Monise Sheehan of Aptos CA did everything an honest woman could have to try to protect herself from the harm that PG&E has imposed on her by installing a ‘smart’ meter on her home. She has explained, asked, pleaded, begged—until finally being forced into the only route open to her, changing her own meter. Even then, she tried valiantly to cooperate with PG&E, documenting everything, telling them what she had done, asking them to synch the readings between old and new meters and place one of their rings on the new one.
She is not a thief, she is a person desperate for the return of her health. After suffering with tingling in her arms and legs, ringing in her ears, uncontrolled body heating at night, and sleep disruption, she has had enough. She’s been up front, every step of the way. And these are the rewards from PG&E: false promises of help, bogus accusations of criminal intent and law-breaking, threats of sneaky night-time meter changes and federal lawsuits—lies and intimidation, start to finish. The “tampering” they accuse her of requires intent to defraud or steal energy from the utility, and this, most clearly, Monise is not guilty of.
In addition, the CPUC has done nothing to support her earnest efforts, refusing to return phone calls, or telling her to “Make nice with PG&E and let them put a ‘smart’ meter back on her house.”
The CPUC knows this device is making people sick, and this is their solution? To “make nice” with the company who is ruining your health and well-being, and allow them to reinstall the source of the poison??
There is a crime that has been committed, and is still being committed, but it is not Monise Sheehan who committed it. It is PG&E’s criminal disregard for human health and safety, and the CPUC’s criminal neglect in their duty to oversee the utilities in this state, and keep them from harming innocent people in the course of delivering two of the most basic human needs, heat and light.
Here is the whole narrative of Monise’s experiences to date:
“My meter was changed to a ‘smart’ meter on July 26, 2011, when I wasn’t home. I wasn’t really opposed to the program at first, but then I got sick. I saw my doctor in August, who check my vital signs and gave me an osteopathic treatment to see if it would help. Unfortunately it didn’t help, and I continued to get sick.
Early September 2011
“My first contact with PG&E customer service representative was Regina James at 877-743-7378. She listened to my problem, as I described the tingling sensations in my limbs, and sleeping problems, and strange overheating at night. She told me that she would put me on an “emergency list” for persons having health complaints, and that someone from PG&E would contact me within 48 hours.
“PG&E did not contact me as promised after that 48 hours.
“I called PG&E back after several days to ask what was happening, and that I was still waiting to hear from someone I was told that I should wait for the call.
“A few days later I called PG&E again. However this time I got a very angry man on the phone. By then my ears had started ringing in certain rooms in my home. If I went outside away from the house it stopped. I told him my symptoms. He said he hadn’t heard about any of that. I told him from what I had heard these were common complaints with the “smart” meter, and my guess was that there were hundreds perhaps thousands with similar complaints. He blew up at me, saying “So you’re privy to what people report to us? How could you know how many people have called in health complaints?!”
“I answered “They formed a customer complaint department [so Regina James said in my previous call to PG&E] and I don’t think they would have done that if it were just a few or even a hundred complaints.” At that point I asked to speak to someone above him. A woman got on the phone who was very nice and said that they were trying to get the complaints answered and for me to wait for the call. It would be coming. Needless to say, they never called back.
September 13, 2011
“I went to Representative Bill Monning’s Town Hall Meeting. I had questions about my ‘smart’ meter. There were two other women speaking on that, so his aid said I couldn’t also speak. I had never attended a meeting like that before. I went in desperation—not sleeping, agitation, and a sense of hopelessness drove me there. Although I did not get a chance to speak with Rep. Monning, I felt like it was a start.
September 23, 2011
“I watched the video [link] of CPUC President Michael Peevey giving Mr. Chandu Vyas permission to have his ‘smart’ meter switched back to an analog. That same morning I called PG&E again and said that I also want to have an analog meter. The answer was “We do not have analog meters any more, nor will we install them.”
