ERC RESOLUTION NO. 21, S. 2013, September 30, 2013

[ ERC RESOLUTION NO. 21, S. 2013, September 30, 2013 ]

A RESOLUTION ADOPTING THE AMENDMENTS TO SECTIONS 5.3, 5.4 & 6.1 OF THE “RULES AND PROCEDURES FOR THE TEST AND MAINTENANCE OF ELECTRIC METERS OF DISTRIBUTION UTILITIES”, AS ADOPTED IN RESOLUTION NO. 12, SERIES OF 2009

WHEREAS , on June 1, 2009, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) issued Resolution No. 12, Series of 2009, adopting the “Rules and Procedures for the Test and Maintenance of Electric Meters of Distribution Utilities”; WHEREAS , the ERC proposed certain amendments to the “Rules and Procedures for the Test and Maintenance of Electric Meters of Distribution Utilities” to modify the existing criteria for acceptance or rejection of sample lots applicable to certain Inspections for Acceptance Test, to provide for the instances when the criteria for Normal, Reduced, and Tightened Inspections shall apply, and to comply with the regulatory requirement of testing meters in service once every two years;

WHEREAS , on February 28, 2013, the ERC posted at its official website the proposed amendments to solicit comments from interested parties;

WHEREAS , on March 15, 2013, a public consultation was held in Manila;

WHEREAS , the revised rules and procedures incorporating the comments of the stakeholders were again posted on the ERC website on July 9, 2013;

WHEREAS , the rules and procedures were again revised to consider the comments submitted during its second posting;

NOW THEREFORE , after careful deliberation on the issues relative thereto, the ERC RESOLVED , as it hereby RESOLVES , to APPROVE and ADOPT the amendments to Sections 5.3, 5.4 and 6.1 of the “Rules and Procedures for the Test and Maintenance of Electric Meters of Distribution Utilities” herein attached as Annex “A”.

All previous Rules, Regulations and Issuances by the Commission contrary to the instant Resolution are deemed superseded.

This Resolution shall take effect on the fifteenth (15th) day following its publication in a newspaper of general circulation in the country.

Let copies of this Resolution be furnished the University of the Philippines Law Center-Office of the National Administrative Register (UPLC-ONAR) and all entities engaged in the electricity metering.

(SGD) ZENAIDA G. CRUZ-DUCUT Chairperson

(SGD) ALFREDO J. NON Commissioner

(SGD) GLORIA VICTORIA C. YAP-TARUC Commissioner

(SGD) JOSEFINA PATRICIA A. MAGPALE-ASIRIT Commissioner

Annex “A”

PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO SECTIONS 5.3, 5.4 & 6.1 OF THE “RULES AND PROCEDURES FOR THE TEST AND MAINTENANCE OF ELECTRIC METERS OF DISTRIBUTION UTILITIES”, AS ADOPTED IN RESOLUTION NO. 12, SERIES OF 2009

Pursuant to Section 16(d), (e), (f) and (g), and Section 17 (d) of Commonwealth Act No. 146, as amended, and Commonwealth Act No. 349, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) hereby promulgates the amendments to the “Rules and Procedures for the Test and Maintenance of Electric Meters of Distribution Utilities” as adopted in Resolution No. 12, Series of 2009.

Section 1. The following provisions of the “Rules and Procedures for the Test and Maintenance of Electric Meters of Distribution Utilities” are hereby amended to read, as follows:

RULES AND PROCEDURES FOR THE TEST AND MAINTENANCE OF ELECTRIC METERS OF DISTRIBUTION UTILITIES

x x x x x x

5.3 Criteria for Acceptance Testing [1]

All new and reconditioned or repaired meters referred to the ERC for acceptance testing shall be sample tested by the ERC using ANSI Z1.4-1993, “Sampling Procedures and Tables for Inspection by Attributes”. An Acceptable Quality Level (AQL) of one percent (1%) must be achieved. Single sampling shall be performed in any of the three (3) inspections called normal, reduced, and tightened as shown in Tables 1, 2, and 3 below. Unless otherwise required by the ERC, normal inspection shall be used.

Table-1: Normal Inspection for Acceptance Test

Number of non-conforming meters

Lot Size

Sample Size

Criteria for acceptance of lot

Criteria for rejection of lot

Up to 150

20

0

1

151 to 280

32

1

2

281 to 500

50

1

2

501 to 1,200

80

2

3

1,201 to 3,200

125

3

4

3,201 to 10,000

200

5

6

Table-2: Reduced Inspection for Acceptance Test

Number of non-conforming meters*

Lot Size

Sample Size

Criteria for acceptance of lot

Criteria for rejection of lot

Up to 150

13

0

2

151 to 280

20

0

2

281 to 500

32

1

3

501 to 1,200

50

1

4

1,201 to 3,200

80

2

5

3,201 to 10,000

125

3

6

Note* If the number of non-conforming meters exceeds the criterion for acceptance, but less than the criterion for rejection, accept the lot under inspection, but shall revert back to normal inspection in the succeeding lots.

