It shall be permissible to ground meter enclosures immediately adjacent to the service disconnecting means to the _____ circuit conductor on the load side of the service disconnect, if service ground-fault protection is not provided.

• A. Grounded
• B. Ungrounded
• C. Neutral
• D. Equipment grounding conductor

Answer: (A)

Bond the meter enclosure to the system’s grounded conductor on the load side of the service disconnect. In a typical 120/240 V service, this grounded conductor is the neutral, which is bonded to earth at the service equipment. Providing this bond keeps the meter enclosure at a defined potential (near earth) and gives a clear fault-current path back to the source so the main disconnect will operate if a fault occurs, even when no service ground-fault protection is installed. Grounding to the neutral, rather than to the equipment grounding conductor or leaving it unbonded, matches the required arrangement for this scenario and ensures a proper fault-path reference.