CPUC TO HOLD HEARING ON SMART METER OPT-OUT OPTIONS SEPT. 14

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By Miriam Raftery

September 12, 2011 (San Diego’s East County) – Consumers who want a no-cost option to opt out of having wireless smart meters on their homes are urged to attend a September 14 hearing in San Francisco.

 

“The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has called a workshop to be held to discuss smart meter opt-outs,” says Susan Brinchman, a La Mesa resident and founder of the Center for Electrosmog Prevention (CEP). “We need the public to attend and show the CPUC how concerned we are. Following the installation of smart meters on their homes and workplaces, many people are reporting illness, damage to electronics, appliances and buildings, fires, higher bills, and invasion of privacy."

 

She adds, "We need to tell the CPUC that smart meters have to go and that what we want is a return to no-cost, safe analogs."

 

The CEP will present its opt-out proposal at the Public Smart Meter Opt-Out Workshop, which will be held at the CPUC Public Auditorium on 505 Van Ness Ave., San Francisco on Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2011, 9:30 a.m. - 5 p.m.

This CPUC workshop will discuss the options for customers of Pacific Gas and Electric Company, Southern California Edison, San Diego Gas and Electric Company, and Southern California Gas Company who wish to opt-out of the utility’s respective Smart Meter program.

A public protest rally and press conference will be held outside the auditorium, beginning at 12:30 PM.

 

The utility industry has maintained that smart meters have been safe. Smart meters provide the utility industry a way of measuring energy usage at various times of day, allowing price setting to reflect consumption based on time of day and season. For consumers, smart meters offer potential benefits such as an end to estimated bills and a tool to manage their energy use.
 

However critics contend that radiation emitted by smart meters can and has caused health issues for consumers, particularly in sensitive individuals. To date, 45 local governments in California have voted to oppose smart meter installations and several have banned smart meters altogether: http://stopsmartmeters.org/how-you-can-stop-smart-meters/sample-letter-t... .

 

CEP’s proposal asks the CPUC to require that customers be informed about potential risks of smart meters and be given the option to refuse a smart meter installation. If a smart meter is already installed, CEP wants the CPUC to require a utility company to remove it at no cost to the consumer, among other requirements. See the full proposal at: http://www.scribd.com/doc/62671132/CEP-Expanded-Smart-Meter-Opt-Out-Prop...

 

Critics have contended that some CPUC members, notably Chairman Michael Peevey, a former California Edison executive, are overly friendly to industry.

 

According to the website www.stopsmartmeters.org:
 

• ‘Smart’ meter radiation is a Class 2B carcinogen according to the World Health Organization (pdf), at least 100x the exposure from a cell phone, say UC Nuclear experts. Like living within 500 feet of a major cell tower, according to Sage Associates. Thousands report adverse health effects to the PUC, yet installations continue as if nothing is wrong.
• “Smart” meters are responsible for a number of structure fires and explosions, including one that burned Santa Rosa Mall in April. The meters are not even UL certified.
• “Smart’ meters violate privacy, recording every detail of your power usage – a permanent search warrant into your home- data that can be shared with law enforcement officials and other corporations. Watch this short video for the full scoop.
 

Yet removing smart meters has proven all but impossible for California consumers. A Lompoc woman who claimed to suffer adverse health impacts and who was concerned about health of her husband, a cancer patient, arranged to have her own smart meter removed and replaced by an analog meter after her utility company refused to do so. In response, Pacific Gas & Electric called police and has threatened to turn off her electricity.

 

Advocates of allowing consumers to opt out of smart meters say it’s important for as many people as possible to show up at the CPUC hearing this week. For those who cannot attend, contacting members of the CPUC to voice your views is another option.

 

More information may be found on www.ElectrosmogPrevention.org and www.StopSmartMeters.org.
 


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Comments

Courageous citizens defending their rights

These folks know the science behind their concerns, the facts are being suppressed by greedy corporations who could care less about the health dangers -- Even dogs are now getting cancers and other illnesses soon after exposure to Smart Meters being attached to their owner's homes.

Tell your legislators and city representatives that you will not vote for them if they do not defend you from this menace.

