By Josh Hart, Director StopSmartMeters.Org
You may have heard that there is a ‘smart’ meter opt out in California, where people have the choice of an analog meter on their home, for a fee.
Well, unfortunately you have been misled. Millions of people- including many whose health has deteriorated because of the meters (as confirmed by their physicians) continue to be forced to live next to ‘smart’ meters on their walls, stuck on buildings like little electronic warts. For the rich, who have choices about where they live, and who can afford large homes on acres of land, there is a choice. For those who can only afford to live in dense or subsidized housing, the choice is often radiation sickness in the home, or a tenuous existence on the streets.
The arrests of ordinary mothers defending their community from ‘smart’ meters in West Marin in December 2010 brought national media attention to the backlash and was effective at keeping PG&E’s smart meters out of the area.
The ‘opt out’ policy has been a good move for the utility and smart grid industries. Back in 2011, because the major CA utilities were refusing to remove unwanted ‘smart’ meters that were causing health problems, the population grew increasingly agitated. People were taking direct action to stop the deployments, and to have meters removed by third party electricians after they were installed by corporations springing up to absorb federal stimulus money: companies like Wellington and Corix. Clearly the utilities had to find some way to manage the pressure cooker of public outrage. They saw a future of communities organizing to have their smart meters removed- a future where people were taking back their power en masse – and with it, utility company profits. Something had to be done. That something was the ‘opt out’.
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) approved an ‘opt out’ program in February 2012, without evaluating the legality of the fees and without holding hearings. Then they opened a second phase of the opt out proceeding to do what they should have done in the first place before approving the fees (not to mention the meters): take testimony, briefs and hold hearings.
The public argued, ‘How can they introduce an ‘opt out’ when we never opted in?’ In reality, everyone already has an ‘opt out.’ It’s called property rights.
If the smart meter program is not mandatory (it isn’t) then by definition, we have a choice. This is a lesson to not only take back your power from the utilities and corrupt governments- don’t give it up in the first place by subscribing to the version of reality and assumptions dictated by the ‘authorities.’
For some, the admission by the CPUC of our right to ‘opt out’ was a victory because people could finally restore the analog meter without the hassle of risking disconnect and ‘official disapproval’. For others the hassles continue as utilities like PG&E install ‘trojan horse’ smart meters that look like analogs, and force ‘radio off’ digital meters that still make people sick with ‘dirty electricity’ and violate privacy. What seemed like a victory to some people at the time has turned out to be just another in a long string of abuses by the utilities. The lesson? Push for what’s right and don’t compromise your ideals.
California’s experience should be a warning to other states and activists working to stop smart meters. ‘Opt outs’ are not the solution. What is? A full safety recall of a hazardous product that should never have been brought to ‘market’.
CA Gov. Jerry Brown will be remembered for his permissiveness in allowing a state of corruption to reign at the CPUC
California’s ‘opt out’ policy has been implemented unevenly and unfairly, with some individuals and communities losing out big time. Business owners and workers, apartment and condominium complex dwellers, the poor, and those living in areas where utilities are of a municipal or cooperative nature- entire communities- none of these have benefited from the so-called ‘opt out’ policy, which the CPUC claims “provides a choice to customers.” (pdf of CA ‘opt out announcement) By selling the individual rights to be marginally safer in one’s home, the utilities have implemented a 21st century model of criminal extortion endorsed by the captured and deeply corrupted CPUC and the even more compromised Governor Jerry Brown (who has PG&E executives working as his staff). In the process the utilities have generated an unprecedented level of public resentment, stimulating interest in alternatives to utility service just as these alternatives become economically viable.
“Trojan horse” analog meters like this one have been widely installed, in clear violation of the already weak CPUC opt out policy.
