An electric meter is a device owned by your electric utility that is installed on your home for the purpose of measuring your home's electric usage. Sussex Rural Electric Cooperative uses readings from your home's electric meter to determine an accurate count of the electricity used in your home, measured in kWh, and to charge you the appropriate amount on your monthly bill based on this reading.

You can find a summary of your usage on our online Bill Pay site. You can use this information to see trends in you usage and make informed adjustments to your energy habits. To assist with this, you can make use of a formula to calculate an individual device's kilowatt-hour usage:

Electric meters used to be read manually but advances in metering technology have given Sussex Rural Electric Cooperative the ability to read members' meters remotely. SREC uses a 100% AMI (automatic meter infrastructure) system that sends us accurate kWh information over our power lines. We have our system automatically read members' meter information every night, which is then logged in our records and used during the billing process.

While Sussex Rural Electric Cooperative owns the electric meter on your home, the equipment surrounding it (the entrance cable, pipe mast, and meter pan) are the member's responsibility to maintain. A meter pan, also known as a meter box, is the housing for an electric meter socket that your utility's meter will plug into. It is very important that your home's meter pan fit certain specifications in order to be compatible with an SREC-owned electric meter.

If you are undertaking a new construction project and need to install a meter pan or if you plan to change out or move your existing meter pan for any purpose, you must provide immediate notice to Sussex Rural Electric Cooperative. To have your new meter be approved for use by Sussex Rural Electric Cooperative, it must be one of the following models or an equivalent model that is granted the approval of our operations department upon review:

Milbank U7607-RL-200-KK-CECHA for overhead service

Milbank U3798-O-200-KK for underground service

If a new meter pan needs to be installed in your home, it is important that you have a licensed electrician handle the installation. During installation, you must ensure that your meter pan is between 4 to 6 feet off the ground and is in a location that is easily accessible with at least 3 feet of clearance in front of the meter. The meter pan must be grounded in accordance with the latest edition of the National Electric Code, Section 250.

If you have existing electric service to your home and need to have a new meter pan installed, please call our office at 973-875-5101 to schedule Disconnect/Reconnect service to allow for the installation to take place (more details on Disconnect/Reconnect service can be found below).

There may be circumstances where a member requires work done on their home which necessitates a licensed electrical contractor to get behind the home's SREC-owned meter (for example, standby generator hookup, GenerLink install, pipe mast or meter pan replacement, siding work, etc.). Per our Tariff for Electric Service, it is the member's responsibility in these situations to notify the Cooperative. SREC can provide Disconnect/Reconnect service to allow your electrician to complete their work on your home.

Disconnect/Reconnect service is provided for free for our members and can be scheduled with three days notice by calling our office at 973-875-5101. Our technicians are available to perform this service from 8 am to 2:30 pm, Monday through Friday. No member or electrician is authorized to remove or tamper with any meter belonging to Sussex Rural Electric Cooperative without express approval from the Cooperative. Members will be held liable for any damages to Cooperative equipment.

An electrician can gain approval from SREC to perform work that involves cutting a meter seal or disconnecting the service entrance at the weatherhead by filling out our Electrician Disconnect/Reconnect Approval Form. In order to meet approval, the electrician must agree to a series of conditions specified by SREC in this form. Any electrical work that does not meet SREC's standards will be given 15 days to correct or possible disconnect will be scheduled until standards are met.

Any interference with an SREC-owned meter is considered meter tampering. It is dangerous and illegal to tamper with your meter box. Any damages can cause electric shock, cost you and SREC money, and would leave you liable for interference with utility equipment. If you have questions about these rules, please call our office at 973-875-5101 for clarification.

If your meter may not be functioning correctly, upon request from the member your Cooperative will without charge perform a test of the accuracy of the registration of your home's meter, provided you do not request such a test more frequently than once in a 12 month period. If you need to schedule a meter test, please call our office at 973-875-5101.

If more than one request for a test is made within 12 months, the member will be required to deposit in advance the cost of a meter test. If a test of the meter finds it to be two percent (2%) or more inaccurate, the deposit will be refunded and proper adjustments made.