Smart meters, looney claims and council
(flickr/akpoff)
Tuesday could be an interesting day in Peachland’s council chambers.
Up first on the agenda will be a presentation by a member of a group called Citizens for Safe Technology (CST). It’s a group fighting BC Hydro’s program to install smart meters throughout the province.
That the group is making a presentation is not what could be interesting. Whether council gives more than the standard 10 minutes of their time to the presentation will be the tell.
Some people are up in arms about smart meters. The World Wide Web is full of testimonials of calamity, dire effects after installation is the nouveau topic in letters to editors and several groups have been formed to take on the big, bad B.C. electrical corporation.
There is an extreme amount of hype, junk science and laughable claims surrounding the topic of smart meters. One need look no further than the presentation document attached to Tuesday’s Committee of the Whole agenda to see how looney the topic can get.
Instead of focusing on a few key problems (whether perceived or otherwise) with smart meters, CST has dreamed up a litany of claims, some bizarre, and thrown them all into the mix. At 2,700 words in length, the presentation reads like a conspiracy theorist’s guide to the universe.
The biggest problem with the extensive claims against smart meters is that they are presented as fact with little or no corroborating evidence. Overall, there is such an overwhelming amount of information that will be before council that it’s almost as if this CST group believes they can convince anyone of the dangers of smart meters not by evidence, but by sheer volume of information.
Here’s a sampling of what council is being asked to look at:
- Smart meters have exploded and caused fires.
Really? How many? If any smart meters have actually exploded, how many out of the tens or hundreds of thousands that have been installed? If there is a statistically relevant number of smart meters that have exploded, how does that compare to the old analog meters? Did any of them explode? If so, are smart meters more likely to explode than analog meters?
- House wiring is not designed to carry the high frequencies created by smart meters.
This could be a strawman argument, since CST hasn’t shown that smart meters create high frequencies that will be carried by house wiring. It is known that smart meters send signals wirelessly to receivers outside the home, but do they really send high frequencies through house wires?
- Smart meters are neither CSA nor UL approved.
It appears the case the CST is trying to make is that smart meters could be dangerous since they aren’t approved by a well known authority (CSA or UL). The problem is that the CST hasn’t shown if this is even relevant. Are the old analog meters CSA or UL approved? CSA sets standards for consumer products. Hydro meters are more an industrial device, which are approved by other authorities (British Columbia Electrical Safety Regulations; the American National Standards Institute; the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and International Electrotechnical Commission.)
- Microwaves continuously subject everything, including buildings for instance, to minute seismic events. In other words micro earthquakes which will slowly, but surely keep shaking structures billions of times a second until they fall apart.
Really? Do these people really believe that the public is going to buy that a device that sends a signal by radio frequency is going to shake their houses apart? If so, we should all be living in piles of rubble given all the radio transmissions and cell phone signals we are bombarded with daily.
- It’s the first time in the history of western democracies a government has mandated that the citizens place a recognized carcinogenic device in their homes without a choice.
Recognized carcinogenic device? Those are pretty strong words. As the saying goes, “Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.” The CST dissertation provides none.
- As of March 19th 2012, 51 local governments in California have opposed (smart meters). At least 10 of them have banned the meters altogether.
While this may sound significant, there were more than 4,300 local governments in California as of October, 2007 (source: www2.census.gov). Put into perspective, the 51 local governments against smart meters amounts to about one per cent of all local governments in California. Conversely, 99 per cent of local governments in California have not opposed the installation of smart meters.
CST does state in its document that studies and information can be made available to council upon request.
It should also be noted that there does seem to be some legitimate concerns with some smart meters, including some that have led to customers being overcharged. Again, one should take that into the context of the huge number of smart meters installed.
This is a hot topic. People should become informed, but they should also be very wary of outlandish claims thrown into the mix.
One last thought: If Peachland council is going to give up some of its time to hear from this group with its dubious claims, will it also invite BC Hydro to make a presentation?
To view the entire CST report submitted to council, click here.