The introduction of the ‘opt out’ fees was staggered on people’s bills. Some say this tactic has been intentional, designed to reduce the risk of a coordinated backlash if the fees appeared on people’s bills simultaneously. Some bills include ‘opt out’ fees when people still have ‘smart’ meters, or ‘trojan horse’ smart meters that are designed to look like analogs. Utilities have been collecting millions of dollars in fees based on this scam. Others have had analog meters on their homes for months and haven’t been billed a dime, such as in Fairfax in Marin County- the first local government (of 15 in CA alone) to outlaw the devices. A large number of CA residents have been refusing to pay ‘opt out’ fees, and despite widespread threats by the utility, no one has been disconnected.
If the utilities wanted to devise a system that would drive communities apart, pitting neighbor against neighbor, they could not have done a better job. One woman who suffers from constant ringing and grinding in her ears since the six smart meters on her bedroom wall went in, and who contacted us for help says, “I asked my neighbors to also ‘opt out’ and told them about my symptoms but they said they weren’t worried about it. Of course they don’t have six ‘smart’ meters on their bedroom wall.” Meanwhile she has lost the use
For residents who live on the opposite side of a bank of meters like this one, there is no “opt out” or “choice” — one way the ‘opt out’ policy discriminates against the poor.
of half of her house. If this isn’t a ‘taking’ under the law, what is? The imposition of a price tag on one’s health and home has been a heartbreaking and perverse development, most damaging to the young, the old, and the vulnerable.
There is a growing proportion of the population who have been denied relief from a bungled and reckless ‘smart’ grid. Gradually, the aggrieved parties are slowly getting together, realizing that we are far from alone. We are gathering in living rooms across the country, watching Take Back Your Power, and hatching plans for the next round of resistance.
Where is the CA Public Utilities Commission?
In bed with the utilities, laughing over a game of golf and a gin and tonic about how the ‘tin foil hat crazies’ have mostly gone away since the opt out was passed, leaving them free to continue to operate an invasive and unsafe mesh network. At the end of the day, that’s what the ‘opt out’ has achieved: temporary, illusive, and limited relief from microwaves for those fortunate enough to be able to afford a house on a large parcel. What’s worse, the ‘opt out’ has given license to smart metering firms to prey on unsuspecting communities in CA and elsewhere. By taking some of the steam out of the movement for a moratorium on further installations, and a recall on unsafe ‘smart’ meters, the utilities were able to (at least temporarily) avert a much more costly and embarrassing backlash against the technology.
Such a backlash is again brewing as states like Ohio, North Carolina, Wisconsin and Virginia allow utilities to dictate a “my way or the highway” approach- either allow the ‘smart’ meter on your home or we will cut off your utilities. As the problems highlighted in the film Take Back Your Power become more widely recognized, these are the seeds of mounting public backlash, electoral upheaval- even civil unrest. Everyone has a fundamental and constitutional right to be safe in our homes. Such a multi-pronged attack on our rights must be met with organized resistance. History demonstrates- silence is deadly.
More than 500 people turned out to the smart meter ‘opt out’ hearings in Dec. 2012- virtually all opposed to the meters- and the fees associated with avoiding them.
It was less than a year ago when over 500 people turned out to a series of public workshops around California in December 2012– a week before Christmas. Stop Smart Meters! bussed people in from around the Bay Area to the hearing in Santa Rosa. This was part of the CPUC’s second phase of the smart meter ‘opt out’ proceeding to determine the final costs and structure of California’s ‘opt out’ policies. The scope of the proceeding includes the question of whether communities as a whole can opt out, and whether charging a fee violates sections of the CA Public Utilities Code and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Because it’s fairly obvious to everyone involved that the fees do in fact violate these laws, and that public opinion is overwhelmingly in favor of a free, community-wide opt out (not to mention a total recall) the only recourse the CPUC has to protect its utility family profits is the delay tactic. And that is exactly what they have done, under the corrupted and twisted leadership of Michael Peevey. Delay. And delay. And delay. No doubt hoping noisy members of the public would lose interest, move away, or die.
Participants in the proceeding were told that a decision would be forthcoming in January 2013. Ten months later, Administrative Law Judge Amy Yip-Kikugawa has yet to rule. Rumors persist that- after hearing hundreds of impassioned pleas from the public- she would tend to rule allowing free, community-wide opt outs, but is being threatened with the loss of her position if she follows her moral compass. The official reason is that she is sidetracked with the San Bruno explosion– another of PG&E’s heinous crimes. Can’t allow democracy to actually influence policy- it might risk corporate utility profits (and the public sector retirement accounts that are tied to them).
