1 meta was added to make it possible to soft reset due to balance updates (which might make you stuck). To get new balance fully you need to reset or improve all tubes at least once, otherwise you get new balance costs, but not energy generation. That's what 1 meta is for. Unfortunately, side effect is that you don't see how much energy do you need for your meta to start growing, we'll have to think how to fix that.
I am aware of that, i'm still working on it.