Stop Smart Meters!

Federal Lawsuit Filed Against City of Naperville, Illinois

Posted on December 31, 2011 by Josh Hart

Citing violations of the federal Open Meetings Act, this anti-‘smart’-meter group has filed a lawsuit against the deployment of the meters. Just the sort of fresh air that this program–hatched in corporate backrooms with corrupt government collusion and no public input–needs!

Press Release: Smart Meter Awareness group files federal injunction to stop wireless smart meter deployment in Naperville, Illinois

Naperville, Illinois – The Naperville Smart Meter Awareness group (NSMA) filed a Complaint for Injunctive Relief in United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois Eastern Division, (Case No 11-cv-9299) this morning. We are seeking a stay of the installation of smart meters in Naperville, Illinois, which is set to begin next week, until reasonable safeguards are in place and a common sense alternative option for customers is made available.

The Illinois Attorney General is currently investigating the City of Naperville for what appears to be clear violations of the Open Meetings Act. The Open Meetings Act is designed to prohibit secret deliberations and action on matters which, due to their potential impact on the public, should be discussed in public forum. Violations of this Act are a serious offense and calls into question all decisions made on the Naperville Smart Grid Initiative.

“An Open Meetings Act violation investigation associated with Naperville Smart Grid Initiative is a serious offense, and one that brings all decisions relating to this project into question. The city should not be allowed to move forward with this project,” states Tom Glass, NSMA Board Member.

NSMA, residents, and business owners have engaged the city council and public utility for over a year and a half in hopes of persuading the council to halt the meter deployment and allow residents to weigh in. The Naperville City Council has repeatedly reminded members of the community they made the decision long before residents opposed this project.

Over 35 volunteers collected 4,209 signatures for a referendum that would allow residents to vote on whether the city should continue the installation or dismantle the smart meter project and its wireless communications network.

“We were hopeful that the city and utility leaders would take the referenda seriously. They have repeatedly said that only a small number of residents are concerned with this project. We showed them that is not the case,” states Jen Stahl, a founding member of NSMA.

“It was a difficult decision to file in federal court. We have worked tirelessly for months advocating for caution and informed consent. The council continuously disregarded our concerns. We urged them to heed the warnings from across the country and shared real time examples of communities that are questioning the wisdom of mandated “smart” meters. When that did not happen, we obtained over 4200 signatures and filed a referendum that would allow residents to vote on this project. There have been attempts to block the referendum and council has stated they will not take it seriously anyway. It has become clear that our city officials are no longer acting in the public’s best interest. They have failed to stop the project in the face of public outcry. Without adequate choice, we feel the council left us no other option,” stated Kim Bendis, President of NSMA.

Councilman Bob Fieseler stated in response to the referendum filing that he was not in favor of halting the project until the residents voted in March and that if the majority of residents rejected the project, they’d have a tough decision whether to follow the will of the people or move forward anyway. (Naperville Patch, 11-16-2011, Swasko)

There is no federal mandate for smart meters. The Energy Act of 2005 states utilities should offer its customers the option of a smart meter. According to Bendis, this is an opt-in program that is being marketed as a mandated project.

“All residents should have the right to choose what technology is used in and on their home, especially when it is controversial and potentially harmful”, states Bendis.

The City of Naperville put out a media release at 1:45 pm, approximately 15 minutes prior to the press conference, stating “Recent Opposition Will Not Affect Scheduled Meter Deployment”. The Mayor and City Council were served the complaint at 2:00 pm today, Friday December 30, 2011.

Today’s filing in United States Federal Court represents one of the first federal filings regarding smart meters. Other advocacy groups have also sought legal action. Additionally, a long awaited decision by PG&E recently gave customers the ability to keep their analog meters in California, an option Naperville residents have been denied.