- Excited
- Informed
- Amused
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It has now been proven, that smart meters are dangerous. Please check the video “Take back your Power”, and you will change your mind. The electromagnetic pulses, which are not compatible with your Analogue meter .spike 24/7 .This is radiation on your entire body. So before we offer our comments as to what is safe and what is not, we should be informed first. Vancouver now is number 41 who request a moratorium for the smart meter. That should all of us make aware, that there is a very serious problem. B.C.Hydro is a Crown Corporation, a B.C.Utility, a Monopoly, that actually belongs to the public. to even mandate these monsters should be illegal. A Fraud Investigator from Vancouver was interviewed. His position towards the smart meter is as follows: B.C.Hydro is guilty of deception, fraud and when charging to hold on to the present Analogue meter, guilty of Extortion. Now why would this experienced man in fraud etc. be lying? I am asking you.? As for the Mayor of ” Peach land”, stand behind your people, they deserve to be informed, that is their Democratic Right.
Having checked ,Take back your Power.I guess you can believe what you wish. I am surprised at Van der Zam. Politics. As for the ex-fraud squad detective. Well. He knows better than accuse the Hydro of fraud. Sure there are Police with loose tongues. They cannot be trusted. Hydro evidentley have been into Hacking since 2006. It would require hundreds of hackers to get into individual meters.
Of course the Hydro can determine the amount used by Consumers month to month and any flutuation in KW hours can indicate the difference between normal and excess usage at the present time.
Smart Meters certainly can pick-up In-rush, Starting current or charging current (these terms are the same) as put forward by a Mr, Collins recently. something that in the past was ignored as we were advised ‘To use Electricity’. These Charging currents are so small that they were ignored in a Domestic situation.
I note that a person living above the the meter room being affected by the Radiation, There is no proof, only rumours. Locking Meters against changing is time wasting as any Utility is entitled to Cut-off Supply. Anyway these meters regardless of any rumours only record actual consumption. Nothing else, They do not invade your so-called Rights and Freedoms any more than than the old metering. They do not tell who you are sleeping with. Hydro and any Utility can tell when you are on holiday or absent. Check your bills against identicle periods in the past.
Personally I do not care whether these meters are banned or not. As for RF signals their output is less than a Cell-phone. No more than your present Water meter. This will all die down one day when you all realise that you have higher RF radiation in your home and other areas that these ‘Against Web sites’ wish to inform the public.
As for the Local Mayor how can he inform you or stand by a subject that has NO proof….
I suppose there were folks lamenting about the loss of buggy whip manufacturing jobs when the horseless carriages starting popping up in people’s driveways. Get over it, and get on with it. The world/province is so very dependent upon electricity and the demands are increasing inexorably. Hydro consumption needs to be understood in order to be properly and efficiently managed. Whether it will cost us more or less at the “hydro pump” is unknowable and therefore not worth arguing about. As the future gets here, more and more Building Integrated Photo Voltaics BIPVs (solar panels, solar shingles, solar paint) will be built into homes and commercial buildings as well as outlets for charging and discharging electric vehicles. Buildings will become both consumers and producers of electricity that can provide power to the grid when it’s not needed at home. Your old analog meter is not up to the task, so it’s just a matter of time. Furthermore, grid storage technologies like Vanadium Redox Flow batteries will be able to store electricity in vast quantities (truly scalable) so that electricity that is produced is never wasted. The electric car sitting in your garage can also power your appliances in the event of a blackout and of course the panels on your roof can re-charge your car on a sunny day.
Frankly I think some of these naysayers are the one’s with hydro by-passes that don’t want to be found out or lose their ‘opportunity’ to secretly skirt the system. If you don’t like it, then it will cost you a lot more than taxes and a rate hike to get yourself off the grid and thumb your nose at BCH, but it’s doable. Just a few hundred grand to erect a windmill and slather your house with panels, put a battery bank in the basement. Then you can tell Hydro “git off my propetty”
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Smart meters are only the tip of the pile. This issue for me is about having the choice. Many (seemingly) are happy succumbing to the relentless dictatorship without even realizing. I live where I do so I have choices. People are used to being led. “how may I be of “servus” to ya sir”. Look at our council. They went unchallenged for decades until people started waking up. Nothing wrong with technology though… voluntarily.