The current ‘opt out’ fees being charged to customers in California are interim fees, and remain in dispute, the subject of an unresolved proceeding at the CPUC. Yet most of the public believe these are approved, final fees. You can’t blame people- the mainstream media has failed to accurately cover the issue, or conduct even a basic investigation into widespread wireless health damage. If you don’t have hours a day to research the true state of affairs with regard to arcane smart metering policy, generally you are left in the dark.
What to Do?
Faced with the prospect of a corrupt CPUC dragging out the ‘opt out’ proceeding indefinitely, allowing the status quo to continue, with people being tortured in their homes and deprived of their lives, their liberty, not to mention any pursuit of happiness, what are we to do?
This has been the subject of intense debate on anti-smart meter discussion lists, with some people calling for a proposition on the ballot to ban smart meters, some calling for legislative action (even if a bill did get through the legislature, Jerry Brown, as PG&E’s pet puppet would likely veto it). Others- meanwhile- call for direct action and occupying Michael Peevey’s front yard. One thing is for certain. While the young and seemingly invulnerable (who are capable of mounting a serious direct challenge to the powers that be) continue to act as if wireless is completely safe, toting their iPhone enviro-apps, those who have discovered that this is all a lie are often too sick to challenge that lie, often needing all the energy they can muster simply to make it through the day and survive.
Those who are aware of this injustice, and who are well enough (and wealthy enough) to take action bear a unique, historic responsibility to do so.
“Nobody’s free until everybody’s free.”
-Fannie Lou Hamer (1917 – 1977), Mississippi-born Voting Rights Activist and Civil Rights Activist
Excellent article and right on point. This entire Opt Out was a sham to shut us up and calm us down. However, it’s not going to work.
We are NOT fighting the Smart Grid because of an ideology. We are fighting this invasive surveillance mesh network for the sake of our HEALTH and PRIVACY.
We have NO CHOICE but to push back against tyranny.
Bravo Josh.
Here’s the most recent EMF Safety Network brief filed in the opt out proceeding January 2013. http://emfsafetynetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/42154500.pdf
Sandi
Dear Readers,
Keep on fighting as we too are here in Victoria Australia. I know it’s not easy but these corrupt people such as the moguls running these Evil Money Grubbing Schemes with these dopey and Cancer Dealing Microwave Smart Meters are slowly killing their customers with all sorts of Microwave Illnesses.
You have to get you Safe and Passive Analog Meters returned to you in the name of JUSTICE !
We here in Victoria Australia have already had one man get his electricity cut off just for trying to intervene to protect his 12 year old daughters’ health which suffered alarmingly after a dopey and now proving to be deadly Electric Microwave Carcinogen Causing Type 2B dopey smart meter was installed on her outside bedroom wall which also badly affected her mother as well. He the father got someone to remove the Microwave smart meter (read not so smart meter) but now classified as a possible Carcinogen Causing Device by the World Health Organisation who are soon to very likely raise the Type 2B classification for these Microwave Smart Meters to that of 2A, as more and more medical complaints of all sorts keep arising all over the Earth and here in Victoria Australia as well.
In what way will solar panels and wind turbines help those of us who are EMF-sensitive? I know from my own experience that wind turbines cause me terrible problems. My understanding is that solar-generated power and power coming from batteries is equally bad. Can someone please comment on this?
