CALL PG&E: OPT OUT NOW! 1-866-743-0263
If you have a smart meter:Tell PG&E to remove it!
If you have an analog meter: Tell PG&E you plan to keep your analog meter. When they ask you to agree to the charges tell them, “NO, the fees are arbitrary, punitive, likely illegal, and the fees are being legally contested at the CPUC!”
Be assertive. Here’s the legal scoop: ***PG&Es Advice letter 3278-G/4006-E was posted on the CPUC Energy Division website as NO ACTION. NO ACTION means they cannot act on the advice letter, therefore we believe they cannot legally charge the fees at this time. If they ask you about access to your property, tell them they need to make an appointment.
If you agree to the fees, you can express that you are only agreeing under duress. If and when they charge, write “paid under protest” on your check, and keep a copy. Or don’t pay.** Don’t just ignore PG&E, either call or write a letter, or sign up online. PG&E’s online opt out form does not force you to explicitly agree to the charges.
You can also send PG&E a certified letter to: Pacific Gas and Electric, PO Box 997315, Sacramento Ca 95899-9900. See sample letter.
* May 1 is a PG&E deadline for people on the “delay list”. Any PG&E customer can opt out for any reason at any time.
**RISKS and BENEFITS of NOT paying the fees: This is a form of direct action that can be helpful. PG&E may turn off your utilities, or install a smart meter. If this happens we can bring media attention to the issue.
*** The advice letter was removed from the CPUC website on April 30.
Neighbors meters: Talk to your neighbors about these choices. Some people, if needed-will offer to cover the costs of neighbors opt out, to protect themselves and their children. Print out this flyer and talk to your neighbors:Neighborhood flyer
For more info see: Understanding PG&E Smart Meter Opt-Out fees
See also: CPUC: PG&E Smart Meter Opt Out Fees “Suspended”
(Adapted from EMF Safety Network post)
Thanks for giving us a “home” for “smart” meter rebellion! Speaking of which, I just found out that “smart” meters will be coming to Albany, Georgia pretty soon. Please, if you have a minute, post at the WALB website. There is not one shred of helpful information in the article, except for the alarm being sounded by their coming! Here’s the address, and thanks! http://www.walb.com/story/17690497/digging-deeper-smart-meter-technology
Electra,
Sorry to hear that SmartMeters are coming to Albany soon.
Now it is time for the people of Albany to arm themselves with as much information as they can find to bolster the fight against the SmartMeters.
I must stress that you focus on the facts, and avoid the false information and propaganda being put out by some activists, amateur science fiction bloggers, pseudo scientists, utility corporation paid studies done at Universities by kids in multi million dollar labs using advanced electric meters connected by wire and cable to sophisticated electronic instruments, hacker kiddies, manufacturers marketing brochures and self taught “cyber security experts”.
Some of this false information and propaganda has severely damaged the credibility of the Stop SmartMeters efforts, and some of the politicians and utility corporations can rightfully claim that some in our movement are truly stupid and a bit whacko.
Some common myths to avoid:
1) SmartMeters, mobile phone networks, and all radio transmitters are microwave transmitters.
A) Microwave communications are point to point and very high powered. Microwaves are smaller than all other radio waves. Microwave transmissions are on the radio spectrum starting at 1000MHz and go up to 30 GHz, and SmartMeters use the 900 MHz band to send data to the utility. SmartMeters DO NOT USE MICROWAVE COMMUNICATIONS !
2) SmartMeters are spy meters and can detect what individual appliances and devices are using electricity for and when, and all appliances send a special signal to the SmartMeters and then are repeated to the utility so the utility knows everything going on in a house. This detailed consumption history is sent in real time to the utilities on their mesh radio network that they call a “smart grid”., and also is repeated on the internet, so anybody with a radio scanner or a computer can find out intimate details about customers and can find out in real time if one is home or not, and sell this information to third parties for commercial purposes, blackmail customers and turn it over to law enforcement agencies.