“I called Sidney Bob Dietz of PG&E at 415-973-5921. He answered his own phone and was very pleasant. He said he was “surprised” by Peevey’s statement. He told me they were working on an opt-out proposal, but that “it takes time.” When I asked about all the others who have had health complaints he had no answer. He said that there were no new analog meters in North American but I could find one in China.
September 24, 2011
“Well, I decided that was not enough. I needed help, and so I made some phone calls, and went to an electrical supply outlet to buy my own refurbished analog meter. I contacted someone to help me, and we switched the ‘smart’ meter with the analog I had bought. I made sure to photograph all the readings that the ‘smart’ meter showed and then we unplugged it and plugged in the new analog. Then we ran a load test at 12:00 p.m. All fine.
“I took a photo of the dials on the new meter and I have been doing readings almost daily: Sept 24, 48397; Sept 26, 48414; Sept 28, 48434; Sept 29, 48442; Sept 30, 48450, Oct 1, 48477, Oct 2, 48489.
“At about 1:00 p.m. that day, I brought the ‘smart’ meter to the Santa Cruz Sheriff’s office, but it was closed for the weekend. I went back on Monday, Sept 26, and attempted to turn it over to the sheriff for safe keeping. I did not want PG&E to think that I was attempting to steal power. The sheriff’s office refused to take the meter and told me I could file a civil complaint.
September 28, 2011, noon
“I contacted PG&E at 800-743-5000 to notify them that I had purchased my own analog and installed it on my house. I spoke with a man named James. I told him that after watching the video of President Peevey ordering PG&E to give a sick man an analog meter, and calling PG&E only to be told I couldn’t have the same, I decided to be proactive. I told them that I was sick, and that what I had done actually saved them money, because I paid for the meter and the installation myself.
“ James got very angry with me, telling me “You had no right to do that,” and “You are going to be disconnected,” and “You are stealing electricity” and “You have broken the law.”
“He said he was sending the case over to Revenue Assurance, and that an ’emergency work order’ would be issued to put a ‘smart’ meter back on my house.
“I asked when I could expect this to happen, and he said sometime today. I waited all day and night, anxious and afraid that strangers would show up in the middle of the night and do I don’t know what. I even called that evening, same number, and spoke with ‘David Wilson’ who was nice but told me he had no way of contacting a crew in the field and could not do anything ‘from where he was stationed.’
September 29, 2011
“I received a call from Lonnie Wilson in the Revenue Assurance Dept. in Sacramento, 209-938-0367. He told me “You have broken a federal law and most likely you will be disconnected.” He also said I would incur costs of the investigator who would be coming to see me, and charged for the disconnect, and so on.
“I asked him what federal law I had violated. He said “Tampering.” He said when PG&E put back on the ‘smart’ meter, it would have to be a new one, because he said I might have done something to the other one, tampered with it. He also said that all the meters go back to a plant in Fremont CA, whether analog or ‘smart’ where they are refurbished. So much for not having any analog meters!
September 29-30, 2011
“I called PG&E several times to try to be put on their ‘delay’ list to protect my analog. I spoke with Andrea Diaz in Sacramento. She said I could not be put on the ‘delay’ list because I already had a ‘smart’ meter installed. At that point I didn’t, but I didn’t argue with her.
“I called PG&E again to ask where I could see the laws I had supposedly violated. The rep sent me to the PG&E website, www.pge.com, where I was instructed to look under ‘tariffs’ The woman said “It’s all there.”
“I could not find it anywhere in the webpages. The people helping me could not find it. I don’t think this person knew of any such particular part of the tariff section or she would have directed me there. The tag on the meter doesn’t not say anywhere on it “Do not remove, under penalty of law,” or such.
