Not sure what to do (other than get raped by an electrician). I am out of town and my roommate came home from work this afternoon saying the power was off. She figured it was from the rain but she called Centerpoint and their guy eventually came out. He found the tag below on a meter outside but he was not able to pull up any information in their system. He said I needed call an electrician to replace some meter and then they would come out and reconnect my service.

How can they just disconnect my power in middle of August because some meter they say needs to be replaced? They never once warned me, they didn't try to call, and they didn't leave any notice on front door or garage. Furthermore they didn't even attempt to fill out the form properly.

Am I crazy for thinking I should have to pay for an emergency electrician to come out for this? Then of course Centerpoint guy said they would charge me a re-connection fee...I had to get her a hotel tonight and I'm not going to be back until Wednesday. All our stuff in fridge will be ruined,etc. Knowing how powerful Centerpoint is I'm sure this is a lost cause to fight but this seems ruthless to me.

Sounds like the meter has failed, so they cut power until you have it replaced. Without the meter they have no way of measuring your usage.

Sucks, but sounds like a homeowner pain. Nothing to really fight.

http://www.centerpointenergy.com/PublishingImages/CNP/Common/SiteAssets/doc/ServiceAreaMap.pdf

Find your area and call the service center. They should answer 24 hours a day. If they give you any sheet tell them that you are afraid that you are going to electrocute yourself due to the condition that they left your meter socket. They should be there ASAP.

Not sure what Jaws is, but usually the meter can is a homeowner responsibility.

Is the meter still installed? i.e. still in the socket? If yes, they tabbed it, you can pull it out and restab it and you will have power again.

Did they take the meter?

Seriously, call the service center and raise HELL! They are the boots on the ground. They will tell you what to do.

I called them and eventually got someone. Raised hell as somewhat polite as possible and got to a manager. She wasn't any help and basicallyjust kept saying I need to call an electrician and GET A PERMIT for the repair before they will come back out and connect it. They disconnected/removed some wires to keep someone from messing with it.

They wouldn't confirm they have much information from the employee that disconnected it and all the notes are from the second guy that we called out. That guy said I could even fix it myself yet the people on the phone said the permit was required.

I wouldn't be quite as upset if they had tried to call, put a big notice on our door, etc. But to just put a hand written red tag with minimal information on a small meter we never look at in the middle of August is unacceptable. This is what happens when the city or a monopoly company employee is involved in private property.

Yes it appears they took the meter. I'm not really familiar with this stuff so I don't know what all needs to be done. Centerpoint just wants to tell me to call an electrician....I realize that is the easy solution but money is really tight right now and figure if I don't do some research they are going to take me to the bank

Post a pic of the hole that they left (meter can) when you get a chance

What part of town are you in? There are a bunch of electrician recs on here. The cheap guys are typically local.

Replacing the meter can is generally a giant PITA and best left to the professionals.

Here is the picture she sent me. It looks pretty nasty but not sure if something actually happened today or if it was a precaution they were taking.

I'm also not sure what all needs to be fixed. I live near city centre...thanks for the help!..

Call my office this morning
Mike Compton- 713-945-6141
Primary Meter Manager
CenterPoint Energy

I'm no expert but it looks like your house almost burned down. You have a bunch of grow lights over some weed or something that's drawing a lot of current?

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Here is the picture she sent me. It looks pretty nasty but not sure if something actually happened today or if it was a precaution they were taking.

I'm also not sure what all needs to be fixed. I live near city centre...thanks for the help!..

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That's your meter socket? They took it because it's burnt, I.e. fire. They did you a favor. Call an electrician!

This thread

I'm interested to know of this a homeowners claim since there appeared to be burned up? Would a home warranty cover this?

You owe CNP an appreciative thanks.

They own the meter. You or the building owner own the meter socket or "can". You're responsible from the point of connection to CNP, typically at a weatherhead or line side of the meter socket for underground installations. Electrician will have to pull the permit, install a CNP approved socket, and then CNP will come out to inspect and reconnect.

This is outside the envelope of the house or apartment. I doubt homeowner's would cover it.

By the looks of that picture, be glad you still have a roof over your head.

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If yes, they tabbed it, you can pull it out and restab it and you will have power again.

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****, no. This is terrible advice. There is potentially a lot of available fault current at a residential meter. At a minimum, the main breaker has to be racked to be removed with no load. But even then, with no load, a CNP worker will wear PPE in case of a faulty meter, socket or something else that causes an arc flash event. There is no tight tolerance, fast acting overcurrent protection ahead of the meter to reduce the flash.

