TESCO - The Eastern Specialty Company
The trusted source for meter testing instruments and accessories since 1904. Our company is growing and working to serve YOU!
Any meter test technician or engineer knows the TESCO name means reliability and ruggedness. This reputation for durability continues today with our commitment to develop and deliver artificial loads and burdens, test switches, wattmeter test accessories and a full range of meter testing operational support needed in today’s competitive and changing market.
Today these products combined with the engineered solutions such as ultrasonic cleaning systems, statistical sampling process development & supporting software as well as technical support for preparing proposals and reports for regulating agencies and Public Utility Commissions (PUCs) for both electrical and gas metering operations help to make TESCO the preferred supplier for utilities worldwide. TESCO’s services include Meter Shop Layout, Statistical Sampling, Equipment Specifications, Field Services, Facility Relocation, Quality Systems, Project Management and Custom Equipment.
TESCO Continues to Innovate
TESCO’s Next Generation of Test Equipment revolutionizes meter testing with innovative meter accuracy testing and functionality. TESCO’s new meter test boards facilitate many of today’s meter shop functions including:
- Testing of AMI/AMR meters
- Accuracy testing
- Meter program updates
- Software and firmware verification
- Meter setting verification
- Meter functional testing
- Demand testing
- Time run testing
- Meter evaluating testing and certification
- Communications module troubleshooting
- Checking of problem meters for open/shorted elements
- and more!
Tested. Trusted. TESCO.
TESCO was started by a utility veteran more than a century ago and we continue to build on that foundation today. The first patent for a Meter Test Switch was through The Eastern Specialty Company. After providing what was considered an industry standard for nearly 75 years, TESCO sold off that product line just prior to the turn of the century. In 2004 we proudly re-introduced the test switch line, which serves as the foundation of many TESCO products. In order to provide the best resources moving forward, we continually look through old product literature and speak with TESCO instrument users at utilities all over the world to assess the needs of the industry. We have been able to reintroduce many TESCO products that have been updated for today’s technology and metering needs. The TESCO tradition of innovation, experience, and expertise in the electric utility industry is alive and well. We hope you will join us as we move forward together into our second century of service.
What Makes TESCO Different?
TESCO (The Eastern Specialty Company) is a manufacturer and service provider to the meter industry owned by, run by, and staffed by engineers. Our engineers have spent the last 20+ years working with electric and gas utilities to address and solve their toughest metering problems; whether they were equipment problems, system problems or regulatory issues.
One of TESCO’s continued strengths is the company’s ability to successfully work with our utility clients in a variety of capacities. As customers’ needs have changed and evolved, TESCO has diversified and added to the services we offer this unique market segment.
In addition to the products we design and manufacture TESCO engineers have worked with our utility clients to:
- Develop new meter shop layouts to improve productivity.
- Document new and existing processes.
- Develop Quality Systems.
- Design and implement automated material handling systems.
- Design and build meter-cleaning systems.
- Develop system specifications for meter records systems.
- Design and build meter-testing systems.
- Design and build safety equipment for field technicians.
- Solve field installation issues associated with AMR deployment programs.
- Develop In-Service Statistical Test Programs to reduce the number of meter test performed each year while providing an improved picture of the overall meter population measurement accuracy.
TESCO is ISO:9001 2015 Certified and ISO 17025 Accredited.
TESCO's Mission
We are known for our loyalty and commitment to every customer and for continuously improving our performance. We aim to be the primary outside metering resource for utilities by providing top-quality, innovative products and services today, tomorrow, and for years to come.
Grundy Mill History
TESCO is located in the historic Grundy Mill in Bristol, Pa. Built from 1880 to 1912, it served as a textile mill that manufactured some of the finest wool and worsted fabrics in the world. More than 850 employees worked at the mill in the 1920s, making it the largest employer in Bucks County at the time. The adjacent canal and nearby railroad provided easy access to transport products to and from the mill. The iconic clock tower, built in 1911, stands at 168 feet (51 m) tall and was a symbol of Bucks County for decades. Today, the complex is made up of four connected buildings totaling more than 300,000 square feet. The Grundy Mill was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.
When Tom Lawton, president of TESCO, learned that Fred Baumgarten, long time owner of historic Grundy Commons, planned to sell, Tom went into action. What if someone purchased the building and evicted the current tenants? This act would have forced TESCO into a long, disruptive move. The fact that TESCO already occupies a third of the building cemented Tom’s decision. He’d buy Grundy Commons.