Brooks UPG's Snap2 Pre-Wired Meter Socket Can Reduce Field Installation Time to Minutes for Electric Utilities

Brooks Utility Products Group has developed a meter socket that allows electric utility companies to significantly reduce installation time while lowering inventory costs.

Farmington Hills, MI July 30, 2004 -- Brooks Utility Products Group has developed an innovative two-piece, pre-wired electric meter socket that significantly reduces installation time while lowering inventory costs for electric utility companies and co-ops.

Available from the Brooks Meter Devices facility, the Snap2 transformer-rated meter panel is furnished in 6, 8, or 13 terminal designs, pre-wired to a customer-approved test switch and color-coded wiring specifications. Available models include one- and two-piece ringless, and two-piece ring type covers. Each pre-wired panel is ready to snap into place in a separate meter housing by Brooks Meter Devices patent-pending, snap-in installation system. The Snap2 transformer-rated meter socket is UL- listed.

Brooks developed the Snap2 pre-wired socket after talking with a Texas utility customer about field installation problems it was having, explained John Gagnon, strategic marketing director for Brooks Meter Devices. After reviewing the information, our sales and marketing personnel worked with engineering to define specifications, and complete a prototype ready to present within two months of our customers initial request.

The feedback has been great, Gagnon added. The Texas customer likes it, and weve even had an initial order from an Ohio utility.

Utility companies save money using Brooks Snap2 meter socket by allowing contractors to install an empty meter enclosure ahead of the actual meter service date. Then, utility personnel take a pre-wired meter panel to the job site, and snap it into place. This reduces installation time from hours to a matter of minutes. It can also reduce the chance for time-consuming and costly field mistakes and coordination problems because the meter panel is interchangeable and can easily be removed.

Brooks Utility Products Group, part of the E.J. Brooks family of companies, was formed in late 2003, as a reorganization of three utility industry companies: Brooks Ekstrom Industries, Brook Meter Devices and Brooks Security Products. Brooks UPG provides a complete line of metering related products for the utility industry.

For additional information about Brooks Utility Products Group, visit www.brooksutility.com. To download this story and all related photography, visit www.brooksupgmedia.com.

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