Smart Meter Near Top of List for Dumb Ideas

In California, there are over 10 million of them, in South Florida, millions more. They have started popping up all over the country and in some areas people are unaware that they are there. In many cases, they are right outside your door and sometimes within feet of where you sleep. They are called SmartMeters, put there by the power company without your permission, emitting Radio-Frequency Radiation (RFR). This Non-thermal Microwave Radiation is switched on 24/7 and thousands of residents have reported getting sick, with headaches being the most frequent complaint. What to do?

Daniel Hirsch, a lecturer and expert in nuclear policy at UCSC, joined the many professionals in the field of wireless radiation to study the reported complications associated with SmartMeters. Hirsch took issue with the California Council of Science and Technology (CCST) report on "SmartMeters"ª and its stated claims, which were in direct conflict with a study he conducted. 

Hirsch said the state legislatures requested an independent analysis, but CCST only produced testimony from the same group that did the Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) review, professing the science safe. Hirsch's study claims the commutative radiation of a SmartMeter is as much as 100 times that of a cell phone. 

Dr. Karl Maret, at Dove Health Alliance, Aptos CA also agrees that the CCST report  on SmartMeters is inaccurate and misleading. Maret's report challenges CCST's faulty science, using institute research studies to do so. 

PG&E, FPL and Duke Energy, along with many other of the country's largest power companies, are being subsidized by either taxpayer funds or an accelerated millage rate to implement the use of these meters. Unlike cell phone use, where an individual decides how much RFR exposure they receive, living with a SmartMeter can be similar to sleeping with an operating microwave oven in the room, especially if the SmartMeter is on the other side of the wall to where one sleeps.

The Old Analog Meter

With the enormous amount of controversy surrounding this issue, some power companies have conceded to residents by offering an opt out plan that permits them to keep their original analog meter. To do that, customers must call in a request to their power company and insist they not participate in the replacement program, otherwise their power company will install the new meter automatically. This option is a provision provided in the 2005 Energy Policy Act. 

The action some power companies are taking to curtail the opt out position, is to charge a fee for those who choose to opt out. PG&E continues to oppose a community-wide opt out request, like those from Marin and Fairfax county, Ca. At first, PG&E required individual residents to pay a onetime fee of $270 plus a $14 monthly fee to cover the meter reading. Michael Peevey, president of the California Public Utilities Commission introduced his own plan, a $90 opt out fee, a monthly $15 fee and no community-wide opt outs. Residents and the groups that represent them insist there be no charge for opting out of the SmartMeter program.

There are other dangers keeping some people away from these meters, namely their ability to start fires. In many states, houses have caught fire and some have even burnt to the ground. Florida Power and Light (FPL) claim there are not dangerous levels of radiation coming from their SmartMeters and their meters are not responsible for any fires. 

One then has to wonder why the Florida legislature has given FPL special protection that exempts them from liabilities for negligence or SmartMeters malfunctions, if they're so benign. It would also be good for the public to know that the $200 million the federal government gave FPL to install the meters came from Recovery Act funds, part of a $3.4 billion commitment for a nation wide Smart Grid transition.

For the amount of $200 million, 40,000 homes could have been equipped with roof-top solar panels that would have saved an average of $75 a month for each household. That's $36 million in annual savings to those homeowners, while reducing the load that the power company has to carry. It also cancels out the need for future expansion to the size of the grid. What it doesn't do, is add to the bottom line of big utilities.

FPL's second quarter profits this year were over $300 million and their parent company's (NextEra Energy Inc.) quarterly earnings were over $500 million. NextEra's annual profits are paced far ahead of the $945 million of last year, at about a billion (yes, with a B) dollars. FPL claims that their program will save customers an average of $5 per month. What they don't say, is that most of the $200 million will go to putting SmartMeters on homes and that will only translate to higher quarterly profits and almost 1,000 meter readers without a job. 

FPL just received approval for a $196 million rate increase to upgrade two nuclear reactors at Turkey Point, costing FPL customers $2.09 a month, and have announced that they will ask for another rate hike early next year. 

Bottom line, rates are never going down, no matter what. SmartMeters only provide more earnings for stock holders at the expense of the customers privacy, health and wallet. These meters are extremely vulnerable to hackers who can find out when and for how long you are home. The World Health Organization (WHO) classified non-ionizing radiation (SmartMeters) as a potential carcinogen. They are a possible fire hazard and a job killer.

When are we going to stop legislatures from voting against our interest in order to build corporate fortunes. The only thing that is lacking is the statute for the crime. Call your representatives and tell them if they don't get in line, they're out.

Here are some additional links:

Stopsmartmeters.org