Although the induction meter would only work on alternating current, it eliminated the delicate and troublesome commutator of the Thomson design.

Electric meters (Electromechanical Induction Meters)

The advantages were the lower cost of a single potential coil and the avoidance of interference between two elements driving a single disc in an induction meter.

In April 1888 he invented an induction meter for measuring alternating current (ampere-hours), a critical element in the Westinghouse AC system.

In April 1888, Westinghouse and his engineer Oliver B. Shallenberger developed an induction meter that used a rotating magnetic field for measuring alternating current (ampere-hours).

The electromechanical induction meter operates by counting the revolutions of a non-magnetic, but electrically conductive, metal disc which is made to rotate at a speed proportional to the power passing through the meter.