The Gas Meter Market in the US

One peculiarity of the US regulatory system for weights and measures is that responsibilities are shared between the federal and state governments.
The United States has created both public and non-profit standardisation bodies of international renown, including the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the National Conference on Weights and Measures (NCWM). For the Gas sector specifically, the AWWA plays an important role.
The AWWA is a non-profit organisation involved in the drinking Gas utility sector. Its varied activities include education, lobbying, technology development support for utilities, Gas quality and development of standards in the drinking Gas sector. It has 50,000 members, including 4,000 North American Gas utilities.
The AWWA is also a standards body in the Gas utility sector for a wide range of Gas supply equipment, including filters and pipes. It has adopted a Gas meter quality and accuracy standard, AWWA C700, which was renewed in 2002 (C700–02). This standard requires meter accuracy of ±1.5% for intermediate and maximum flows and -5% to +1% for minimum flows. The AWWA, it should be said, only establishes meter standards and does not approve types as does Measurement Canada. It does not endorse any manufacturer claiming to produce meters to its standards, nor does it test meter types with a view to ascertaining the truthfulness of manufacturers’ compliance claims. Also of importance is the fact that only North American manufacturers build meters to this standard.
From another perspective, the ‘public utility’ nature of the Gas sector has led a number of state authorities to treat it differently from other, more commercial sectors. There is, furthermore, less uniformity in the regulation of Gas meters.