What Your Meter Can Tell You
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If the power goes out at your house, do you know how to tell if it is Northern Lights, Inc.’s power outage or something on your side of the meter? Your meter can help you figure out the problem. If it is nighttime and you see your neighbor’s lights are off, it might be NLI. Other times, it may not be as obvious.
NLI’s standard meters have a digital display screen on the front. Under normal circumstances, your meter will rotate through several displays when NLI lines are energized. Depending on your meter type, you may see a segment test showing all characters. CLS, short for closed, means the meter is energized.
All meters will show kWh use. This number keeps increasing over time. NLI does not reset it each month after you pay your bill. The increase each cycle is used for billing your energy use.
If the meter display is blank, NLI is experiencing an outage. Report the outage by calling or texting NLI’s outage reporting line at (866) 665-4837 or using the SmartHub app.
If your meter displays that it has power from NLI, but you don’t have power in your house, you likely have an issue on your side of the meter. This could be a main breaker tripped. Check your panel and reset your breakers. You may need to call an electrician.
If your meter displays OPN— which means open—your service is disconnected for some reason. This could be due to a lapse in payment, or you have a new service that hasn’t been energized. Contact the office to make a payment, pay online, or through the SmartHub app. Call (208) 263-5141 to have your new service turned on during business hours.
If you have a backup generator, the generator must be isolated from NLI’s system through a transfer switch.
If NLI has an outage that affects your home and your generator is running, you should see a blank meter. If not, a life-or-death safety issue needs to be addressed immediately. Shut off your generator until the problem can be corrected. Backfeeding power into NLI’s system is a major hazard to NLI lineworkers, your family, and neighbors.
If you have a distributed generator, such as solar or wind, these systems are required to disconnect from NLI’s system during an outage, and the meter should be blank. During normal operation, and upon approval from NLI, generation can flow onto NLI’s system, and the meter will show a reverse flow.
Northern Lights Engineering and Operations Manager Kristin Burge is an electrical engineer and has worked in the electric utility industry for most of her career.
