Stop Smart Meters….But What Do We Want to Start?

Posted on October 5, 2012 by Josh Hart

A grassroots upwelling of public outrage over forced smart grid deployments spilled onto the streets in over 35 communities around North America yesterday, showing that our movement is growing bigger every day, and that utilities and governments better take heed- we’re not going to accept these violations lying down.  Check out all the local coverage- including firsthand reports from dozens of communities, photos and video at the Action Day website.

Meanwhile, we’ve posted above the new trailer which was released today for Take Back Your Power, the upcoming documentary investigating the truth about smart meters from BC filmmaker Josh Del Sol and his powerhouse team.  Check out their new website and direct some financial support their way so they can wrap up post production for what promises to be a real show stopping film for the smart grid.

Be sure also to check out the Day of Action press release, the recent release from Joel Moskowitz at the UC Berkeley School of Public Health about the health threat posed by smart meters, and the Ontario Fire Marshal’s report on smart meter fires.  These are key pieces of evidence that should be put to use in courtrooms, public meetings, and as part of media analyses of this evolving issue.

Yesterday, the public spoke out loud and clear- we demand a halt to the smart meter debacle.  But what do we want to happen with energy and utility policy?   While a grassroots movement like this includes important differences, some common themes are emerging from across the political spectrum.  These include:

  • the demand for a decentralized energy system that puts control over safety and costs back in the hands of locals
  • the demand for a utility system that is managed with the customer- not shareholder profits- in mind
  • a focus on emerging technology that may make the electrical grid redundant, and put power back in the hands of the public
  • an immediate halt to forced wireless installations on private property
  • a halt to the erosion of our constitutionally protected rights, and attack on our civil liberties
  • profits from operations to be channeled to safety improvements and cost savings for customers- NOT profits for the 1%

To the extent that the smart meter deployment is a crisis we are facing together, it is also an opportunity to question the way our utilities are set up, to question where our power comes from, and how it is transmitted, to challenge the erosion of our civil liberties, and to stand up for a safe, affordable, advanced telecommunications and energy system based on fiber optic NOT wireless.

We have news for the utility industry- we’re not going away and we already have the power in our hands- it’s just a matter of time before enough of us wake up and realize it!

Victoria BC smart meter opponents take it to the streets…

Posted in Citizen rebellion, Democracy, neighborhood organizing, Smart Grid | 4 Comments

Smart Meters and EMR: Health Crisis of Our Time

Posted on October 2, 2012 by Josh Hart

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

More than 35 ‘Smart’ Meter Protests Hit US and Canada Oct. 4

Posted on September 29, 2012 by Josh Hart

People are fed up. Fed up with being forced to have an unwanted, intrusive device attached to their home. Fed up with utility company threats, coercion, and lies. Fed up with having their essential services disconnected or being charged a hefty fee if they don’t want to subject their families to fire risk, higher bills, privacy invasion, and health damage.

“Smart” meters are not “progress” “cost saving” or “green.”  They are ruining lives, reducing service reliability and costing us dearly.  The “smart grid” and its “mesh networks” are a madman’s greedy vision gone horribly wrong.

Remember- these are the same guys who brought us the Enron scandal.

“Smart” Meters are cheaply made but highly profitable plastic fire hazards, spying on, radiating, and gouging utility customers.  Hundreds of smart meter fires and electrical hazards have destroyed people’s homes and livelihoods and risked their lives.

It’s time to take action.

ON OCTOBER 4th– THIS THURSDAY- People around the world are wising up- rising up- and saying NO to this dystopian “smart” future.

The International Day of Action to Stop Smart Meters! is being organized by the National Campaign to Stop Smart Meters! and the Wireless Radiation Protection Coalition.  More than twenty events are planned in a dozen states and Canada, including Sacramento, CA, Eureka, CA, Kelowna BC, Naperville, IL, Maui, HI, Reno NV, and Detroit MI!  All events are listed at: http://actiondaytostopsmartmeters.org/?page_id=20

• If you don’t see your local area listed, why not plan your own event?  This is a grassroots effort and people are planning a variety of gatherings, such as leafleting, going door to door, attending public meetings, holding signs at busy intersections, and vocal protests at utility offices. October 4th (or anytime next week) people all around the world are taking action together to defend our right to health, safety and privacy in our own home!  More on planning your own event: http://actiondaytostopsmartmeters.org/?page_id=18

• Materials to promote next Thursday’s event are available on the Action Day website- including posters, leaflets, and sample press releases. It’s easy to modify these with local information.  Materials here: http://actiondaytostopsmartmeters.org/?page_id=22

• US press release: http://actiondaytostopsmartmeters.org/?page_id=25

TELL OBAMA TO STOP SMART METERS!  Whether or not you are participating in an event, call the White House on Oct. 4th at 202-456-1111 and demand that President Obama take responsibility for the smart grid mess- and immediately enforce a recall on ‘smart’ metering systems.  For our health, safety, and privacy.  For our families.

Thank you all for spreading the word via social media, by phone, and in person.

Together we will take back our power!

