How to Read a Commercial Electric Meter in Texas

To read a commercial electric meter, let the digital display cycle through its screens and write down two numbers: the kWh reading, a running total of energy, and the demand reading, the highest 15-minute load in the current billing cycle, shown in kW (or kVA in CenterPoint territory). Subtract last cycle's kWh reading from this one, then multiply that difference and the demand reading by your meter multiplier. On a small service the multiplier is 1. On a larger service wired through current transformers it can be much higher, which is the most common reason the number on the meter looks nothing like the number on the bill.

Below, each step of reading a power meter at a business is explained with Texas sources, from the registers and the multiplier to your meter number, your bill, and Smart Meter Texas data. One ground rule first: read the display only, and never open the meter enclosure, the socket, or a current-transformer (CT) cabinet.

Who Owns and Reads Your Meter in Texas

In Texas's competitive-choice areas the meter belongs to your TDU (CenterPoint, Oncor, AEP Texas, TNMP, or Lubbock Power & Light), not to your retail electric provider (REP) and not to a broker like Elite Energy Consultants. PUCT rules require each electric utility to "provide and install and shall continue to own and maintain all meters necessary for the measurement of electric energy" to its customers, while the customer provides the meter space, board, and loop (16 TAC §25.121). The TDU also reads the meter on a published schedule. Oncor, for example, must post its meter reading schedule on its website by December 15 each year (Oncor Tariff for Retail Delivery Service). The reads go to your REP, which bills you, and changing REPs doesn't change the meter. REP vs. TDU in Texas covers that split.

Meter enclosures and CT cabinets are sealed, and PUCT rules allow longer back-billing and additional charges where tampering is found (16 TAC §25.126). This guide applies where businesses can choose their REP. Municipal utilities without retail choice, such as CPS Energy in San Antonio and Austin Energy, handle their own metering and billing. LP&L in Lubbock is the municipal utility that opted in to competition. If you aren't sure which applies to your site, see deregulated energy states and deregulated cities in Texas.

The Types of Meter You'll Find at a Texas Business

Advanced (Smart) Meters

Most business sites in competitive areas have an advanced meter, usually called a smart meter. The PUCT says mechanical meters "have been replaced" by smart meters, which are read wirelessly and record usage in 15-minute intervals (PUCT, Electric Metering and Smart Meters). The screen rotates through several registers, and each screen typically shows a short register code or label, a value, and a unit. Wait for the kWh screen, then the demand screen. Codes differ by TDU and meter model, so don't rely on a code chart written for another utility. Your TDU or REP can tell you what each code means on your meter.

Older Dial Meters

Dial meters are uncommon at Texas business sites now, but the technique in AEP Texas's 2005 handout, How to Read Your Electric Meter, still applies:

1. Read the four, five, or six dials from left to right. Neighboring dials turn in opposite directions.
2. Record the number each hand has just passed. If a hand sits between two numbers, record the smaller one. If it sits between 9 and 0, record 9.
3. Subtract the earlier reading from the later one to get the kWh used.

A mechanical kWh meter keeps a running total only, with no 15-minute interval data. If an older business meter also has a demand indicator, ask your TDU how to read it.

Interval Data Recorders at Large Sites

ERCOT requires interval data recorder (IDR) metering at premises with a peak demand greater than 700 kW (700 kVA in CenterPoint's territory) or service at transmission voltage above 60 kV (ERCOT Nodal Protocols §18.6.1), so most commercial meters aren't IDRs. In Oncor's territory, its 2016 reference sheet for REPs says customers at IDR-profiled premises can get 15-minute data from Oncor's IDR Meter Data Portal, while AMS-metered premises that aren't IDR-profiled use Smart Meter Texas (Oncor, IDR Versus Non-IDR Profiled Premises). For sites that size, see finding your 15-minute peak in interval data.

The Numbers on a Commercial Meter, Register by Register

Here is a generic commercial meter with the parts you need labelled. Your meter's layout and codes will differ, but the same pieces are there.

Energy (kWh): The Running Total

The kWh register works like an odometer. It keeps counting, so usage for a period is the current reading minus the previous reading, times the multiplier. Where the data reaches the REP on a standard electronic transaction and the bill is based on kWh, Texas rules require the bill to show a "previous meter read" and a "current meter read," with their dates (16 TAC §25.479(c)(1)(N)). For the difference between a kilowatt-hour and a kilowatt, see kW vs. kWh on commercial electricity bills.

Demand (kW or kVA): The Monthly Peak

The demand register is a high-water mark. Oncor says it records "the highest amount of electricity used during any given 15-minute interval during the monthly billing cycle" and is reset at the end of each cycle (Oncor, Delivery Charges 101). Because it holds a peak rather than a total, you never subtract last month's demand reading. You multiply this cycle's reading.

