Reading Your Electric Meter

Reading your electric meter isn’t as difficult as it looks.

If your meter is like the one shown, it is a “dial” meter. The faces are numbers 0 through 9 with zero at the top. Some of the numbers go around the face clockwise and some run counterclockwise. The hands move in the same direction as the numbers.

To read the meter, start with the left-hand dial and proceed right. If the hand is between two numbers, read the smaller number. The meter shown reads 1218.

Also, on this meter, it says “multiply by ten.” Therefore, if you subtract your last meter reading from your current meter reading and multiply that number by 10, you will get the number of kilowatt hours used since the last reading.

A kilowatt hour is the amount of power it takes to burn 10 100-watt bulbs for one hour.

Tampering with your meter has serious consequences, including criminal prosecution. Please do not tamper with your electric meter. If you have a question or concern about your meter, call us at 423-968-1526 or to e-mail us click here.