providence but with
plans to do so statewide. The law requires the utility to give preference
to less visually prominent locations for meters and to consult with
property owners about the placement of the meters before work begins. In
local historic districts, preservation commissions have jurisdiction over
these alterations.
The West Broadway Neighborhood Association (http://www.wbna.org/), a
neighborhood group in Providence, spearheaded this effort, in coordination
with the RI SHPO and Preserve Rhode Island. For more info:
http://www.preserveri.org/content/national-grid-accelerated-replacement-program
Joanna
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Joanna M. Doherty, Community Planner
John H. Chafee Blackstone River Valley
National Heritage Corridor
One Depot Square
Woonsocket, RI 02895
(401) 762-0250 x14
(401) 762-0530 fax
joanna_doherty at nps.gov
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07/01/2010 12:00 MassHistPres Digest, Vol 53, Issue
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Today's Topics:
1. Electric Meters & other utility locations (Kristi Chase)
2. Re: Electric Meters & other utility locations
(slater at alum.rpi.edu)
3. Re: Electric Meters & other utility locations
(sanderheggen at cs.com)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
Date: Thu, 1 Jul 2010 09:32:02 -0400
From: "Kristi Chase" <KChase at somervillema.gov>
Subject: [MassHistPres] Electric Meters & other utility locations
To: <masshistpres at cs.umb.edu>
Message-ID:
<05E737CD9BF1C7479D7F1A4A881272EB32C22C at exchange.somerville.ma.us>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
We have a spate of new electric meters being placed on the front of
buildings in our LHDs. We only find out about them when the owners
object, otherwise the electricians just install them wherever. The City
Electrical Inspector told me that the placement of meters does not fall
under MGL 143 section 6A because the Electric Code is different from the
Building Code and therefore we have no say about the location.
How are other cities handling this? Are there other tools we could be
using to relocate the meters?
Thanks,
Kristi Chase
Kristenna P. Chase, Preservation Planner
Historic Preservation Commission
Office of Strategic Planning and Community Development
93 Highland Avenue, Somerville, MA 02143
(t) 617-625-6600 x2525, (f) 617-625-0722
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Message: 2
Date: Thu, 1 Jul 2010 06:51:11 -0700
From: <slater at alum.rpi.edu>
Subject: Re: [MassHistPres] Electric Meters & other utility locations
To: <masshistpres at cs.umb.edu>
Message-ID: <657f01cb1924$772595a0$056a010a at mail2world.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
We are having a problem with this in Springfield as well. Houses in our
historic districts generally had meters in their basement, with service
entering the house in the front (closest to the street). When someone
wants to update their service, the electric company will force the
homeowners to locate the meter outside, and due to the location of the
existing service, the meter winds up on the front of the structure. Here
is a building that is just outside one of our districts, you can see the
horrid effect:
http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/12/developers_bringing_new_l
ife_t.html
My understanding is that this is not a well-planned thing -- the power
company shows up to disconnect the service to allow for the upgrade and
only then does the homeowner (and electrician) find out that they need
to put the meter outside. By then, they are faced with just doing it, or
rescheduling everyone -- the electric company, the electrician, and any
other contractor they have on hand.
It is usually not easy to place an external meter in a place different
than where the original meter is, because this is where the circuit box
is located, and all internal wires run there. That is why you will see
two pipes leading to the external meter -- one coming up from the ground
to the meter, the other going down to the ground to the internal circuit
box.
We had a representative from Western MA Electric come to our meeting,
and without citing any code or regulation he basically told us to stick
it. We have been told in the past that they wanted the meter on the
outside for safety reasons for their meter readers - but now that meters
are read wirelessly, that excuse is no longer valid so they are now
saying that it is for safety reasons so that the meter can be removed to
cut off service in case of a fire. We think that they just want to make
it easier to turn off service for nonpayment because we don't see this
happening in more affluent communities.
We are in the process of drawing up a letter to the Massachusetts
Department of Public Utilities to see if there is anything that can be
done to push the electric company's hand on this issue. It might be
interesting to try and coordinate some effort from all historic
commissions in the state -- surely that would have more weight.