A) NO utility revenue meter, either a radio SmartMeter or a wired advanced meter can monitor any individual appliance or device being fed by the meter, these revenue meters are only capable of measuring the total cumulative electrical usage for revenue collection purposes. And allthough they do have a real time display on the meter that a customer can go out and watch, the information sent to the utility is in data packets (one to two second bursts) sent once every for hours to the utility on a radio network, it is not real time data. If someone had identified the radio frequency and had a radio receiver all that they would hear is digital noise, and the only information sent on the radio smart grid contains a meter number and total cumulative reading of electrical use since the meter was first installed. There is no personal information being sent on the radio smart grid like physical address, customer account name, account number or phone number, the radio smart grid is strictly for automating meter reading for revenue collection purposes.
3) SmartMeters monitor and control appliances and devices, they can adjust your heating, refrigeration equipment, lighting, battery powered vibrators, computers, television sets, bathroom fans, and all appliances and devices in a house.
A) Some SmartMeters have a second transmitter that operates at very low power (about 20 mw) @2415 MHz on a ZigBee radio system (NOT WI-FI).
This transmitter is not activated now in most areas, but in the future it will be used for a voluntary program called ” the smart thermostat program”. This program will send one way (not interactive) signals to a special smart thermostat, which in turn sends commands on a 24 volt control wire to control 240 volt relays for air compressor motors in air conditioner package units in residential dwellings only, not any commercial buildings.
This pulsed command is sent on certain hot days, during certain hours, in certain hot regions to a select certain group of customers who sign up for the smart thermostat program, and the utility has no way to monitor the temperature setting of the air conditioner, whether the unit is off or on at the time, and ONLY controls the compressor motor, no fans, heat, lights or anything else will ever be externally controlled by any utility at any time, not now or into the distant future.
I think that this post is getting a bit long, but if you want a list of true facts that are a valid reason to oppose the smart meters I will do another post if you want.
I just realized that I might have confused some people.
The three myths are the numbered ones, and the A) below each myth is the answer to each myth with well known facts. This to explain the truth to debunk each myth.
Another good myth that I have seen is:
The SmartMeters can be hacked remotely by anyone with a computer. These hackers can go online and change the readings on your SmartMeter, adjust firmware and software settings, download your personal information and real time electrical usage to see if one is home at the time, whether they are cooking crack on the stove or using the toilet. Also that these hackers can turn on and off the power coming out of the meter, and cause power surges.
The truth is, the SmartMeters are not connected to the internet in any way at all, and NOBODY can remotely connect to a SmartMeter using the internet or even the radio smart grid to do any kind of changes to the readings or functions of the revenue meters.
The ONLY way a SmartMeter can be accessed to make changes is if a person trespasses onto your property and hooks an optical probe onto the meter. Then, they also will need a portable computer with special proprietary software installed on the computer, and also must possess the proprietary instructions on how to program the meter. Only the manufacturers and utility company technicians have access to this information, but some have been bribed to give it up. So far, there have been no reported cases of this kind of hacking been done in North America, but a few cases were reported in Puerto Rico in 2009.
It was the utility company employees who hacked a few customers meters to provide lower consumption readings so that the customer paid a smaller power bill. But they got busted and had to repay any money that was cheated out of the utility.
This hacking had nothing at all to do with the electric power grid, only the revenue meters and the radio smart grid data collection system. This kind of hacking is only damaging to the utility company’s revenue stream, it is not a national security issue.
I just called our radio station and the local government there is installing smart meters in our region, I sent them this page. I’m hoping they will listen to this. This is like a story out of twilight zone!!!
The Smart Meter debacle make those zombie movies look like child’s play. RF electrosmog attacks our brains and once you’re hooked on the stuff, it’s almost impossible to withdraw. RF addiction appears to be cultural (fear of being the only one without a cell phone and losing contact), psychological (denial that something we’re told is okay is actually harming us), and physical (RF is used as a numbing agent in medicine-see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiofrequency_ablation#Pain_Management).
You’ve made it this far, so keep your head on and you’ll find that it’s not so bad being a phase three person in a phase one and two world.
http://paceebene.org/nonviolent-change-101/building-nonviolent-world/methods/three-phases-truth
Here’s a sweet deal. The person mentioned in this article is a Naperville Councilman (a fact not mentioned in the article) who has been voting for “smart meter” issues along with the Mayor who is quoted. The electric company is owned by the city, so he also votes or approves of rate issues, including “time-of use” billing, regulations, and ordiances. My personal favorite is Naperville’s “Privacy Bill of Rights” where the city takes away our home privacy and “protects” it for us, but I digress. Gee, now we learn that he has been awarded $250,000.00 grant from broke Illinois and nearly bankrupt federal government to put solar panels on his private business. While granny turns off her air conditioning during the heat of the day to avoid “peak rate” price gouging, voted in by politicians, those same political hacks keep cool with power taxpayer funded equipment. The only thing green about this is the cash.