The unit depends on your TDU. In the PUCT's rate reports as of September 1, 2026, CenterPoint's secondary delivery classes above 10 kVA bill demand per kVA, and Oncor's secondary classes above 10 kW bill it per kW (CenterPoint, Oncor). For AEP Texas, TNMP, and LP&L, check the tariff for your rate class. kVA also reflects reactive power, so poor power factor raises the kVA reading for the same kW. The warehouse demand guide covers how Oncor and CenterPoint treat power factor.

Metered demand isn't always billed demand. Oncor notes that in many cases Billing kW is "the higher of the NCP kW or 80% of the highest monthly NCP kW established in the 11 months preceding the current billing month." How demand is charged, and how to lower it, is covered in what a demand charge is and why it's on your bill.

The Meter Multiplier: Why the Meter and the Bill Don't Match

This is where most commercial meter readings go wrong, and Oncor's metering reference for REPs lays out the rule. Oncor's self-contained meters are rated up to 320 amps and 240 volts. Within those limits the meter connects straight to the service wires and, "except for very rare instances," uses a multiplier of 1. Above them, current transformers (CTs) and voltage transformers (VTs) deliver "an accurately-known fraction" of the actual current and voltage to the meter. The meter registers only part of the real usage, so the reading "must be multiplied by a factor based on the CT and VT ratios" to get kWh and kW (Oncor, Why Do Some Meters Have a Multiplier Greater than 1?). Oncor's Delivery Charges 101 page compares the multiplier to a map scale, where four inches can stand for 400 miles.

Where to Find Your Multiplier

• On the bill. Where the data reaches the REP on a standard electronic transaction, the bill must show "any conversions from meter reading units to billing units," unless you have been given conversion charts (§25.479(c)(1)(N)(v)).
• At the meter. A CT-rated meter may carry a multiplier label. Treat it as a clue; the bill and the TDU's records govern.
• From your REP. The TDU sends the REP the billing determinants used to calculate delivery charges, so ask the REP to confirm the multiplier on file.

A Worked Example

These numbers are illustrative, not from a customer account. Suppose a CT-rated site's multiplier is 160, the ratio of an 800:5 current transformer on a service with no voltage transformers.

Without the multiplier, this site would appear to have used 475 kWh and peaked at 1.25 kW. If your bill looks many times larger than your photo of the meter, check whether the gap matches the multiplier or conversion factor shown on the bill before assuming anything is wrong.

Meter Number vs. ESI ID vs. Account Number

Your meter number identifies the physical meter on the wall. Your ESI ID identifies the service delivery point that the meter measures. Your account number identifies your account with your REP. They appear side by side on bills and forms, so they get mixed up, but each answers a different question.

ERCOT defines the ESI ID as "the basic identifier assigned to each Service Delivery Point used in the registration and settlement systems" it manages (ERCOT Nodal Protocols §2), and Texas bill rules require it on every REP bill (§25.479(c)(1)(D)). It isn't a meter serial number, and Oncor notes that some ESI IDs are unmetered. To find or look up yours, see our ESI ID lookup guide.

The same bill rule doesn't list the meter number as a required item, so read it from the meter if your bill doesn't show it. Smart Meter Texas registration requires both the "Full ESIID" and the "Meter Number" (SMT Residential User Guide). A meter replacement changes the meter number and leaves the ESI ID alone, so if a portal rejects a meter number that used to work, the TDU may have swapped the meter. Getting a new or smart commercial electric meter in Texas covers when that happens.

How to Check a Meter Reading Against Your Bill

You need a recent bill, photos of the kWh and demand screens, and a calculator.

1. Find the meter-read block on the bill. Look for the previous and current reads with their dates, the units, billed demand, the estimate flag, and any conversion factor, which §25.479(c)(1)(N) requires where the data is available to the REP. How to read your commercial electricity bill covers the rest of the statement.
2. Match the meter number. Make sure the meter on the bill is the one you photographed, especially at sites with several meters.
3. Line up the dates. Reads follow the TDU's schedule, not the calendar month, so a mid-cycle photo won't match either read. The Smart Meter Texas daily meter read for the bill's read date gives you a figure from the same day to compare.
4. Do the arithmetic. The current read minus the previous read, times the multiplier, should equal billed kWh. The demand reading times the multiplier should equal the metered kW or kVA.
5. Explain any gap in billed demand. A ratchet, kVA billing, or a power-factor adjustment can lift billed demand above this cycle's reading. How demand charges work explains the mechanics.
6. Check for an estimate. Where the read data reaches the REP on a standard electronic transaction, the bill must say whether it was based on estimated usage (§25.479(c)(1)(N)(iv)), and a REP that issues an estimated bill because the TDU's read didn't arrive in time must tell you why (§25.479(e)).
7. Cross-check with interval data. Add up the 15-minute kWh values in Smart Meter Texas for the same read dates. Oncor's tariff aims for interval totals to equal monthly usage within the range set by NAESB business practices, and acknowledges they won't always. At CT-rated sites, don't assume either way whether portal values already include the multiplier. A steady ratio between the two totals is a question for your REP, not proof that either number is wrong.

