Smart Meters

The SMART METER Rebellion & What everyone should know about those new energy efficient light bulbs

by Rosalind Peterson

http://www.agriculturedefensecoalition.org


                                                                                The Invisible Hazards of “Smart” Meters

Posted by Dr. Ilya Sandra Perlingieri  Friday, August 19th, 2011

This is an incredibly comprehensive overview of the Smart Meter issue with a lot of good information

Here's a great video on Smart Meters!  It includes a letter you can send to your power company.

http://24hourpatriots.com/video/smart-meters-1


Download this resource book right away:

Just say NO to Big Brother's SMART METERS: The Latest in Bio-Hazard Technology

Most Americans have not yet heard of the "smart meters" that are being installed at a rapid pace across the state of California and across our nation. Most Americans are totally unaware that someone will soon be showing up at your home, and, without knocking, or asking for your permission, will remove your old analog meter and replace it with a new "smart meter." Is this something you would really want?

 


What is a Smart Meter? 
  • Replaces analog meter with a digital meter with two radio chips that collect the data
  • Uses electromagnetic radio frequency pulses (24/7 when the system is fully operational) to gather and send data from your house ( time, amount and what appliance) at high megahertz
  • It is a two-way meter that can remotely turn on/off your gas and/or electricity, and at preset times, no more meter readers!
  • It is marketed as a way to help you make informed choices about your energy usage and have greater control of your costs. You will be able to choose a plan to use less energy(ie completely turned off during peak times) to get a different rate
  • It is the first step in creating a smart grid across the US and as a consequence of amendments to the Federal Public Utilities Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA), contained in the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) of 2007, PURPA § 111(d)(16), which requires states to consider imposing requirements and authorizing expenditures pertaining to the Smart Grid. As a result, California Senate Bill 17 (2009) requires electrical companies to develop a smart grid deployment plan.
  • The smart grid is a part of California’s Cap and Trade program. Consistent with California AB 32 (2005/2006), a cap and trade program must begin in California in 2012, with a goal of achieving an 80% reduction in greenhouse gases emissions by the year 2050. Under cap and trade, an overall limit on emissions will be established “from capped sectors” and facilities subject to the cap will be able to trade permits (allowances) to emit GHGs.
  • Individual control requirements are not currently specified. However, once the smart meters are in place, the State Legislature and/or the CPUC may alter the laws, regulations, and/or policies to limit use of energy, in order to meet the Cap and Trade requirements.
  • Other countries are implementing smart grid systems, which is coordinated under the UN, which includes input from environmental organizations.
  • Data is pulsed from house to house to towers and then to PG&E, towers will be needed in neighborhoods to boost the signal where there are not already cell towers or they need more.
  • The data is stored ( current proposal is that Google may be asked to store it)
  • The data will be sold to third parties authorized by the CPUC , California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC)
  • PG&E is  regulated by the CPUC who is carrying out the regulations and law of the state of California and the federal DOE.  Those regulations are pressing for a smart grid; stimulus money and grants are issued to PG&E and silver spring networks to make and deploy these meters and their infrastructure. With ARRA, Congress provided $4.5 billion “to modernize the electric grid” through activities including the Smart Grid Programs authorized by the EISA.


Concerns About Smart Meters

  • Smart meters produce pulsed radio frequency (RF) radiation at high level every 4-6 seconds 24/7.  RF ha been labeled a class 2B carcinogen by the World Health Organization.  Smart Meters contain 100 times more RF exposure than a cell phone, says a UC nuclear expert.  Safety standards PG&E are using from the FCC are not designed to protect from non-thermal effects.
  • By collecting data on our daily habits and activities not only will our privacy be invaded, but the information will be permanently recorded.  And who will have access to that data?  GOOGLE?
  • This data is out there like face book or twitter info and can be hacked.  The system is going up so fast PG&E has not put in the security we need yet. Meters needed to make the smart grid work are built on buggy software that's easily hacked, said Mike Davis, a senior security consultant for IOActive a computer security services company
  • Reading the Climate action plans that counties and cities are mandated to create, the smart meter is considered the first step in creating the smart grid that is an integral part of the larger plan to reduce our carbon footprint in drastic ways.Although cap and trade failed to pass through Congress on a national level, it has passed the State of California Legislature. In the future, the reduction of electricity could be mandated at certain dates and times. As cap and trade is market based, “carbon credits” could even be traded as currency on the open market.
  • To get the benefit of the smart meter the customer must purchase appliances with the radio chips. The cost of retrofitting appliances or purchasing new ones is astronomical.

 

What Can You DO?


1.  IF YOU HAVE A SMART METER

  • Call File a complaint with the CPUC and tell them you don't want the Smart Meter and you want viable “opt-out” options. They need to hear from you! at https://ia.cpuc.ca.gov/cimsapp/
  • Call PG&E Customer Service  1-800-743-5000 and tell them you would like the Smart Meter removed, Mr Peavey of the CPUC directed a man to do this at their meeting Sept 23. Perhaps you can call one of their representatives in the higher levels of management.  Have not heard of success with this yet but it was an open door.  Video found at www.stopsmartmeters.org
  • Mail a certified letter to PG&E and request that the Smart Meter be replaced with an analog meter.

2.  IF YOU DON’T HAVE A SMART METER YET

  • ŸCALL the “delay” list that all CA utilities are mandated to have:

PG&E customers- call 877 743 7378  Tell them that you insist on retaining your analog meter at little or no additional cost and get on the list.  They have been telling people that they have no choice- that you must receive a smart meter but that the radio will be turned off, but don’t let them bully you into believing this. No one has had their electricity turned off or been fined for smart meter refusal, despite the threats.