Large wind turbines have been linked with dirty electricity and flicker pollution (not to mention bird deaths). Smaller turbines, small hydro power, and solar panels can help those who are emf sensitive by allowing a severing of areas from the electrical grid, which by now is ‘polluted’ by smart meters and other devices. Whereas the electrical grid is AC 60hz in north america, most electronic devices function on DC, the same type of power that is generated by small renewables. EHS people (and everyone) should be aware that some household solar installations have inverters that can emit strong EMF fields, and choose accordingly. But a well designed off grid DC system only (without inverter) can be practical and is miles better than depending on the AC electrical grid There is more info here about going off grid safely: http://www.electricalpollution.com/OffgridSafely.html
The entire point of smart meters is to eventually switch how power is sold. As it is with analog meters, all they can charge for is the total used in between meter readings or once a month for example 700 kWh. The smart meters will have the ability to upload used power to the utility every 15 minutes. Sometime in 2014, Southern California Edison will change to time of use rates which will end up being more expensive at the end of the month and for the same or less kWh used. Why? Because they will set rates to time of use or demand vs. supply and guess who regulates the supply? CALISO does and for a fee of course. What they did when they created CALISO was create a New York Stock Exchange in Rocklin/Roseville, CA an entity who routes power to the various power distributors such as PG&E, San Diego Electric & Gas and S.C.E. So, CALISO has the ability to NOT purchase enough power during a particular hot August afternoon/evening which creates a shortage. This then creates a mathematical limit of available power to the state and those who demand more power during the hot times of the day, which is all of us for the most part, will be subject to extremely high rates due to “Peak Usage”.
CALISO can easily purchase added power and not create a limited supply which would in turn not cause a “Peak” usage period on a particular afternoon when most folks need added power because they arrive home from work and turn on the TV, washing machine, stove, lights and so forth. Don’t forget the A/C which is more of a comfort item vs. a need (for most of us).
So, time of use will cause those who simply need the usual power they have been requiring for the past 50 years at a fair rate to jump sky high and only because of the rate schedule modifications. Creating power hasn’t gotten more expensive and creating power costs don’t change because of the time of day or night. This entire rate and meter changes are simply a method to pull the wool over our eyes and suggest thing like “Limited Power Times” or “Too Much Demand” or power generators “Maintenance” or “Breakdown” excuses for raising rates to numbers that would befriend Jesse James.
In the past 100 years, there had been no mention of “off line” or “maintenance” causing shortages enough to raise rates and they didn’t because there was no reason supporting them. We didn’t have politics involved, CALISO, in the past either. Remember the Horizon Oil Platform in the Gulf? When that “sunk” the oil industry used that event to raise prices the next day or two. What? That oil wouldn’t have been refined and sold for a month ! It’s all outlaws and how they can pick our pockets for the simplest utility we have, electricity. Yet, they all want us to believe it’s scarce, limited, complex and pristine. Hardly, it’s easy to make and plentiful if you allow it however, those in control make it a limited resource which it isn’t.
Judging from the photo accompanying this article, the trojan horse has a digital box below the analog wheels and clock dials. Any other signs that indicate a trojan? Thanks for responding. Paul
Hi Paul, More specifics here on how to identify a ‘trojan’ http://www.eiwellspring.org/smartmeter/StealthMeters.htm
We found out early on that the electromechanical meters are actually our meters (original purchase receipts/ Real Estate Act re fixtures, attached to our safe meter base, etc).
Here’s good news: As electrical use rises, off grid costs are dropping fast. Here’s the writing on the wall: Cyber INSECURITY via systematic conversion to full scale cyber vulnerability by means of forced wireless global grid insecurity is a scheme being implemented jointly by government & utilities everywhere on the planet. Less than one week from now, on this coming November 13th 2013, there is a Duck & Cover rehearsal for total grid shut down, thanks to the threat of cyber security caused by the utilities themselves. This is a huge warning of impending crisis creation in the making. The sooner anyone who can takes steps to become energy self sufficient & gets off grid, the better off more will be. Rogue corporations & governments collude to implement energy insecurity. What more does anyone need to know? The bitterness unfolding everywhere between utilities & abused customers needs to be finalized into a much needed divorce which can only be achieved by going off grid with a pared down lifestyle. Every utility everywhere is has become no different than an abusive crack dealer & now treats its customers like desperate junkies in a secured market.When we were younger we used to work at treatment centres where the challenge was to successfully outwit delinquents bent on destruction. Decades later along came the whole issue of laws bent * broken to allow illegality, electrically inducing home occupants using electromagnetism in order to create the next Enron, a global derivatives market for selling future options on data, energy, everything, even you & me.