September 30, 2011
“I called the Consumer Complaint line at CPUC and put on hold for “the PG&E executive office.” I was disconnected and so called back. I left a message for Harold Williams, head of consumer complains at CPUC. As of Oct 2, I have not heard back from him
“I left voicemail for Carol Brown, President Peevey’s chief of staff, and she did call me back. She was very nice and suggested I call the tech that had the emergency work order to see it if it was still active—and try to get them to put “smart” meter back on my house. She also said, Yes, they would probably cut off my power. She told me I should “try to make nice with PG&E.”
“She also stated: “If we [the CPUC] knew then [when the program was initiated in 2006] what we know now, this would be a very different conversation.” That is an interesting comment, but not very helpful to me in my situation right now! It certainly doesn’t make right this whole mess.
“I want to know: Why are these meters being allowed to be deployed with lightning speed when the CPUC KNOWS they are unhealthy and insecure??”
So do we want to know, Monise, so do we.
UPDATE, Oct 4, 2011: Monise was featured on KION: http://www.kionrightnow.com/story/15618252/woman-changes-smartmeter-back-to-analog-meter-on-her-own
Lady put a camera system on the meter, that way they can’t say you played with it. They don’t give a damn about us, they want us all to die so the rich can run the world.
HOW THE HELL IS IT A FEDERAL LAW THAT THEY SAY IS BROKEN IF YOU TAKE THAT POS OF YOUR HOUSE …assholes shold have never put it on their anyway ….it is not a federal mandate or a federal law and since when did pg$e become federal domain…something better turn around on this soon or the people will have to commit mass insurrection…this meter starts fires and blows up gas lines and changes the cycling of energy in your house which destroys appliances but it is an excellent way to kill off a lot of people the the airport scanners missed …
why does the meter have to transmit all day long every day as that is specious .
it only needs to run 10 seconds 1 time per month to send your usage to the hq…
even that should be staggered on a grid where houses are numbered 1-30 (example)and each house numbered 1 will send out a signal for what is 10-30 seconds one timeper month as would be safer this way and all houses each day would send as the numbers went down the progression and then houses numbered 2 the next day and so on to #30 …..
they need to make this non genocidal concession and do it for safety and health or this shit is going to bite them in the ass real hard….
i have experienced the non thermal rad sickness from these things and i never get sick ever …dizzyness ,,,,extreme hunger from lowered blood sugar levels thet also affect pets and is why so many pets are getting seizure behaviour,,,,their skulls are much thinner than ours and their systems are more vulnerable than ours …its hard to really know as they dont talk much…
i got major insomnia and strange sensations here and there ..
there were 6 meters on the outside wall of gf house and 6 gas metered on the outside wall of her unit ,so we were in the middle of it ….
i never went back over there and she moved out ..
microwaves are microwaves and they tend to cook whatever is in there general path ..this meter program is a nightmare come true …pg/e who never cleaned up the chromium 6 problem in so cal ans kept using it anyway ..the erin brokovitch movie was propaganda ….pg/e doesnt even know where their dangerous old gas pipes are but mother time will find them and a little help from a smart meter ….
That is excellent news, great for Monise and everyone else.
This new meter program to eliminate meter readers by utilizing a radio system to automate meter reading was ramrodded through without any thought.
The powerful utility corporations spent tens of millions of dollars to lobby the government and also on misleading marketing propaganda campaigns with claims like “these new meters save energy”, and “these new meters are upgrading our aging power grid to being smart”. All lies ! And then they partner with the HomePlug/ZigBee Alliance to peddle expensive automation systems to the customer under the guise of that is how the meters save energy. More marketing hype and lies.
What it boils down to is PG&E is using (taking) customers private property and installing their radio revenue collection system on it. If PG&E and all the other utility corporations want to automate their meter reading, they should have gone through proper procedures first, but NO, they acted like obergroten furors (Hitler’s) and tried to trick the customers into thinking that this is mandatory, just like sending people to the gas chambers was mandatory.
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October 29, 2011
It has been almost thirty days since my last post and it feels like a year.