  • Put a sign on your meter:

You, the property owner, have every right to object. This is your property. Your tax dollars are paying for the stimulus money that is providing the funding. Your monthly payment to PG&E, or whoever is your energy provider, pays for their providing you with their energy service. Legally, to say no and to have the installer honor your objection, you must have an official notice signed by you, the property owner (or the tenant) hanging over the meter stating your objection. If you have both an electric meter and gas that PG&E services, hang a sign over both meters. Mine is laminated so it is better protected against rain. (A larger version is shown after this article that you can copy and hang over your meter) It states:

 

Dear PG&E:

We refuse to allow you to install a smart meter on our premises.

We object to this because of privacy and health issues.

Signatures ________________________________ the date _______

  • ŸWRITE the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), 505 Van Ness Ave. San Francisco, CA 94102, or call them at 866-849-8390. Tell them that you oppose the installation of smart meters on your home or business and insist that they enforce the “opt-out” option for individuals, cities, and counties.

  • ŸMail a certified letter to PG&E and request that the Smart Meter be replaced with an analog meter.

3.   GET THE WORD OUT

  • Write a letter to the editor of your local paper.
  • Contact your City Council and County local governments have passed  moratoriums on the installation of any more Smart Meters (just like 10 Counties and 34 Cities in California as well as many states have already done).  List of local governments found at www.stopsmartmeters.org.

  • Get the word out to your friends and neighbors. We will be creating a flyer.  ‍Organize to pass out flyers at events

  • Organize a rally with signs at the local PG&E

 

 

 

Is it too late to say NO to Smart Meters?


The installers in Northern California are coming from the Wellington Energy company, who are working for the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E). They will tell any property owners who object and refuse the smart meters that they have no choice. It is mandatory. They either need to allow them to install them now or will have to pay more for the service when the installer has to return, or they will have no electricity. People who are uninformed give in and allow it to happen. As has been mentioned, the law states that you, the customer, are to have a choice.

 

Who is really behind the Smart Meters?


In California, we are told by PG&E that it is being mandated by the California Public Utility Commission (CPUC).  (It is probably the same in other states, but maybe their PUC has a different name.) However, it is really being mandated across the nation by the federal government, and stimulus money is providing the funding. However, one finds out that the law asking for smart meters and a smart grid, Energy Policy Act or 2005, only mandates the utilities to "offer" the meters and to install them "upon customer request.” The choice is still supposed to be ours!

Smart Meters are not just in the United States. They are being mandated in Europe by the European Union, and in other parts of the world by their federal governments. By doing more research, one finds out that smart meters are part of “smart growth” or “sustainable development” or “Agenda 21,” a plan devised by the United Nations in 1992, and “symbolically” signed by President Bush Sr. Even though the U.S. Senate never ratified it, President Clinton implemented the treaty by executive order # 12852 in 1993. The ultimate goal of Agenda 21 and its various programs is to exercise more and more control over our lives and property using the excuse of “saving the environment or saving the planet.

 

 

Health Risks

People who are doing their own research on smart meters are finding out that not only is this an invasion of their privacy and property, their energy rates are increasing, but there is an enormous health risk with so much exposure to electromagnetic/radioactive waves. We already are being bombarded with them through our use of computers, cell phones, remote control phones, and so many other remote-control devises, that with the smart meters, more and more RF waves will be permeating our homes. There are documented reports of the effects these waves are having on people’s health, such as: loss of memory, dizziness, nausea, headaches, migraines, muscle spasms, insomnia, and even cancer.

 

SmartMeter revolt persists

Sonoma County upgrade program proceeding, but opposition centered in west county continues to vex PG&E with questions over health, privacy, accuracy

CRISTA JEREMIASON / The Press Democrat

Carol Collins stands next to a sign she and her husband, Jim Swasey, agreed to let SmartMeter opponents post in their yard on Guerneville Road.


By JULIE JOHNSON
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Published: Thursday, November 25, 2010 at 8:39 p.m.
Last Modified: Thursday, November 25, 2010 at 8:39 p.m.

A bright yellow, billboard-sized sign posted on a private pasture lit by the setting sun was hard to miss on a recent afternoon for drivers heading east on Guerneville Road past Willowside Road: “Protect your health and privacy rights. Say no to PG&E!” the sign read.

As the utility company continues to roll out its new SmartMeters, North Coast customers who question the technology's effect on health, privacy and accuracy have kept up their vocal opposition.

“I don't want one on my property, period,” said Jim Swasey, 64, a retired boat repairman who agreed to let SmartMeter opponents post the large sign on his pasture on Guerneville Road about two weeks ago.

The sign is just one part of a trail of protests, YouTube videos, stickers, letters and online groups compiling a trove of opinions taking issue with PG&E's claims that radio frequencies emitted by the meters have a negligible effect on the body.

Despite these efforts, PG&E's SmartMeter installation program is on course to upgrade all applicable gas and electric meters serviced by the company sometime in 2012.

Nearly 60 percent of meters already have been upgraded overall in Sonoma County's nine cities, according to Paul Moreno, a PG&E spokesman.

However, only about 5 percent of the meters in Sebastopol and surrounding areas, ground zero for a leading resistance group, the EMF Safety Network, have been swapped out for SmartMeters, according to Moreno's figures.

SmartMeters send wireless data to PG&E once daily via a single-watt radio, according to PG&E's website. The communication lasts 45 seconds. At a distance of 10 feet, those radio frequencies are about one-thousandth as much as a typical cell phone, the site said.

Last updated by John Galt Mar 22.

Political, non-partisan & very productive since March 2009! Questions: Erin (530) 515-7135 or erin@24hourPatriots.com

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