Apparatus and method for metering contact integrity

1. An arrangement, comprising:

a) an electricity meter housing;

b) at least one connection between a first conductor and a second conductor carrying line voltage;

c) a processing circuit configured to obtain a first voltage measurement within the meter housing on a first side of the at least one connection, and a second voltage measurement on a second side of the at least one connection, the processing circuit further operable to determine a measurement value corresponding to an impedance across the at least one connection.

2. The arrangement of claim 1 , wherein the measurement value is determined using the first voltage measurement, the second voltage measurement, and a current measurement.

3. The arrangement of claim 2 , wherein the measurement value is representative of a resistance value.

4. The arrangement of claim 2 , wherein the measurement value is representative of a power loss value.

5. The arrangement of claim 1 , wherein the processing circuit is further operable to obtain the second voltage measurement within the meter housing.

6. The arrangement of claim 1 , wherein the at least one connection includes a switch contact.

7. The arrangement of claim 1 , wherein the at least one connection includes a connection between a meter blade and a meter jaw.

8. The arrangement of claim 1 , wherein the at least one connection includes a connection between a first contact and a second contact of a switch.

9. The arrangement of claim 1 , wherein the processing circuit is further configured to generate information regarding energy consumption of a load external to a meter based in part on the first measurement.

10. The arrangement of claim 1 , further comprising a probe electrically coupled to a meter jaw.

11. The arrangement of claim 1 , wherein the processing circuit is further configured to:

determine if the resistance exceeds a threshold; and

generate a first signal dependent on whether the resistance exceeds the threshold.

12. An arrangement, comprising:

a) at least one connection between a first conductor and a second conductor carrying line voltage;

b) a processing circuit disposed within an electricity meter housing, the processing circuit configured to obtain a first voltage measurement on a first side of the at least one connection, and a second voltage measurement on a second side of the at least one connection, the processing circuit further operable to determine a value corresponding to an impedance across the at least one connection.

13. The arrangement of claim 12 , wherein the processing circuit is further configured to generate metering information including information regarding energy consumption of a load external to the meter.

14. The arrangement of claim 12 , wherein the at least one connection includes a switch contact.

15. The arrangement of claim 12 , wherein the at least one connection includes a connection between a meter blade and a meter jaw.

16. The arrangement of claim 12 , wherein the at least one connection includes a connection between a first contact and a second contact of a switch.

17. The arrangement of claim 16 , wherein the processing circuit is further configured to:

determine if the value exceeds a threshold; and

generate a first signal dependent on whether the value exceeds the threshold.

18. The arrangement of claim 12 , further comprising a voltage probe configured to be received by a meter jaw, and wherein the first voltage measurement is derived from a signal obtained by the voltage probe.

19. The arrangement of claim 12 , wherein the processing circuit is further configured to:

determine if the measurement value exceeds a threshold; and

generate a first signal dependent on whether the measurement value exceeds the threshold.

20. An arrangement, comprising:

a) at least one connection between a first conductor and a second conductor carrying a line voltage provided to a load;

b) a voltage sensor disposed within an electricity meter housing and configured to obtain a measurement of the line voltage;

c) a processing circuit configured to receive the line voltage measurement from the voltage sensor, the processing circuit configured to:

obtain a first voltage measurement on a first side of the at least one connection, and a second voltage measurement on a second side of the at least one connection, the processing circuit further operable to determine a value based on the first voltage measurement, the second voltage measurement, when said connection is conducting current.