Agricultural commissioner outlines County'wide weights and measures inspections, flags new tech challenges

Catherine Vanderwall, Lake County agricultural commissioner and sealer of weights and measures, presented the county's 2024 fiscal-year weights and measures report to the Board of Supervisors on March 4, outlining inspection activity, common device types and new testing challenges.

The report said county staff inspected 213 business locations, tested 889 commercial devices and responded to 17 consumer complaints during fiscal year 2023'24. Vanderwall and Deputy Agricultural Commissioner Sam Upton described common device types the office regulates, including gas pumps, retail scales, large-capacity livestock and truck scales, propane meters, submeters used in multiunit facilities and commercial cannabis scales.

Vanderwall said the county recently amended its device-registration ordinance so every commercial weighing or measuring device in Lake County is registered, which allows the office to compile inspection statistics. She described routine work: verifying devices are type-approved for commercial use, testing for accuracy, sampling petroleum for quality and checking posted sale prices when complaints arise.

Upton and Vanderwall flagged two emerging challenges: electric-vehicle charging stations and digitally connected meters. They said ownership of charging stations can be unclear and that many new devices reach local use before the state issues formal type approvals. Digital devices may be remotely accessible after initial testing, which can allow manipulation of meter settings or units (for example, from cubic feet to gallons) after a county inspection. Vanderwall said counties rely on the state to type-approve equipment and sometimes must evaluate devices locally while standards lag behind the pace of manufacturer innovation.

Board members asked how the office handles submetered situations. Vanderwall said the California Public Utilities Commission generally oversees rates and that the county tests submeters (used in mobile-home parks and multiunit complexes) and handles billing complaints to confirm parks or providers follow applicable rate tiers. The county's meter reinspection interval for submeters is 10 years, Vanderwall said.

The presentation noted that some precision scales used in cannabis operations require special weight kits to test high-precision measurements; the office obtained such a kit after cannabis producers increased local demand for precision testing. Vanderwall also said the county responds to price-verification complaints but does not operate a routine countywide price-verification inspection program (some other California counties do).

The report and presentation coincided with National Weights and Measures Week in March and included a new county weight-truck purchased with board support. Vanderwall encouraged businesses and residents to report suspected inaccuracies or skimming devices at petroleum dispensers.

The board did not take formal action on the report; presentation materials and staff contact information were provided to supervisors for follow-up.