User's Guide

46 A c l a r a R F E l e c t r i c I - 2 1 0 + c U s e r G u i d e
Supported Alarms
AclarONE adds the following reports which can also be useful in building the case
against energy thieves:
• Reverse rotation
• Consecutive days of zero consumption on active meters
• Positive consumption on supposedly inactive meters
It should be noted that any one of these by itself is not sufficient evidence to
convict a person of stealing energy. There are quite often very valid reasons for
zero energy use and reverse rotation. It should also be understood that the meter
hardware which determines if the meter has been bypassed makes this
determination based on the frequency difference between the line side and the load
side voltages. This is a configurable parameter in MeterMate, but typically, if the
line side and load side match within +/- 1 Hz, the meter concludes that the
frequencies match and the meter has been bypassed. This might not always be the
case in reality. It could be that the line side and load side frequencies just happen to
match. These tamper detection mechanisms can be used to bring an account to the
utility’s attention, but physical evidence at the service location should be sought
before pursuing any conviction.
Alarm Notes
Meters can be configured to automatically perform a self read. The AMI NIC will
also frequently ask the meter to perform a self-read. Since self-reads are
commonplace in an AMI environment, it is recommended that MeterMate be used
to disable self-read alarms.
When a demand reset occurs, the NIC will generate an alarm. If the meter also has
event logging enabled, it will also attempt to capture the same event in its log. The
NIC will comb through the log and send up this form of the event as well. In order
to prevent duplicate logs, it is recommended that MeterMate be used to disable
demand reset alarms.
When power is lost NICs will periodically generate comDevice.power.failed
alarm. Upon restoration the NIC will report a comDevice.power.restored alarm
along with certain device data, such as voltage and start/stop timestamps. The
I-210+c without a battery will most likely have lost its date and time during this
power interruption. The NIC has special hardware to maintain a real time clock
even in the absence of power for at least 24 hours. The NIC will supply the correct
date and time to the meter after power-up. Since time is an important aspect of
metering, the meter will alarm when its date is written. It will announce that it is
being reprogrammed and issue an electricMeter.configuration.program.initialized
alarm when time is written. This alarm won’t be seen from meters that have a
battery. Finally, when the meter event log is enabled, it is possible that
electricMeter.power.failed and electricMeter.power.restored alarms will be logged
and then reported by the meter. These alarms are the meter’s account of the power
outage and may have timestamps that differ by a few seconds relative to the NIC’s
account of the same outage.