I can agree on the concept of choice, especially in one’s private domain, if it doesn’t affect the larger populace. It’s like the choice option being debated south of the border: “I don’t want to be forced to buy health insurance” but if granted that choice it shifts the burden to those that do have insurance. Eventually, depending upon participation, the system fails or becomes prohibitively expensive for those needing critical care. Now smart meters are nothing like insurance, but I would expect that there is a tipping point where smart metering is only effective when there is large participation. Health concerns aside, is there a benefit to all of us electricity users if there is 100% participation in the program – the mandate – if so, what are the benefits to all of us?
On other choices, I would prefer to keep my perfectly functioning septic system rather than be forced to join up to the sewer system at my own expense. It’s been working flawlessly for 45 years and there doesn’t seem to be any environmental issues especially because there are no wells in the area ergo, it doesn’t adversely affect anyone if I keep my system.
Maybe I would like to keep my rotary dial phone as well, but then that choice forces the phone company to support legacy technologies and increases system costs for everyone else.
So choice is a case by case argument. “Logic dictates that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one”
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My needs are good. ” therr aint no meter comin here” Sewer… bring it on. I agree with that one. No decision-making process. If they want to charge me more, then fine. That is a decision that I choose to make. I don’t bow because someone tells me that I have to. I also don’t jump and make excuses when Hydro tells me that I must. I value my privacy. Even what little we have left. For me, this subject is over. I’m content with my decision. Any Hydro customer can also make their OWN decision if they so wish. I hope no-one is losing any sleep over this.
cheers
Interesting comments but no one is asking whether these smart meters are an economical sound investment. The installation is at a huge cost, which we the consumer are paying for with increased hydro bills. If these meters are saving us money, how many years before we will notice this? I doubt it will be in my life time. A much more sound investment would be in solar panels, which they are doing in England. My host has 16 solar panels installed on their roof free of charge. They get free electricity during the day when the panels kick in, and the excess which they cannot use is sold back to the electric company. The installation company gets this money. A win win and and good environmentally.
The Smart Meters are making big bucks for the company manufacturing them and those installing them!! Meanwhile meter readers are out of a job and we the consumer pay more. Win/lose…. the way we like to do things in North America!
I had an interesting conversation with a retired electrical engineer who pointed out a few facts about these smart meters to me.
1) Your microwave has a higher chance of exploding that these meters do.
2) A phone held next to your head has been viewed as possibly carcinogenic by WHO and as such should not be used for long period by children and yet that doesn’t seem to stop us from using them. The probability of a smart meter, mounted outside your house on an external wall being carcinogenic is likely about the same probability of us finding a colony of little green men living on the dark side of the moon.
3) The waves emitted by those little WIFI routers that people are increasingly installing in their homes are far stronger than the power levels of these smart meters. Is that causing anybody any sleepless nights? Do you worry that your internet connection is somehow affecting your house wiring? I don’t.
4) if the worry is the information that is being collected by these meters, then I would add to what others have said (i.e. they can only tell how much electricity you are using at certain times of the day) by noting that SHAW’s little digital box is quite capable of telling Shaw what TV channels you are watching, so they know full-well who in Peachland is up late watching Porn, who might be Francophone as they watch a lot of French channels, who watches the home shopping channels etc etc. Think about it. Shaw could – if they wanted – use this massive amount of information to tailor marketing and/or sell this information to third parties who might wish to do so. Is anybody worried about this? Perhaps our Council would be wise to also look at banning cable television from the District.
As “anon” said above, these people are nuts and just be treated by such by our Council.
Incidentally, there is a rumor that CTS is actually a front for the Marijuana Grow-ops Federation of British Columbia who are very worried that these meters are far more difficult to bypass than analog meters and also will be smart enough to figure out who is growing marijuana in their basements. That’s why they are fighting them. Find that hard to believe? Well, it’s about as credible as some of the CTS claims.
As I’ve said before, if Council spends more than 30 seconds listening to these nuts, then I would lose all respect for the Mayor and Councillors.
Hi Anon. How right you are. CTS tried stirring in UK as well..
One might say that Smart Meters evolved as some consumers by-passed meters, also using other methods to cheat true consumption. Having worked for The London Electricity Board way back, we used to disconnect the supply in the street. The customer had to pay for digging up the street, plus the reconnection fee and amount owing.You can never win.
I have always been a rebel and see your point, sometimes we have to back off.