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USE OF THIS SITE DEPENDS ON AGREEMENT WITH OUR DISCLAIMER: This website is intended to help advance knowledge and contribute to public awareness. While all reasonable precautions have been taken to ensure the validity of the information given, no warranty is given of its accuracy. It is not intended to substitute for medical or legal advice nor as a final statement with regard to possible prevention and avoidance recommendations or potential biological effects. No liability is accepted by the authors for damages arising from its use or misuse and interpretation by others. All references to smart meters refer to digital, wireless and powerline carrier (PLC) devices, which may vary in their emissions and frequencies. All content on this site is copyrighted by StopSmartMeters.org unless otherwise indicated. Brief (max 3 sentences) excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to StopSmartMeters.org with appropriate and specific links to the original content. All other uses are prohibited, unless specific and written permission from StopSmartMeters.org is provided.
No Opting Out? Time for Direct Action
Posted in Citizen rebellion, Climate Change, CPUC, Democracy, PG&E
13 Comments
Sorry Darbee, No Opting Out!
SVNASM Director Joshua Hart holding the "dumb meter" in front of the CPUC
Yesterday, in front of a large audience of print, radio, and TV media, a growing grassroots movement of those opposed to PG&E’s smart meter program confronted Peter Darbee, the CEO of PG&E Corp. during his speech at the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) in San Francisco. They presented him with a ‘dumb meter’ symbolizing the ill-fated roll out of the ‘smart’ meter onto homes and businesses throughout PG&E’s service territory. While much of the audience continued to hiss and heckle at Darbee, others held banners and chanted outside along Van Ness: “1,2,3,4 SMART METERS NO MORE. 5,6,7,8 FIRST WE MUST INVESTIGATE!” KTVU coverage of the protests can be seen here.
As residents continue to alert local governments to the threats posed by the new meters, the warnings seem to be gaining traction as every week new cities and counties add themselves to the list of those demanding an immediate halt to the installation of ‘smart’ meters. On Tuesday, the City of Watsonville joined Fairfax in stating its intention to pass a city ordinance banning the devices that would allow city police to arrest anyone trying to install a meter in the City.
While the most pressing concern centers around the health impacts of wireless radiation from the new meters, there have been a smorgasbord of problems plaguing the smart meter program since its inception in 2006. The meters will allow PG&E to disconnect power remotely from the head office, report detailed electrical usage data to the utility (and potentially to hackers who might use the information to aid in burglaries or identity theft) and have been widely reported to increase electric bills. They have also been reported to catch fire and disable electrical safety devices.
Certificate presented to Darbee on the steps of the CPUC
After the numerous disruptions, Darbee was forced into a sort of mea culpa for the devices. He stated that the utility was taken aback by all the controversy, and had just thought of the new meters as an “infrastructure project” that people wouldn’t really care about.
One can’t really blame poor PG&E. Who would have thought that a device attached to your own home that emits radiation linked to cancer, broadcasts intimate personal details of one’s home life, increases your utility bill, risks setting fire to your house, and contributes to climate change would bother anyone?
Friday update: Video to come shortly…..
Posted in Citizen rebellion, Climate Change, CPUC, Democracy, Health studies, PG&E
2 Comments
Watsonville Joins Fight Against Smart Meters in a Big Way
Earlier this evening, Watsonville City Council joined the growing list of local governments calling on the CPUC to immediately halt the installation of smart meters within the state of California. In a 7-0 vote, the council took some of the strongest action that any city council has taken to date, signing on to both the EMF Safety Network and San Francisco petitions before the CPUC. They also directed their city attorney to investigate what powers the city might have in legally restricting PG&E from installing any meters within city limits, along the lines of the ordinance that the town of Fairfax approved last week.
PG&E gave a scripted presentation, saying how they are listening to customer concerns, and working to allay fears (using incomplete and outdated WHO reports). The opposition was led by SVNASM’s own Joshua Hart, who outlined the many problems with the smart meter program and PG&E’s arrogance in foricng smart meters onto communities who don’t want them, as well as Dr. Karl Maret, a medical doctor and trained electrical engineer who testified about the health impacts of EMF radiation.
Here is some of what the council said, before sending a clear message to PG&E and the CPUC:
Councilmember Caput: “PG&E is the definition of arrogance…I don’t like to see residents and city councils being pushed around. People can be pushed only so far….. The company failing to listen to residents and forcing smart meters on communities may lead to the end of the smart meter in California.”
Councilmember Bersamin: “We need to protect vulnerable, low income citizens, and developing children…we will get our friends in Sacramento to do something about this. We will write letters to our representatives in state government, to the PUC, to anyone who will listen and we encourage other cities and counties to do the same.”
Mayor Alejo: “PG&E failed to carry out adequate testing before rolling out the smart meter program….communities can stand together and send a message….cities will continue to sign on to these petitions….this will continue throughout the state unless PG&E begins to respect the wishes of local governments and halts further deployment. I would like to direct the city attorney to investigate any and all powers the City of Watsonville may have to stop smart meters being installed in our City.”
Posted in Citizen rebellion, CPUC, Democracy
5 Comments
Wireless Smart Meters: Electrosmog on an Unprecedented Scale
Silver Spring Networks is a company based in Redwood City, California. They are manufacturing the actual ‘smart’ meters that are going onto people’s homes and businesses all over the state. To their utility customers like PG&E, they boast about having the signal from the smart meters be so strong that it can transmit over varying topography- across valley and through mountains. The video above might seem like a utility executive’s dream, but to those of us concerned with health impacts from burgeoning EMF radiation, it is truly a dystopia.
It seems that Silver Spring manufactured the smart meters to be so powerful because a small minority of them might need to convey data through mountains. A case of building the church parking lot for Easter Sunday? Since most of suburbia isn’t in mountainous terrain, it’s good to know that the EMF signal is so strong it can penetrate the more vulnerable thin skulls protecting young brains of children sleeping on the other side of walls where sometimes more than two dozen meters are installed.
Virtually no public consultation has been carried out in advance of the program. No CEQA (environmental) review. Hardly any notification. Amazing what you can get away with when the form of pollution you’re inflicting on the population is silent and invisible.
Posted in Environmental Concerns
4 Comments