Ralph Slate
Chair, Springfield Historical Commission
<-----Original Message----->We have a spate of new electric meters being
placed
>on the front of buildings in our LHDs. We only find out about them when
the
>owners object, otherwise the electricians just install them wherever.
The City
>Electrical Inspector told me that the placement of meters does not fall
under
>MGL 143 section 6A because the Electric Code is different from the
Building Code
>and therefore we have no say about the location.
>How are other cities handling this? Are there other tools we could be
using to
>relocate the meters?
>Thanks,
>Kristi Chase
>Kristenna P. Chase, Preservation Planner
>Historic Preservation Commission
>Office of Strategic Planning and Community Development
>93 Highland Avenue, Somerville, MA 02143
>(t) 617-625-6600 x2525, (f) 617-625-0722
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Message: 3
Date: Thu, 01 Jul 2010 10:38:57 -0400
From: sanderheggen at cs.com
Subject: Re: [MassHistPres] Electric Meters & other utility locations
To: slater at alum.rpi.edu, masshistpres at cs.umb.edu
Message-ID: <8CCE74245998EDA-600-105B5 at webmail-m093.sysops.aol.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Some communities in Rhode Island have dealt with this issue as well,
working with National Grid and some state representatives/senators. I
think the SHPO's office may also have gotten involved, and perhaps
PreserveRI, the statewide nonprofit. I haven't followed this issue
closely, so I don't know where things stand, but either of those
organizations--and maybe some Googling--will give you more updated
information.
Shanti
sanderheggen at cs.com
-----Original Message-----
From: slater at alum.rpi.edu
To: masshistpres at cs.umb.edu
Sent: Thu, Jul 1, 2010 9:51 am
Subject: Re: [MassHistPres] Electric Meters & other utility locations
We are having a problem with this in Springfield as well. Houses in our
historic districts generally had meters in their basement, with service
entering the house in the front (closest to the street). When someone wants
to update their service, the electric company will force the homeowners to
locate the meter outside, and due to the location of the existing service,
the meter winds up on the front of the structure. Here is a building that
is just outside one of our districts, you can see the horrid effect:
http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/12/developers_bringing_new_life_t.html
My understanding is that this is not a well-planned thing -- the power
company shows up to disconnect the service to allow for the upgrade and
only then does the homeowner (and electrician) find out that they need to
put the meter outside. By then, they are faced with just doing it, or
rescheduling everyone -- the electric company, the electrician, and any
other contractor they have on hand.
It is usually not easy to place an external meter in a place different than
where the original meter is, because this is where the circuit box is
located, and all internal wires run there. That is why you will see two
pipes leading to the external meter -- one coming up from the ground to the
meter, the other going down to the ground to the internal circuit box.
We had a representative from Western MA Electric come to our meeting, and
without citing any code or regulation he basically told us to stick it. We
have been told in the past that they wanted the meter on the outside for
safety reasons for their meter readers - but now that meters are read
wirelessly, that excuse is no longer valid so they are now saying that it
is for safety reasons so that the meter can be removed to cut off service
in case of a fire. We think that they just want to make it easier to turn
off service for nonpayment because we don't see this happening in more
affluent communities.
We are in the process of drawing up a letter to the Massachusetts
Department of Public Utilities to see if there is anything that can be done
to push the electric company's hand on this issue. It might be interesting
to try and coordinate some effort from all historic commissions in the
state -- surely that would have more weight.
Ralph Slate
Chair, Springfield Historical Commission
<-----Original Message----->We have a spate of new electric meters being
placed
>on the front of buildings in our LHDs. We only find out about them when
the
>owners object, otherwise the electricians just install them wherever. The
City
>Electrical Inspector told me that the placement of meters does not fall
under
>MGL 143 section 6A because the Electric Code is different from the
Building Code
>and therefore we have no say about the location.
>How are other cities handling this? Are there other tools we could be
using to
>relocate the meters?
>Thanks,
>Kristi Chase
>Kristenna P. Chase, Preservation Planner
>Historic Preservation Commission
>Office of Strategic Planning and Community Development
>93 Highland Avenue, Somerville, MA 02143
>(t) 617-625-6600 x2525, (f) 617-625-0722
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