http://naperville.patch.com/announcements/great-western-flooring-goes-solar?ncid=newsltuspatc00000001
PGE thought they would intimidate us with the $75 fee, but I opted out anyway- today! Let the rest or the population sleep if they want to. I am getting my $75 back. I have been using my solar clothes drier to reduce my electric bill to off set the $10 monthly fee. I will eventually make back the $75, ridiculous, origination fee.
Do everything you can to easily use less power. We should all reduce our electric use to conserve and also reduce the PGE profits. 50% of electric power comes from burning coal, that you never see, in another location anyway. Reduce your use; that will bug them.
Visit my solar clothes drier on YouTube. Search “Travels with Vin” on YouTube. Look for My efficient, simple, low cost, easy to instal and easy to use, “Solar Dryer”
There is the standard “Solar Dryer” (cost less than $10 at the Hardware Store) on one Video and the “Deluxe Solar Dryer” on another. They both work great. Use the one that you like.
Or on Google search for “Vin Towers”
All these newly invented fees have not improved the service in PG&E at all, and the SmartMeters don’t do one thing to improve their outage response.
Since PG&E went bankrupt in 2001, they have changed their corporate culture. What they did was implement a strategy to eliminate employees.
This started before the SmartMeter program.
What PG&E did is to not hire as many workers in Marin that are required to maintain a decent level of service during outages. I am not blaming the PG&E linemen or technicians at all, this a corporate management decision.
What happened last week here in southern Marin was a travesty.
An old tree fell down, knocked down the primary conductors and blocked the road.
I heard 2 loud explosions, and I knew exactly what happened. The cutout fuses blew up the street at 4:01 pm.
I instantly got on the the double L (land line telephone) to report the outage. The dispatcher said that I was the first to call about an outage in my area, and asked me details about what happened and what I thought the cause might be. I told her exactly what happened, and she said that they were reporting the outage to the field crew.
The SmartMeters are not capable of anything, so they are useless in reporting power outages, let that be a lesson, CALL IN THE OUTAGE !
So, since there were high voltage primary lines down on the street (I knew for a fact that they were not energized because I say the cutouts hanging), I had to call the local Fire Department and advise them of the situation.
The Fire Dept. sent up a small truck and 2 men, they blocked the street and told me that they always treat any downed lines as being energized. I said that I understand.
So at about 8:30 pm, 2 Large PG&E trucks showed up and restrung the wires out of the road , and went about their merry way without restoring the power. Keep in mind that 2 Fire personal were sitting and tied up for 4 and a half hours doing nothing but waiting for PG&E to clear the wires so that they could cut the tree out of the way.
As soon as I saw the 2 PG&E trucks bailing out and driving down the hill, I called the PG&E outage hotline, the message said that all 15 customer’s power had been restored.
So, I had to call back, and this time I had to push 1 to report an emergency. I told the person that our service was NOT restored, and that I saw the PG&E trucks leaving the area. She said that she would call them back up to fix the original complaint of no power.
So, at about 2:00 am, finally the PG&E repair crew showed up again, replaced one cross arm and insulator, and spent 3 more hours checking the system. Finally at 5:30am, 13 and a half hours after my first call, they closed the circuit and we had power again.
I’m sorry about my rant, but I am disgusted with the piss poor response of PG&E in this matter. I blame it on management cutting costs and stretching their personal too thin to be responsive. And yes, this does have to do with the SmartMeters too, because one of the big propaganda claims is that the SmartMeters can somehow help define problems on the electrical power grid. As far as I’m concerned, SmartMeters get an F- when it comes to power outages.
