Smart Meters: Bad for Bees, Bad for Us

Posted on August 5, 2010 by Josh Hart

Here is the latest video of our intrepid director Josh Hart on his bike as he keeps tabs on PG&E’s contractors Wellington Energy as they continue to install smart meters against the wishes of both the City of Scotts Valley and the County of Santa Cruz.  Don’t piss off the bees, PG&E.   They might sting you- or worse- stop pollinating your food crops.

Posted in Bees, Citizen rebellion, Democracy, Environmental Concerns, PG&E | 3 Comments

How PG&E is Breaking the Law and Forcing Smart Meters onto Local Communities

Posted on August 3, 2010 by Josh Hart

Above is an example of a wireless ‘repeater’ box that is installed  on electrical poles in neighborhoods in advance of PG&E’s smart meters arriving.

Here is a view of the same utility pole from the side.   Note the antennae sticking up from the electric wires to the left of the pole.  This device is used to collect usage data from homes and businesses in the area, as part of the ‘mesh’ network.  Usage data from your neighbors can be relayed through your home’s smart meter, meaning that there could be far more EMF emissions from your meter than the ’45 seconds a day’ that PG&E admits to.

We believe that PG&E is not only ignoring scientific evidence of health and accuracy problems from their wireless smart meter program– we believe they are also violating the law.

In Scotts Valley, PG&E had to negotiate a ‘franchise agreement’ with the city back in 1966, because even though the company owns the poles, they are located on city-owned land along the street.  The franchise agreement states:

“The franchise to construct, maintain, and use poles, wires, conduits and appurtenances necessary or proper for transmitting and distributing electricity to the public for any and all purposes, in, along, across, upon, under and over the streets within city is granted to grantee.” (Ord. 14 § 2, 1966)

The franchise agreement does not include reference to collecting or transmitting customer data.  We take the position that PG&E failed to renegotiate the franchise agreement and so are in breach of that agreement by installing repeater boxes on city property.  Cities may be able to stop PG&E from any further installation of smart meter repeaters on publicly owned property, if they pursue legal action against the utility on these grounds.

If you haven’t seen it, the video of Fairfax City Council deciding to take strong action to stop the smart meter onslaught is a lesson in civic engagement- how a city can represent its citizens and take on a corporate behemoth.

Posted in PG&E | 2 Comments

Scotts Valley Resists as PG&E Forces Smart Meters

Posted on July 29, 2010 by Josh Hart

Our short lived group has had initial success on July 20th/ 21st as the Scotts Valley City Council and the Capitola City Council voted to take a strong stand and sign on to petitions by the EMF Safety Network and the City of San Francisco demanding that the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) enact an immediate moratorium on smart meter installation.

This doesn’t mean that smart meters will stop being installed in these cities however.  That authority rests with the PUC, who have so far been less than receptive to legitimate concerns about health and environmental impacts of these new meters.

By continuing (not so) smart meter installation, PG&E is showing it cares about individual ratepayers about as much as it cares about the democratic process of the positions of local government.   It’s a good thing that regular citizens are putting up resistance to this undemocratic intrusion.   Spread the word and create a ‘smart meter free zone‘ in your neighborhood today.

Posted in Citizen rebellion, CPUC, Democracy, PG&E | 4 Comments