Getting 15-Minute Data From Smart Meter Texas

PUCT rules require advanced-meter interval data of 15 minutes or shorter to reach a utility web portal "on a day-after basis," with on-demand reads available through that portal (16 TAC §25.130(g)). In Texas's competitive areas that portal is Smart Meter Texas. Its user guide says registration asks for your ESI ID, meter number, and REP, and that you can:

• view up to two years of usage, including 15-minute interval, daily meter read, and monthly billing reports;
• press "Get Current Meter Read" for an on-demand read to compare with your photo; and
• export the data as a CSV file or as Green Button XML.

That guide is SMT's residential version. Business accounts use the same portal, but steps and available history can differ. LP&L customers should confirm portal access with LP&L or their REP. PUCT rules also require read-only access to advanced meter data for "other entities authorized by the customer" (§25.130(j)(1)), which is how a broker can review your interval data with your permission. What a letter of authorization means explains that paperwork.

What to Do If You Think Your Meter Is Wrong

Start with your REP, which issues the bill and receives the TDU's data. If the explanations above don't account for the gap, you have concrete rights:

• A meter test. The utility must test a customer's meter "at no charge to the customer" on request. A repeat request within four years can carry a tariff fee, but only if the meter tests within ANSI accuracy standards, and the utility must promptly give you the removal date, the test date, and the result (16 TAC §25.124(c)). Oncor's tariff commits to testing within ten business days for a self-contained single-phase kWh meter and 30 calendar days for other meters, including CT-rated ones (Oncor Tariff §4.7.4).
• Limits on estimates. Oncor won't estimate more than three consecutive scheduled readings where the customer hasn't denied access, and its validation procedures stop zero-usage and extreme-value readings from being issued without good reason.
• Limits on back-billing. For a non-compliant meter with no tampering, back-billing that adds charges is limited to three months. Where tampering is found, back-billing through the REP can reach six months, and the TDU may bill the customer directly for earlier periods. A correction that results in a credit to you isn't limited (16 TAC §25.126(b)).

The PUCT rules apply statewide. The timelines quoted are Oncor's, and CenterPoint, AEP Texas, TNMP, and LP&L set theirs in their own tariffs.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I read a digital commercial electric meter?

Watch the display cycle through its screens. Write down the kWh reading and the demand reading (kW, or kVA in CenterPoint territory), then apply your meter multiplier to both. Register codes vary by utility and meter model. Read the display only, and never open the meter enclosure or a CT cabinet.

What is a meter multiplier, and where do I find mine?

On larger services, current transformers (and on some services voltage transformers) feed the meter a known fraction of the real current and voltage, and the multiplier scales the reading back up. Oncor's self-contained meters, rated up to 320 amps and 240 volts, use a multiplier of 1 except in very rare cases. Look for the conversion on your bill or ask your REP.

Why doesn't my meter reading match my electric bill?

Usually because of a meter multiplier, a photo taken between scheduled read dates, an estimated read, or billed demand raised by a ratchet, kVA billing, or a power-factor adjustment. If none of those explains the gap, ask your REP about a meter test.

Is the meter number the same as the ESI ID?

No. The ESI ID identifies the service delivery point in ERCOT's registration and settlement systems, and the meter number identifies the physical meter. If the TDU replaces the meter, the meter number changes but the ESI ID stays. Smart Meter Texas asks for both.

Where do I find my meter number?

On the meter itself, and on many bills. Texas bill rules require the ESI ID on every REP bill but not the meter number, so if your bill doesn't show it, read it from the meter or ask your REP.

Can I have my commercial electric meter tested in Texas?

Yes. PUCT rules require the utility to test a customer's meter at no charge on request. A repeat request within four years can carry a tariff fee if the meter proves accurate. Oncor's tariff commits to testing within 30 calendar days for meters other than self-contained single-phase kWh meters.

How do I get 15-minute usage data for my business meter?

Register on Smart Meter Texas with your ESI ID, meter number, and REP. You can view up to two years of usage, including 15-minute interval data, request a current meter read, and export CSV or Green Button files. In Oncor territory, very large IDR-profiled premises get interval data from Oncor's IDR Meter Data Portal instead.

The Bottom Line

Reading the digits on a commercial electric meter is the easy part. The skill is turning them into billing units and checking them against the bill and the interval data. When those line up, the usage on your bill is real, and the remaining question is what you pay for it. TDU delivery charges are regulated and the same whichever REP you choose, so the supply side is where comparing offers matters. If the building also has gas service, see how to read a commercial natural gas meter.