Hi, I’m writing to day because I had my smart Meter remove because of the noise in my house that I just move too, it is terrible right now! Pge is using 2 watt of radiation from there satellites to operate there smart meters from out of space. One watt of radiation is legal, by law there program should be shutdown because we actually getting fried from the mircowave radiation very slowly. After I inspected my house of this humming noise I been hearing for year. I finally had a piece and quiet after numerous complaints, then pge came out and check my meter and told me they was just going to check my meter every other three days for 1 minute. It seem to work I stop hearing a humming sound for almost a week in half then the sound came back. I complain about it again nobody seem to know about the every other 3 day to check the meter thing. So I just had to wait another 3 month until they change out my meter. The sound still there and it goes on 24/7 and it drive me insane. Pge has a electrical blankets hovering over are homes. If you heard a buzzing or humming sound and you kill all the power in the house and still hear that sound. You is fine, Pge smart grid noise pollution is bouncing off your electrical wire inside your home, your home is actually a ground wire. It does matter if you have a smart meter or not! Until they shut down the smart grid in your area you lived at, you wont have to hear a weird sound like you have a generator in the next room. You be able to sleep right at night, your family wouldn’t be exposed radiation, and major health problem.I just had premature baby, I dont know why he came so early, know he is back home to enjoy the health hazard pge is spilling on us. Pge need to end there program I don’t have enough money to Move into zone that pge is not the provider or sound proof my home, or get radiation wall paper to protect my child. This is some end world situation!
Hello Rigaddy,
Your plight is horrendous, certainly not the place to welcome a newborn baby home to. No doubt you have more pressing matters to attend to, but when you get a moment, could you offer a little clarification on the following points?
Are there other people in your household who hear and feel the humming and buzzing like you do?
You mentioned you’ve been hearing this humming for a year, but you also said you just moved to your house. How long have you been living in your house?
You noted that the sound is still there even after you had your (smart) meter changed out. But then you said, “It does matter if you have a smart meter or not!” Did you mean to say, it does NOT matter if you have a smart meter or not? Or did PG$E simply put a new smart meter in to replace a previous one?
Can you tell us what area of what town or city you live in?
Would you be opposed to someone videodocumenting the effects you are experiencing in your home?
The weird sound of the “generator in the next room” would make a “sensational” news feature story. Would you be opposed to a little publicity for your end world situation?
http://www.sandaura.wordpress.com and read info on the noise
Thanks to StopSmartMeters.org for all their warrior work! You all are keeping everyone on task, to save as many people as possible from “‘smart’ is the new stupid” meters.
If there are any Georgia readers here, or if you’d just like to help warn folks whose power company is creeping up on them, ready to pounce and install a “Spy and Fry” meter, please visit http://www.stopsmartmetersgeorgia.org/. There are instructions there on being a modern-day Paul or Paula Revere! Thanks in advance for your help, and please feel free to drop us a line there, if you likewise need assistance in yelling “The ‘smart’ meters are coming! The ‘smart’ meters are coming!”
Hi Ron
Sorry for the late response, Yes I have other people that hears it but manage to block it out! I have a electric company that control the electric and pge cover gas. The electric company guy shut off the meter that control all electric in the house and he still heard noise. I had got the meter removed but my neighbors still have there active. He seem like it there meter signal loop right over me, not as brain recking loud when I had my smart meter install. But it loud enough to Buzz your brain! I been stay here for 1 1/2 years, Northern California region, and yes I do a video, because I went to my relative house, and hear the noise there. I didn’t want to bring it to her attention because she would be going nuts llike I am going through now.
I did. My bill dropped $100 immediately. My kids are complaining less of ringing in the ears.
The month after my bill doubled! Still not putting that Smart Meter back in. I </3 PG&E!
We had Opt Out of the Smart Meter and even though we did there is this loud buzzing and static sound that is very disturbing. Last year I started keeping a log on the time period of the buzzing/static sounds. The sounds typically start around 11:00PM and continue until midnight, then start again around 2:00AM until 3:00AM. I called PG&E and asked when the Smart Meter reads the meters for the day? They said; Around 11:00PM they start the reading and it only goes on for a few seconds and then it stops. My record log of the sounds and their reading time period is very close but the sound according to my record log goes on for an hour and not just once but twice a day. And it is around 10:23AM right now and I can hear the buzzing and static sounds as I am typing this message. A neighbor of mine told me that people that live on the top of a hill have a special beacon on their Smart Meter as to collect all the other readings on the hill and then that beacon sends that information to a tower. My neighbor is a ham radio guy and refused the Smart Meter as well. His home sits atop a hill. All of my other neighbors were pressured by PG&E to place the Smart Meter and placed the mete when the property owners were not home and did not gain their consent.