At Kankakee Valley REMC, we aim to restore power quickly and safely. But, when a major storm causes widespread damage, power may be out for an extended time. For many, installing a standby generator gives you peace of mind that no matter the situation, you won’t be left sitting in the dark. 

There have been an increasing number of generator installations at member-consumer’s homes. Recent events have alerted us to remind you of the safety requirements during installation. 

When a standby generator is installed, your contractor will sometimes need to have the power disconnected. Many contractors will take it upon themselves to cut our meter seal and pull the electric meter. As a reminder, the meter base at your home is the property of Kankakee Valley REMC. Cutting the seal and pulling the meter is considered meter tampering and is against the law. The meter is sealed to protect against tampering and injury and can only be accessed by KV REMC personnel. 

Tampering with a meter base is not only illegal, but also very dangerous. Without proper training, the result could be an arc flash burn, electrocution, damage to home appliances, or even death. When the meter is pulled, it alerts your co-op that an outage has occurred, and we will dispatch a crew to your location. Additionally, tampering with a meter is against KV REMC’s policy and therefore requires a meter tampering fee to be put on the affected member-consumer’s account. 

If you have work being done at your home which requires your electric service to be interrupted, like the installation of a standby generator, you must call the REMC first. This call will allow our crews to disconnect the power responsibly, allowing a contractor to perform the work safely.