How to Read Your Smart Electric Meter

Reading your new smart electric meter is easy. Your smart electric meter automatically scrolls through several different displays. Each display remains on screen for three to five seconds.  

These displays will show your kilowatt-hour usage, date and time and other network and diagnostic information that is useful to SDG&E and does not relate to your bill or energy usage.

Understanding the various Scrolling Display Codes

Most of the scrolling digital displays are identified by a number in the top left-hand corner, that represents what type of data is being shown.

Shown as “01” indicates the date

The date is shown as month then day then year.

For example, June 17, 2008 would display as 061708.

Shown as “02” indicates time of day

The time is shown in “military” or 24 hour time and includes seconds.

For example, if it’s 7:17 pm and 17 seconds, the display will be 191717.

Shown as “PG” is displayed

This indicates the meter's configuration program and version number.

Shown as "10" indicates 'kWh'

The display is now showing your current meter reading.

Other Display Numbers

There are also other displays that are contained in the display sequence such as a segment check display, and communication level on the radio network.

The smart meters are read through a wireless network and these displays provide valuable system information to SDG&E.

Sample Diagram of how kWh is Displayed on your Smart meter

A kilowatt-hour is a measure of energy equal to the use of one kilowatt for one hour.

For Example

When you use a one-kilowatt appliance for one hour, that's a kilowatt-hour, and would be added to your previous consumption read.

If you used the same one-kilowatt appliance for two hours the display above would become incremented by two.

Calculation

001563 + 000002 = 1565

Determining Your Energy Usage for any Time Period

Using our previous example, the initial meter read is 001563.

To find out how much energy you use in a given time, subtract this first reading from a second reading taken at a later date or time.

For Example

If you go back to your meter later and it reads 001940, then you have used 377 kWh for the time period between your current read, and the previous meter read.

Calculation

001940 - 001563 = 377 kWh

For Photovoltaic (PV) Solar Customers

Energy consumption is shown on your meter by bars or a 'pulse' running along the bottom of the display, right below the digital readout.

When You Are Getting Power From Us

When the meter is running forward and you’re using energy from the grid, the bars will go from left to right.

This is also known as 'delivered power' coming from the utility. The delivered power is represented with a display identifier of "DEL". 

Putting Power Back on the Grid

The bars go from right to left when the meter is running backwards and your system is putting energy back onto the utility grid.

This is known as 'received power' by the utility. The received power is represented by a display identifier of "REC."  

Will you See The Total Amount of Energy Being Produced by Your PV System?

Your meter will not show the total amount of energy being produced by your PV system, but will show how much electricity has flowed back onto the grid.

You can determine this by reading the differential received power values at two different times as in our previously discussed example. 

Net Energy Metering

Visit our Net Energy Metering section for more information about our solar PV system requirements.

• Net Energy Metering

For More Information

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