After all the threats by them and all the agonizing nights enveloped in fear and anxiety along with the ringing in my ears, PG&E called me and asked if they could put one of their digital, but like an analog meter on and give me back the I had purchased. No harm no foul.
It was one of those ” OK, I will give you one more chance to make this right”, kind of moments.
Lavern was so nice on the phone. They came out on October 14th and switched my analog with a digital meter. I was told both by Lavern who is the director of customer relations at PG&E and by Gary and Vince, a supervisor and a regular PG&E tech they don’t give out their last names, hum?, that this meter had no bells or whistles in it. It absolutely had no radio capabilities. Well this statement is true to a point. Those bells and whistles could be added at any time. They also give off some nasty dirty electricity. I encourage anyone reading this to study up !
Lavern also said that they would check other meters in my area to see if maybe it was one of those other smart meters that were acting up and causing my symptoms. No word from her for days and days so I called here back again and left a voice message letting her know that I was going to the CPUC hearing on Thursday and it would be nice to have something positive to report. She left a message that same day however we continued to play phone tag for a few more days. I finally received a call from Lavern telling me that the good news was that there wasn’t that many meters in my area. OK. great now what? I had been consistently saying to everyone that the ringing in my ears has not gone away even after my meter had been switched out.
It must be from an outside source. Maybe those thousands of radio /microwaves flying through the air 24/7?
Lavern also told me that PG&E did not have RF or EMF specialists in their employ. If they needed that kind of service work it was contracted out. Huh?
They have installed how many thousand of these units and they don’t have people who know how to work with them? I am really becoming scared here. She promised to fix this and yet here I am getting ready to go to sleep on my couch because my bedroom is way too toxic to stay in for any more than a few minutes at a time.
Again I must tell you that my story is not finished. If you have an analog meter on your home keep it safe and secure.
I will keep you posted.
Monise Sheehan
jam the locks on the meters collars with anything of a super glue nature …if you can remove the lock collar and make a templat ,you can build a lock collar out of harder thicker metal perhaps with a heavy nige on one end for to be able to close it cown over lock collar rim ….then either lock or weld the dam thing sealed …
any kind of cover can be removed by meter installer and the bad meter put in …..
Pg&e came out and changed our analog meter to a smart meter. Soon after I started waking up in the middle of the night tearing off my pjs because I was having major hot flashes my head felt like it was put in an oven , my ears get a high pitched ringing in them . Then about a month after that my menstural cycle started getting weird I’ve never had problems in my 48 years I bled for two years and finely all the doctors could do was to give me a hestorectmony, I didn’t put two and two together until now I had movers from there but my grandmother still lives there she also started having problems when they had installed the smart meter she started getting anxiety attacks and other health issues as well . I had spoke with her yesterday and she had told me that her anxiety has gotten so bad she can no longer watch television. If anyone can direct me on what we can do to get our analog meter back I’d sure appreciate it. And if anyone knows of a class action suit filed against pg&e I’d sure like to add our names it’s criminal what pg$e has done to us. They have purposely caused us bodily harm with intent to gain. Let’s make them pay!
Unfortunately PG&E is just a pawn in the picture. All the power companies are being told what to do. U.N. Agenda 21 is the root of this evil. It is so deep that the local governments are infected by the “green” and “sustainability” terminology. Research Agenda 21 and you will find that you are the target. You are destroying “mother earth” as a consumer. Stack em and pack em, then pulse radiate them with smart meters. They would like to eliminate 90% of the population.
Your description sounds identical to “microwave sickness”. I would unplug all wireless in your home. Use electricity sparingly. Turn off all breakers except for necessities until the meter is removed. Also, place heavy duty aluminum foil on the wall behind the meter. Check with your doctor to see if melatonin is safe for you to consume.
Here is a recent video on UN Agenda 21
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cvcT1s7teo
WHAT LAW DOES THE UTILITY HAVE THAT ALLOWS THEM TO SHUT OFF POWER FOR REFUSING A SMART METER?