The Federal filing and video of the press conference will be posted on the Naperville Smart Meters Awareness groups website. www.NapervilleSmartMeterAwareness.org

Naperville Smart Meter Awareness is 501(c)6 non-profit group of concerned citizens educating the public about the risks of wireless smart meters. We are comprised of lawyers, technology professionals, health advocates, accountants, business owners and parents in our community.

Smart meters are to be installed in Naperville starting January 2012 and pose risks in the areas of privacy, costs, security, and health. Our mission is to educate the residents of Naperville by bringing all pertinent information to the public and in doing so, advocate for a smarter solution in Naperville.

In the news:
http://napervillesun.suntimes.com/9723766-417/lawsuit-filed-to-stop-installaton-of-smart-meters.html

Posted in Citizen rebellion, Democracy, Federal Government, Illinois, neighborhood organizing | 10 Comments

Happy Holidays from Stop Smart Meters! “Smart” Meter Stress Reducing Music from Steven Halpern

Posted on December 24, 2011 by Josh Hart

We wish everyone out there a happy and healthy holiday season. Though the fight against ‘smart’ meters this year has been stressful and scary at times, the scale of the grassroots resistance that has come together in the face of utility and government corruption has been truly inspirational. Our community stands strong against this violation and we bear witness to the damage being done with our own taxes and utility bills. Our movement is getting stronger by the day as more people wake up to the truth about this dangerous program.

We want to send a special thought out to those people who are suffering effects from their ‘smart’ meters this holiday season, but who have not put the pieces together and identified the cause- we know there must be millions out there. Also, to those who have connected the dots but are ignored by their utility and government- particularly those in multi-unit dwellings and those on low income. Stay strong, and we will fight and win together.

Steven Halpern

In the spirit of the holidays, Steven Halpern- the world renowned musician living in Fairfax CA (whose town council was one of the first to outlaw the devices) has released a special free album: Smart Meter Stress Reducing Music specifically designed to counteract the effects of EMF’s from ‘smart’ meters and other sources. We were skeptical at first about the power of music to mitigate EMF damage, but we’ve heard from a lot of people that listening to Steven’s album is very helpful. So thank you to Steven for his support for the community.

Rest up everyone and we’ll be back in 2012 ready to fight the false solutions and mealy mouthed corruption that led to this debacle in the first place. And not to worry, we’ve gotten word that Santa’s sleigh has now been equipped with an anti-smart- meter interference device (the meters were playing havoc with the deer’s navigational equipment!).

Warm holiday wishes to everyone out there- even the Grinch!

If you can donate– even a little- to keep Stop Smart Meters! going strong into the new year, we sure would appreciate it.

Posted in Citizen rebellion, EMF Mitigation | 7 Comments

Merry Christmas Utilities- Here are Your SmartMeters Back!

Posted on December 22, 2011 by Josh Hart

A lump of coal would have been too kind.

A row of unwanted ‘smart’ meters was placed carefully along with a Christmas poinsettia on the desk of CA state Assemblymember Bill Monning on Wednesday in Santa Cruz, CA. Assm. Monning has stood up for individual residents against PG&E, but together with North Bay Assemblymember Jared Huffman, sponsored a whitewashed industry-led report minimizing the health risks of ‘smart’ meters in January- at taxpayer expense.

About a dozen people gathered at Monning’s office on Wednesday to demand to keep their safe, reliable analog meters at no extra charge, and to pull the plug on the hazardous ‘smart’ meter mesh network.

The event follows a similar smart meter return on Dec. 7th when more than a dozen residents very publicly had their ‘smart’ meters removed, returning them to PG&E offices in Capitola. PG&E responded by cutting off their electricity, including to a 75 year old woman and a family with small children who suffered nosebleeds and headaches from sleeping next to the meter. Needless to say this didn’t go over well in the media (two weeks before Christmas) and PG&E were forced to re-connect the families- bizarrely with no meter at all.

