Section 500.180  Testing Facilities and Equipment

a)         Each utility shall provide for such laboratory, meter testing shops and other equipment and facilities as may be necessary to make the tests required of it by this Part or other orders of the Commission.  The apparatus and equipment so provided shall be at all times available for the inspection or use of authorized representatives of the Commission.

b)        

1)         Each utility furnishing gas service through rotary type displacement meters shall retain either

A)        a record of the utility's accuracy test made prior to placing such a meter in service and in accordance with recognized and accepted practices, or,

B)        in lieu of such a test by the utility, a record of the factory's accuracy test.

2)         All rotary type displacement meters in service shall be given a differential test at least every 5 years, which test shall be in lieu of the requirements set forth in Section 500.210.  If the differential for a given RPM is 50% higher than the utility's initial differential test or the factory differential test, action shall be taken to return the differential below said 50%.

c)         Each utility furnishing metered gas service through orifice type meters (flow meters) shall provide and have available an instrument for checking the diameter of the orifice, a water column for testing the pressure differential recorder, and a mercury column or an approved dead weight gauge tester for testing the static pressure recorded so that the utility will be capable of determining the accuracy of these orifices and recorders to within one-half of one percent.  The orifices of these meters in service shall be inspected and calibrated at least annually, and the pressure instruments shall be calibrated at least monthly, which tests shall be in lieu of the requirements set forth in Section 500.210.

d)        

1)         Turbine type gas meters shall be tested for accuracy by means of an actual calibration proof test prior to installation, and shall thereafter be proof tested at a single test rate in the range of 20 percent to 80 percent of maximum flow capacity under density conditions identical to those used at the initial test conducted prior to installation.  For any turbine meter equipped with a detachable rotor module, testing of the module may be performed in either the service meter body or a test meter body.

2)         Turbine meters with operating pressure of 100 pounds per square inch ("psi") or greater shall be proof tested annually and lubricated every six months.

3)         Turbine meters with operating pressure of less than 100 psi shall be proof tested every five years and lubricated annually and, if not equipped with external lubrication provisions, shall be spin tested annually.  If the spin time is not equal to or greater than the minimum spin time specified by the manufacturer, such corrective measures shall be taken as are necessary to cause the spin time to equal or exceed the manufacturer's specifications.  These measure shall include such actions as cleaning, lubricating or repairing the meter.

4)         The turbine meter testing requirements prescribed herein shall be in lieu of the requirements set forth in Section 500.210.

e)        

1)         Each utility furnishing metered gas service shall provide meter testing equipment, including a meter prover of not less than five cubic foot capacity, and shall cause same to be maintained in proper adjustment in order to determine the accuracy of meters to within one-half of one percent.  The utility shall provide suitable thermometers and shall adequately control the temperature of the meter testing room, meter soaking room, and air supply used in testing meters to achieve the meter testing accuracy stated herein.  The meter prover shall be so placed as to be shielded from excessive temperature variations.

2)         Each utility using temperature compensating meters shall, in addition, provide a means of testing either by their own equipment or outside contract facilities such meters at zero degrees Fahrenheit, and 100 degrees Fahrenheit, should such a test be required.

f)         The accuracy of all provers and testing equipment, and the methods of operating them, may be established or checked from time to time by an authorized representative of the Commission.  The equipment used by the utility shall be checked for accuracy against recognized standards at least every three (3) years.

(Source:  Amended at 8 Ill. Reg. 14960, effective September 1, 1984)