Smart Meters collect the data of your private lives--and it can be sold by PG & E to the highest bidders. Only in Texas has a court ruled that the homeowners own the data culled by Smart Meters. Then there's the fact that anybody with a laptop can figure out if you are home or not, information for robberies.

Smart Meters

SMART METER PRIVACY VIOLATIONS.
1. Must-See 4-minute youtube video on Smart meters:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=8JNFr_j6kdI

SMART METER HEALTH PROBLEMS AND CANCER.

2. The WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION on May 31 2011 placed the Non-ionizing radiation coming from Wireless smart meters (and some other wireless devices) on the Class 2-B Carcinogen List.
http://www.iarc.fr/en/media-centre/pr/2011/pdfs/pr208_E.pdf

3. The NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF HEALTH months ago (Feb 2011) found biological changes in the brain after only minutes of exposure to non-ionizing radiation.
http://jama.ama-assn.org/content/305/8/808.abstract

4. LABORATORY SCIENTISTS have observed
(1) Human Cell Damage
(2) DNA Chain Breaks
(3) Breaches in the Blood-Brain Barrier
from levels of non-ionizing radiation lower than emitted by WIRELESS Smart meters.
http://electromagnetichealth.org/electromagnetic-health-blog/cc-video/

5. INSURANCE COMPANIES Hired Independent Laboratory Scientists and these scientists also observed Cell Damage and DNA Chain Breaks and now the Insurance Companies will NOT Insure Liability damage from Wireless Smart meters and other wireless devices.
TV Video (3 minutes)
http://eon3emfblog.net/?p=382


So shouldn’t installation of Wireless smart meters on people's homes Stop?

Cell Phone use and other devices are Voluntary and can be shut off at the user’s discretion, but Smart meters are emitting radiation 24/7 and can not be shut off.


6. WIRELESS SMART METERS – 100 TIMES MORE RADIATION THAN CELL PHONES.
 Video Interview: Nuclear Scientist, Daniel Hirsch, (5 minutes)
http://stopsmartmeters.org/2011/04/20/daniel-hirsch-on-ccsts-fuzzy-math/

7. WIRELESS SMART METERS – CANCER, NERVOUS SYSTEM DAMAGE, ADVERSE REPRODUCTION AFFECTS.
Video Interview: Dr. Carpenter, New York Public Health Department, Dean of Public Health, (2 minutes)
http://emfsafetynetwork.org/?p=3946

8. THE KAROLINSKA INSTITUTE IN STOCKHOLM (the University that gives the Nobel Prizes) ISSUES GLOBAL HEALTH WARNING AGAINST WIRELESS SMART METERS.
 2-page Press Release
http://www.scribd.com/doc/48148346/Karolinska-Institute-Press-Release

9. RADIATION MEASURED FROM SMART METER MOUNTED ON A HOME (once active in the utility system) SHOWS RADIATION TRANSMISSION PULSES APPROXIMATELY ONCE EVERY FOUR SECONDS 24 HOURS PER DAY traveling through the bodies and brains of the inhabitants of that home.
Youtube Video (6 minutes, 1st minute is sufficient)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRejDxBE6OE

NOTE: many of the tests on non-ionizing radiation (the type of radiation emitted by smart meters) have been done using instruments other than smart meters because smart meters have only been in people’s homes for a very short time.

But as a Wireless smart meter emits 100 times more radiation than a cell phone, it is not difficult to project. If a machine gun (smart meter) fires 100 bullets in the same time that a pistol (cell phone) fires one bullet, it is not difficult to project the harm that the machine gun can inflict, even if the tests were done with the pistol.

CUSTOMER UTILITY BILLS AFTER SMART METERS INSTALLED.

10. Skyrocketing Utility Bills after installation
TV News Video (3 minutes)
http://www.bakersfieldnow.com/news/63581287.html?tab=video

NATIONAL SECURITY RISKS DUE TO SMART METERS.

11. CIA Director James Woolsey calls Smart grid “Stupid” due to National Security problems caused by so-called smart meters.
News Video (1 minute)
http://www.energynow.com/video/2011/08/10/preview-mix-james-woolsey