PG&E’s media drubbing was so bad last week that on Monday they were forced to make what was billed as a major concession– they apparently now won’t shut off power to those who wish to keep their regular analog meter- as long as electro-sensitive people and others wary of having a carcinogen on their homes pay PG&E a protection racket of $100 to start and $20/ month. And this was supposed to make PG&E look good.

PG&E thought that by bullying people and switching off their power, they could suppress the movement. But instead they revealed just how low they are willing to go to prevent collapse of their stupid meter program, and how many ordinary members of the public would prefer living without electricity to continued exposure to ‘smart’ meter radiation.

More meter return events are being planned as we speak, to protest radiation emitting devices being forced on people’s homes. Stay tuned.

Media coverage

KION TV

KSBW TV

THIS JUST IN- meter return madness spreads to Southern California:

Posted in Changing a Meter, Citizen rebellion, Democracy, neighborhood organizing, PG&E, Santa Cruz County | 7 Comments

PG&E’s Offer of Analogs Comes at a High Cost

Posted on December 20, 2011 by Josh Hart

Having been forced by bad press to throw sickened customers a meager bone–the option to keep an analog on an individual basis only, at an inflated cost–PG&E CEO Anthony Earley made this astonishing remark: “Why should we be fighting with our own customers over something like this?”

Why fight indeed? Over something as petty and inconsequential as the right to be safe in one’s home? The right to privacy behind closed doors? The right to be safe from electrical fires? The right to not live in a low-level microwave oven for the rest of our lives. Let’s all just get together, roast some chestnuts and pretend there’s nothing wrong.

We think Mr. Earley may be a little late grasping the facts:

The US government says ‘smart’ meters are NOT mandatory as per the Federal Energy Act of 2005. This letter from a US Representative clarifies the matter. OPT-IN is the only legal way this program could have been implemented.

“Smart” meters emit a Class 2B carcinogen into people’s homes. ‘Smart’ meters are toxic–adding 10,000+ strobing pulses of radio-frequency microwaves into customers’ lives. The RF peaks inside a ‘smart’-metered home exceed what a nearby cellphone antenna array would contribute, an RF source already known to harm humans.

“Smart” meters are making many, many people sick. Accounts continue to pour into SmartMeterHelp.com, and EMFSafetyNetwork.org.

“Smart” meters are not safe. They have caused fires and explosions, shocks, arcing, appliance damage, and interference, and continue to do so. These devices lack UL certification. No utility has the right to endanger people and property.

“Smart” meters do not save energy. They are green-wash of the deepest dye. They use energy themselves, and studies have not shown any significant energy savings, or customer savings. The savings (that is, no meter readers to pay) goes straight to the utility. The PG&E program cost $2.3billion, which came out of our pockets. Deployment of ‘smart’ meters is picking low-hanging fruit–meanwhile the real work of updating the grid is delayed.

“Smart” meter data is not well protected. Privacy in the home is threatened by detailed information being broadcast wirelessly. Some utilities believe they OWN that data.

We know who PG&E cares about pleasing, and it is not customers: PG&E spent $79M in the last couple of years lobbying congress–only one other company in the US outspent PG&E, and that was General Electric. They are a huge contributor in California politics.

So, Mr. Earley, that is why we will continue to fight your toxic, expensive, extortionate, environmentally harmful, dangerous surveillance meters. With all this evidence piling up, why would anyone want to opt IN?

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again. Opt out is a cop out. Smart meters are bad policy- period. Time to wise up and *Pull the Plug* on the ‘Smart’ Meter debacle for good.

PG&E CEO Anthony Earley: "Can't we all just get along?"

Posted in Cancer, Citizen rebellion, Class Issues and Social Equality, Climate Change, CPUC, Democracy, Electro-Hyper-Sensitivity, Environmental Concerns, Health studies, interference, PG&E, Privacy, Safety, Smart Grid, World Health Organization | 15 Comments

The Grinch Backs Down; PG&E Re-Connects Sickened Families

Posted on December 17, 2011 by Josh Hart

So the Grinch backed down….