Table-3: Tightened Inspection for Acceptance Test

Number of non-conforming meters

Lot Size

Sample Size

Criteria for acceptance of lot

Criteria for rejection of lot

Up to 150

32

0

1

151 to 280

50

0

1

281 to 500

80

0

1

501 to 1,200

125

1

2

1,201 to 3,200

200

2

3

3,201 to 10,000

315

3

4

5.4 Switching Procedures [2]

The procedures for switching among normal, tightened, and reduced inspections are as follows:

5.4.1 Normal to Reduced Inspection

While Normal Inspection is in effect, Reduced Inspection shall be instituted if any of the following conditions has been met:

a)

After ten (10) consecutive field assignments of acceptance testing with less than five-day duration per assignment in a particular Meter Shop, an ERC authorized representative has not found any non-conforming meters in every sample tested lots; or

b)

After a field assignment of acceptance testing with five-day duration in a particular Meter Shop, an ERC authorized representative has not found any non-conforming meters in every sample tested lots.

5.4.2 Reduced to Normal Inspection

While Reduced Inspection is in effect, and it occurs that the number of non-conforming meters in a lot under inspection exceeds the criterion for acceptance, but less than the criterion for rejection, the lot under inspection shall be accepted, but the ERC authorized representative shall revert back to Normal Inspection in the succeeding lots.

5.4.3 Normal to Tightened Inspection

While Normal Inspection is in effect, Tightened Inspection shall be instituted if any of the following conditions has been met:

a)

After five (5) consecutive field assignments of acceptance testing with less than five-day duration per assignment in a particular Meter Shop, an ERC authorized representative has found two (2) failed lots in the sample-tested lots; or

b)

After a field assignment of acceptance testing with five-day duration in a particular Meter Shop, an ERC authorized representative has found two (2) failed lots in the sampletested lots.

5.4.4 Tightened to Normal Inspection

While Tightened Inspection is in effect, Normal Inspection shall be instituted if any of the following conditions has been met:

a)

After ten (10) consecutive field assignments of acceptance testing with less than five-day duration per assignment in a particular Meter Shop, an ERC authorized representative has found all the sample-tested lots acceptable; or

b)

After a field assignment of acceptance testing with five-day duration in a particular Meter Shop, an ERC authorized representative has found all sample-tested lots acceptable.

ARTICLE VI IN-SERVICE TESTING

6.1 Statistical Sampling Program for In-service Meters [3]

A statistical sampling program shall be used to comply with the regulatory requirement of conducting periodic testing of all individual meters in service. Said tests shall be made once every two-year period after installation.

The statistical sampling program shall conform to the following criteria:

The plan shall use ANSI Z1.4-1993, “Sampling Procedures and Tables for Inspection by Attributes” as the basis for random statistical quality control and random sample selection of meters as simplified in Table-4 [4] ;

Inspection level “General II – Normal”; and

Acceptability Quality Level (AQL) of 2.5% must be achieved.

Table-4: Double Sampling for In-service Testing

(1) Lot Size*

(2) Series number of sample testing

(3) Sample Size

Number of non-conforming meters

(7) Spare Meters**

(4) Criteria for acceptance of lot

(5) Criteria for rejection of lot

(6) Criteria for required 2nd sample

Up to 500

1 st

32

1

4

2 to 3

3

2 nd

3250

1

2

3

501 to 1,200

1 st

50

2

5

3 to 4

4

2 nd

50

2

3

4

1,201 to 3,200

1 st

80

3

7

4 to 6

6

2 nd

80

3

4

6

3,201 to 10,000

1 st

125

5

9

6 to 8

8

2 nd

125

5

6

8

10,001 to 35,000

1 st

200

7

11

8 to 10

10

2 nd

200

7

8

10

35,001 to 150,000

1 st

315

11

16

12 to 15

15

2 nd

315

11

12

15

Notes:

* Meters In lots With sizes of 32 meters and below shall be tested individually

**Additional spare meters may be randomly drawn from the list of meters belonging to the same lot, but are not included in the list of 1 st Samples and 2 nd Samples, and 1 st Spares and 2 nd Spares, under any of the following circumstances:

a) The number of spare meters provided in the table is found to be insufficient to replace sample meters found to be either damaged, defective, or tampered;

b) The sample meter is installed in a residence which is, at the time the meter has to be removed for sample testing, the registered customer or his/her representative is not present;

c) The sample meter is installed in a residence where in there is a permanent occupant who is dependent on a life support system that requires electricity; and

d) The sample meter is no longer on site during the conduct of in-service testing.

(1) Indicates the number of meters in a lot (2) Indicates the series number of sample testing (3) Indicates the number of meters for sample testing (4) Indicates the maximum number of non-conforming meters in sample to allow acceptance of the lot (5) Indicates the number of non-conforming meters in sample to cause rejection of the lot (6) Indicates the number of non-conforming meters in the first sample testing to necessitate a second sample testing (7) Indicates the number of randomly selected meters as replacement to sample meters under any of the stipulated circumstances in Note **.

Section 2. All articles, sections, sub-sections, and tables not expressly revised herein shall remain in force and effect.

Section 3. If any of the foregoing amendments is declared unconstitutional or invalid, the other provisions not affected thereby shall remain in force and effect.

Section 4. These amendments shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication in a newspaper of general circulation in the country.

(SGD) ZENAIDA G. CRUZ-DUCUT Commissioner

(SGD) ALFREDO J. NON Commissioner

(SGD) GLORIA VICTORIA C. YAP-TARUC Commissioner

(SGD) JOSEFINA PATRICIA A. MAGPALE-ASIRIT Commissioner

[1] Words and numbers in bold and italic fonts found in this Section are the amendments. [2] Words and numbers in bold and italic fonts found in this Section are the amendments.

[3] Words in bold and italic fonts found in this Section are the amendments.

[4] As Table-4 of the original text was deleted, Table-5 in the original text now becomes Table-4 in this Section.