SaskEnergy to double amount of meters tested

More SaskEnergy customers have received letters this year to have their gas meters exchanged than ever before.
 
New federal regulations that came into effect in August require more information from businesses with measured goods.
 
“They want more oversight. They felt that the sampling size being pulled from all Canadian utilities wasn’t enough” spokesperson Dave Burdeniuk said in an interview with News Talk Radio.
 
Typically, SaskEnergy will pull 10,000 meters out of the 373,000 in the province for testing.
 
“This year we’re going to be pulling at least 20,000 meters and possible even more,” Burdeniuk said.
 
One way that they were able to free up additional staff to meet the new requirements is joint-line locating.
 
“Rather than having a SaskEnergy, a SaskPower and a SaskTel technician all show up at different times, we now have a company that does all the line locating for all three Crowns.”
 
The meters are tested to very strict standards at a facility in Saskatoon and those reports are then reviewed by Measurement Canada. If the meter passes the inspection, it is put back into the inventory to be used again.
 
“It’s a big job for us, but it’s also an important one because we want to make sure that when you get your natural gas bill each month that it is as accurate as possible,” Burdeniuk said.
 
He said the most common flaw is that the gears slow down in a meter, which means that customers are probably not being billed for everything that’s used.
  
Burdeniuk said customers may have also received information about wireless modules being attached to homes, but clarified that they are unrelated projects.

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