The Common Area meters are on the Commercial metering rate “G” while the Residential Metering is on the rate “R”.

The Commercial Meters use a Circle A-W Company meter socket that has test by-pass facilities, in compliance with Maui Electric Company Requirement.

The Residential Meters use General Electric Meter Mod II, Catalog TMP36412R, in a three or four vertical meter stack. This type of metering arrangement is still being

The present meters were noted to be mounted at approximately 16 inches. The meters are mounted in non-compliance to Maui Electric Company’s current standard meter

This includes the equipment installation at Paniolo Hale. Any future work involving the replacement of the non-standard installation will need to comply with the current

As a part of this project, a review of the installed equipment was conducted on April 28, 2006 at the site with Mr. Bill King and Mr. Roland Zeitier and the Maui Electric Company Trouble Personnel.

The intent was to observe and inspect, as much as could be visible, the electrical system components, main and feeder breakers, wiring, termination lugs, grounding, enclosure

Each of the five metering centers were observed for visible signs of corrosion, electrical code conformance, electrical utility compliance, and system integrity. The following are

        1. Water entry into the metering enclosure is the primary cause of interior corrosion.  This was primarily due to water entry through the feeder raceways where a

handhole was installed at an elevation higher than the metering equipment. These were observed at Metering Centers 1 and 2. Restricting water entry is essential

        2. Aluminum plated lugs and terminations have show signs of oxidation. Once a break in the plating has occurred, oxidation adds electrical resistance to the

connection causing failure. In a few cases, an antioxidant compound was added to the terminations. This material is not an electrical conductor and should be

        3. Limited exterior corrosion was observed on the metering enclosures. The house panels at HP3, HP4 and HP5 showed signs of heavier corrosion. These units

        4. The main disconnect for the metering center has a metal channel to divert any water from entering the breakers. This metal channel showed signs of corrosion

that allowed water to enter the main breaker. This was most evident at Meter Center 3. Replacing this metal channel and applying a silicone sealant at all

        5. The Maui Electric transformers at Meter Centers 1 and 2 showed signs of corrosion. The unit at Meter Center 2 also was leaking oil (it is our understanding

1. Perform preventive maintenance on the electrical metering enclosures. Because these installations are “grandfathered” by Maui Electric, replace is necessary if

the equipment is replaced. This preventive maintenance includes but not limited to:

        A. Replacing all aluminum lugs with brass or copper lugs. Cleaning the conductors, treating the termination with an antioxidant is okay, and

properly torque the new termination per manufacturer’s specifications, are necessary steps.

        C. Replace the main breaker for Meter Center 3. This appears to have the greater of water damage.

        D. Repair the neutral bus at Meter Center 1. Check the condition of the neutral bus at the other Meter Centers and repair as necessary.

        E. Thoroughly clean all the equipment interiors. Clean water can be used with the electricity turned off but this need to be dried before closing the

        F. Treat the rusted areas by cleaning, treating with zinc phosphate (Ospho or JASCO are recognized trade names and can be available at most hardware

        G. Clean, treat, and paint the metering enclosures. The color can match the surroundings and does not need be gray in color.

        H. Seal any large openings (such as incorrectly placed knock-outs) with a galvanized plate and stainless steel rivets. Treat and paint the plate to

2. Prevent water entry into the electrical equipment. This consists of two approaches, one externally and the other internally.

        A. Internally – prevent water entry through the conduit system from any handhole that is higher in elevation than the metering equipment conduit

entry.  Any water in the raceway should best be drained by the use of a shop-vac.  After this is done, and the entry points cleared to prevent water entry, the

        B. Externally – Building a roof to shelter the metering equipment from falling rain will help increase the equipment life. These should not hinder

3. Prevent entry of vermin such as rats or mice. This is the reason for the use of riveted metal plates to seal any of the larger holes. The use of foam will help but

this can be eaten away by vermin. We recommend all conduit entries be sealed with duct seal, after being drained of water.

4. Investigate Maui Electric Company’s “Apartment House Collection Arrangement” billing structure, where a 10% discount is applied to the electrical

billing (the minimum would not be less than the month meter charge) for single point responsibility. The utility would continue to provide monthly meter reading

but the billing would be to a single responsible entity.  If this is a consideration, contact with Maui Electric Company could be made for

5. Attached are photos taken at each of the metering center locations for reference.  Incorporating the recommendations will assure extended life of the electrical service

equipment. In the future, remote meter reading by Maui Electric will become a reality which should revise the mounting height standards or even the type of meters used.