Meter enclosures: the power utility’s requirements, before fabrication

The metering requirements are set by the company that reads the meters, and they change with the region of the country: it may be one of the national distribution companies or a local one, as in some tourist areas. We will not tell you from memory what yours requires; the right thing is to ask that company for it in writing and review it with your electrical engineer before setting the sizes.

Which type of meter is installed and how many fit per enclosure. Whether there is a metering drawing or scheme that must be approved before installation. How the enclosure is sealed and who keeps the key. Whether there are requirements for height, distance from the pavement or position in the building. And how each unit must be labeled.

With those answers in writing, the enclosure is drawn once and made once.

A typical design brings together the busbars that feed each meter, a space per meter with a window to read consumption without opening, a protective breaker per unit, points for sealing or locking, the identification of each unit, and the cable entries and exits with their ventilation. The final detail depends on the project and on the power company.

Three details are often forgotten. The windows have to sit at a comfortable height with room in front for whoever reads them. Each position must match its unit: a crossed number ends in crossed bills between neighbors. And if the project will have a second phase, it pays to leave positions in reserve or design the enclosure to grow alongside.

A meter enclosure inside a protected plant room does not ask for the same as one outdoors, by a pool or facing the sea. Sun, rain and salt air attack the paint, the hinges and the latches, so the surroundings are stated from the quote: the sheet, the paint and the seals depend on them.

In our plant in Bávaro we laser-cut the sheet, bend it, weld, paint and assemble the electrical side under one roof, so the enclosure is made to fit the place. Before fabrication we draw it in 3D, you see the model and our engineering team checks it. It leaves with a QR code plate that holds the tests, the warranty, the manual and the maintenance history.