You can most likely pick up a can at a place like McCoy's. If they have disconnected then it isn't terribly hard to replace but I am not sure you will be able to pull the permit and they aren't going to reconnect without a green tag.

What the bloody hell!?!? Buddy, you need to call a professional and get all that fixed. Something is wrong and it'll take a pro to un**** that mess. It's MELTED!. Yes, it's going to cost you but you have to get it done.
Hire an electrician, get a list of issues, repairs and cost.
Call your insurance and see if this is covered.
Pay to have it fixed anyway. It's on you at the end and do it right.
And go ahead and empty out your fridge and freezer because all that is toast, don't let the box become a biological bomb in the process.

You might want to sell this place and cut your losses. You, that house, and permits just dont seem to get along at all...

http://texags.com/forums/61/topics/2738081/replies/46063294

Don't try and do anything yourself! If you go to McCoy's and get a new meter can and try to install it yourself you are just going to kill yourself. No offense, but if you are not taken aback by the condition of the meter can you have no business fiddling with it at all.

As others have explained, CenterPoint did you a huge favor. CenterPoint is basically telling you your unsafe electrical system burned up their meter. And almost burned your whole house down. When you get an electrician to make it safe for use they will reinstall the meter and you can get your power back. If you are upset about not having power you probably were very close to not having it anyway thanks to the burned meter / meter can. If you are upset about the inconvenience image how inconvenient it would be if your house burned down.

Is this thread for real?

Sure, odds are McCoy's might have the right socket. But you're interfacing with another stakeholder's equipment. You better make sure it meets their specifications before you buy and hire someone to install it.



http://www.centerpointenergy.com/en-us/Documents/Service-Standards.pdf

i wonder if he'll get a permit this time

I don't have the skills or desire to attempt this on my own, even though the guy that came out made it sound like it was relatively easy. My main complaint with centerpoint was not giving me any real notice of the situation and not flume ting their work. After seeing the picture I realized it didn't look good.

Any recommendations on electricians near the city centre area? Would yesterday's storm have been a likely cause of this? Apparently my entire street was out of power yesterday afternoon.

Call Mark Luchak. (281) 450-2673. He's been rec'd numerous times here and on the HI board.

Glad your house didn't burn down.

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I don't have the skills or desire to attempt this on my own, even though the guy that came out made it sound like it was relatively easy. My main complaint with centerpoint was not giving me any real notice of the situation and not flume ting their work. After seeing the picture I realized it didn't look good.

Any recommendations on electricians near the city centre area? Would yesterday's storm have been a likely cause of this? Apparently my entire street was out of power yesterday afternoon.

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You won't know until you have a professional look at it and your main panel. Maybe a lightening strike did damage. Maybe your panel is pulling more than the meter is rated for. Too many unknowns. I had my main panel and meter upgraded before I moved into my house, a few grand and the bulk was the meter upgrade. Just hire the guy listed above, you won't get any answers from this board because no one can see the whole picture.

Poor girl couldn't even charge her phone. T&P

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Here is the picture she sent me. It looks pretty nasty but not sure if something actually happened today or if it was a precaution they were taking.

I'm also not sure what all needs to be fixed. I live near city centre...thanks for the help!..

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this would make a great troll thread on the classified board. "CenterPoint spec Meter Socket, slightly used - $50 OBO"

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My main complaint with centerpoint was not giving me any real notice of the situation and not flume ting their work. After seeing the picture I realized it didn't look good.

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It looks like you got lucky. Since you realize that, please explain how and why CP should and could give you notice of the failure? Are they supposed to let you know that your home may burn down, but that they will return at a later date to pull the meter? Caca occurs, so just be glad it didn't burn. As to cause, it could have been a surge due to the storm.

I agree I was lucky. Just would be nice if they Simply put a note on my front door, garage, call me, text me, email me or something. She just figured it was from the storm and was going to wait it out after checking the breakers but the centerpoint website didn't show anything down so I decided to file a down report. Could have saved their guy from coming back out later.

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My main complaint with centerpoint was not giving me any real notice of the situation and not flume ting their work. After seeing the picture I realized it didn't look good.

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It looks like you got lucky. Since you realize that, please explain how and why CP should and could give you notice of the failure? Are they supposed to let you know that your home may burn down, but that they will return at a later date to pull the meter? Caca occurs, so just be glad it didn't burn. As to cause, it could have been a surge due to the storm.

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No kidding, this.

Your power was out before CP got there. CP did nothing wrong except not contacting you to let you know that your electrical system is farked.