Meter safety: Never pull a meter

Knowing what is safe and unsafe can mean the difference between life and death. Never try to pull (remove a meter). Not only is tampering with a meter illegal, it is also extremely unsafe.

Do not cut the seal on your meter base or tamper with your meter for any reason. Pulling a meter could cause electric shock, sparks, surges, explosions or fire.

Illegally utilizing a meter can cause an arc flash bright enough to cause blindness and powerful enough to launch fragments of shrapnel-like, red-hot debris, according to the Cooperative Research Network. Serious injury or death from electrocution, explosion or fire is often a result of meter tampering.

Meters should only be installed, maintained or removed by Steuben Rural Electric crews. They are trained in proper disconnection techniques and wear protective clothing and gear.

Individuals may tamper with a meter to:

• Bypass it.
• Create a line tap (illegal connection to a power line).
• Electrify fences.
• Attempt to reconnect the power.
• Attempt to disconnect the power.