At that point we recognized that energy corporations in collusion w/ governments everywhere had gone rogue.
The next thing which occurred to us was this: Bunker time. Sad but true, everyone everywhere who is not a greed driven shareholder in the smart grid is now under justifiable siege mentality. Utilities everywhere now use the same Mafia-esque playbook & indeed have gone rogue. Therefore, planning ways to disconnect from the grid while in the interim fully securing all energy & water meters is no different than securing one’s home from any predator or thief. Find whatever way possible to create a well ventilated but secured physical barrier. The challenge: To stop any utility from risking break & enter to “hot swap” & steal what they pretend is “their” electromechanical meter. If possible, the goal is to render all meters inaccessible by locating them inside a small but very secure well ventilated extension envelope of your home. If you live in a single family home the following may work for you: Build a small breezeway or bump out of whatever height, width & length suits your personal circumstance, located to surround the wall where meters are located. If you have an account for water & gas, too, & have no smart meters yet, anticipate locating all meters inside one or more enclosure(s) as suggested below. First step: Create a pony wall maybe three or so feet out and at least high enough that any meter reader (stooped over under overhang rafters or not) could still see but not get at the meter(s). Add framework for a roof, w/ rafters closer together than 24″ centres when creating the shed roof, to prevent easy entry between rafters. Check out restoration, recycle stores, demo junk yards to pick up 2 steel doors & a small unbreakable viewing window to be framed between to uprights where it will be lined up with the meter or meters. Sheath the bump out shed roofing framework w/ heavy duty recycled roofing sheets. Create correct size door frames at either end of bump out. Install steel doors. Enclose pony wall side of breezeway, leaving room for small viewing window to be installed. Cover w/ matching siding & trim. Note: Security system warning system stickers can be worth their weight in gold. Attach security system & surveillance camera warning stickers or download & print security sticker warnings. Glue to recycled steel doors. Place one or two on interior side of viewing window facing outward. Consider attaching a tamper proof car alarm to meter(s). When done install a trail camera or dummy cam in plain view, out of reach. Make certain the camera is aimed at intruders & can be observed readily through small meter viewing window. Double lock doors at either end of narrow breezeway. Consider interior steel slide bolts to deter lock pickers. Even high end door handles, hinges, hardware & high end locks, can often be sourced from recycled materials from 2nd hand stores, including small wired glass viewing window. Use metal window theft grate on interior side of window which should be small enough to not get through if broken. At this point these thugs would have to commit break & enter to get at the meter on your meter base. Secure the meter anyway. Our breezeway meter storage room cost us les than one two month “smart” meter bill would have. Now we sleep easy while planning our off grid life
Note re Generators: Preferably a quiet one, such as honda EU type, very economical on gas & has an inverter for electronics, also meets noise bylaw codes. For any rural area a diesel genset requires acoustic muffling of the breezeway enclosure a noise muffling shed or ground bunker but the up side is it could use recycled filtered vegetable oil if needed.
We already needed a secure place to run a generator during power outages anyway. The plan was to create a secure enclosed breezeway where fumes could be exhausted from outside the home (not below any open window) & yet the genset could still be in a locked enclosure to prevent theft. Meanwhile, thanks to the delinquent behaviour of utilities everywhere, our plan evolved. We have drastically reduced the amount of electricity we use, in order to narrow the margin between the number of daily kWh use and an affordable way to go off grid. We are down to 8 kWh a day & are not suffering at all. We have found excellent solar freezer plus propane operated fridge, BBQ with two burners, propane stove & hot water heaters while wood stove is able to heat the house and cook food if needed. Preparing for off gird is like prepping without being paranoid.
Hi Mia
It is a damn shame that we have to got to these lengths in a democratic country. To day is Remembrance Day in Canada , reminding us all of how many young men and women fought to stop tyranny. Now our governments are promoting the same violations that our veterans fought against!
Y