Posted in Citizen rebellion, Democracy, neighborhood organizing, Smart Grid | 27 Comments

Fairfield Iowa Wins Struggle to Stop Smart Meters! ———– “Effort to Relieve Tensions in the Community”

Posted on September 26, 2012 by Josh Hart

More bad news for the smart meter industry and good news for public health and democracy:

Victory!! The small Midwest city of Fairfield, Iowa- in a stunning reversal brought about by ordinary residents organizing and bringing the evidence of the risks of smart meters to local officials, has decided to abandon wireless smart water meters, as well as punitive unreasonable ‘opt out’ fees, after a review of testimony from medical professionals and locals who started to notice health effects as soon as the meters went in.

If any of the Fairfield Water Dept.’s board of directors are looking for a new position, we’re in need of some CPUC Commissioners who are in touch with reality!  Please apply here.

The local coverage states:

“Fairfield water department superintendent Carl Chandler shared a proposal to halt implementation of radio-read water meters and to reimburse citizens for opt-out fees for the meters Wednesday night during a Water & Sewer Utilities Committee meeting at city hall.

In addition, Chandler proposed the one-third of residents with radio-read water meters have the right to have them removed by the water department at no cost.”

Stop Smart Meters! has been advising and providing technical assistance to the local group, Fairfield Safe Meters, and we congratulate them on their hard fought victory.  It IS possible to organize, fight, and win!!

Posted in AAEM, Changing a Meter, Citizen rebellion, Democracy, Iowa, neighborhood organizing | 3 Comments

National Day of Action to Stop Smart Meters October 4th!!

Posted on September 21, 2012 by Josh Hart

From ActionDaytoStopSmartMeters.Org:

NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION CALLED AGAINST ‘SMART’ METERS AND GRID

Recent Fires in Illinois, Pennsylvania Add Urgency to Calls for Moratorium

WASHINGTON, DC– Citing thousands of instances of ‘smart’ meter fires, health problems, and violations of privacy laws, the National Campaign to Stop Smart Meters and Wireless Radiation Protection Coalition are calling for a National Day of Action on October 4th to demand an immediate moratorium on “smart meter” installations. ‘Smart’ meters are digital devices that monitor utility usage and maintain continuous two-way communication between the customer’s property and the utility company. Utilities are replacing traditional analog meters on homes and businesses all around the country as a supposed energy-saving measure.

Campaign organizers say that these energy savings are failing to materialize, and point to the need for massive new data storage facilities, energy consumption of the meters themselves, and the need for frequent replacement as evidence that “smart” meters are not so “green.” They say smart meter mesh networks are in fact consuming significant energy as part of their routine operation, sending out pulses of microwave radiation day and night, and subjecting residents to health problems, increased risk of fire, rising energy bills, and even power disruption.

The wave of demonstrations in early October is timed to coincide with “GridWeek,”a conference being held in Washington, DC by industry and government proponents of the smart grid. In addition to Washington, DC, other demonstrations are being planned throughout the United States to coincide with the Washington event.

“We are calling for a moratorium on the installation of “smart” meters, and for utilities to remove existing “smart” meters already in place on homes and businesses.” says Joshua Hart, spokesperson for the Campaign, “Like any defective product, whether automobile, food or drug, these meters require an immediate product recall.  Analog meters are safe, accurate, and last for 80 or more years. My grandmother used to say, ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.’ Utilities and governments now need to take responsibility and fix the mess they’ve created.”

Coalition members protesting on October 4threpresent the nationwide groundswell of opposition groups from more than a dozen different states, challenging smart meters in a wide variety of regulatory and legal venues.

“Smart” meters emit strong bursts of microwave radiation that the World Health Organization labeled a Class 2b carcinogen in May of 2011. This is the same category as lead, DDT, and chloroform. The meters are widely reported to be impacting human and environmental health. The American Academy of Environmental Medicine has warned people with a number of medical conditions to avoid them. Thousands of people have reported ringing in the ears, insomnia, headaches, dizziness, nausea, heart irregularities, memory loss, and anxiety after a smart meter was installed on their home. Despite this, utilities in many parts of the country are forcing smart meters onto private property and unlawfully disconnecting people’s essential services for refusing to accept a smart meter.

A series of 26 smart meter fires in Pennsylvania forced PECO to suspend further installations in August, and this has sparked inquiries in Washington, DC, Maryland, and other states. Problems with wiring, lack of UL certification, and unprofessional, shoddy installations have been suspected as causes of these and other fires, which have already caused millions of dollars in damages. Yet installations continue in many areas. Public safety advocates are demanding an immediate moratorium on these unsafe, untested devices.

According to a Congressional Research Service Report [February 2012], the Department of Energy determined smart meters can reveal people’s daily schedules, the use of individual appliances, whether they use certain medical equipment and other personal information. “Smart meters are an invasion of privacy. They are a detailed and warrantless information gathering devices attached to our homes and businesses,” said Ed Friedman lead plaintiff in a smart meter case that has been remanded to the Maine Public Utilities Commission after a victory in the Maine Supreme Court.

The National Campaign to Stop Smart Meters and Wireless Radiation Protection Coalition are urging members of the public to do the truly smart thing: plan your own event to demonstrate against ‘smart’ meters on October 4! See http://actiondaytostopsmartmeters.org for materials and more information on planning an event, and for locations and times of events being planned around the country and internationally. 

The main demonstration in Washington DC begins at 10:00 am Oct. 4th at the GridWeek conference outside the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, 801 Mount Vernon Place N.W., Washington, DC 20001. For other demonstrations around the country, see http://actiondaytostopsmartmeters.org

 

Posted in Citizen rebellion, Democracy, neighborhood organizing | 2 Comments