After a week of being pummeled by local government officials, the public, and the media for disconnecting electricity to families who had been injured by ‘smart’ meter radiation less than two weeks before Christmas – the power is now back on for Bianca Carn’s family, and the others who were forced to shiver in their dark homes just so PG&E could make a point.

Most of the people who returned their meters on December 7^th refused to allow PG&E to replace either a smart meter or a so-called “non-transmitting digital” meter on their homes. Living without electricity for these people was preferable to living with a ‘smart’ meter- something perhaps PG&E hadn’t counted on. Others like Karyn Sanz- whose family’s livelihood required immediate re-connection, accepted PG&E’s offer of a “digital meter.” Immediately, according to Sanz, she experienced headaches and heart palpitations, backing up reports that suggest dirty electricity from these meters is also dangerous.

PG&E has been forced to install a meter place-holder to avoid installing an analog meter on the homes of people who have been sickened by smart meter radiation

Since PG&E has (falsely) claimed that they have no analog meters left, they were forced to save face by installing a device to bypass the meter – allowing unmetered electricity to flow to the homes. They plan to base their billing on last year’s usage. This device- pictured to the right- is used by installers as a place holder- and has never been safety tested for long term use, typically only used for a minute or two during problem installs.

The utilities are behaving like they are still fighting a battle against a small band of vocal activists. What they perhaps haven’t realized is that this movement has gone mainstream, and they are now pitted against the public at large- who are quickly catching on that all is not right with this so-called ‘meter upgrade.’ Needless to say, this is the same public that pays their salaries, and fattens their shareholder accounts- something they do care desperately about. This kind of ugly episode- where paying customers get shut off at Christmas- is what happens when Wall Street controls our basic public services.

Nevertheless, it was remarkable how the community came together over the past week to look out for our own. In less than a few hours yesterday we managed to raise more than $1200 to help these families get a safe power supply to their homes- without even posting an appeal on this site. This fund will continue to grow and be available for all those who are forced to take action to protect their health and safety. If you would like to donate, please contact us for details and ask how you can donate to Stop Smart Meters! Safe Power fund.

Gretchen Vandereen is again suffering from insomnia from the 3 smart meters that PG&E forced back on her home- out of the public spotlight

The Grinch may have backed down for these 5 families who were in the spotlight- but he is still the Grinch, and he is still stealing Christmas from thousands of families who are suffering health effects in their homes. For example, Gretchen Vandereen who spoke on Dec. 7^th about her 3-month bout with insomnia- returned home last week to find that PG&E had threatened her neighbors with electricity disconnection- trespassed, vandalized her meter defenses, and installed 3 new smart meters. She hasn’t slept properly since then and doesn’t know what she’s going to do. Since she hasn’t been featured on the evening news, PG&E is hanging her- and thousands like her- out to dry.

If PG&E truly cared about safety, as they insist ad nauseum to the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, then they must remove all unwanted ‘smart’ meters and replace with analogs- no questions asked. Local politicians claim to be in favor of choice- so let’s hear them call for an immediate and no-cost return to analogs- for those households and communities who want them. Not in Januray or February- but TODAY- so people can live in their homes without suffering terrible symptoms over the Holidays.

One thing is for sure- You’re a mean one, Mr. Grinch!

Media Coverage

KSBW News: Santa Cruz Smart Meter Rebels 1 PG&E 0

(note that at 1:53 in the above video- the radiation burst from the ‘smart’ meter actually interferes with the news camera’s microphone- you can hear the interference at the same time the analyzer detects the spike. Note that this Cornet meter time averages the bursts so the peak pulse is likely far higher than is indicated here…)

Santa Cruz Sentinel: PG&E restores power to Santa Cruz County residents who removed SmartMeters

SF Chronicle: PG&E SmartMeter draws customer rebellion

KION: PG&E Restores Power