The British Columbia-based group, Citizens for Safe Technology, filed a complaint recently against BC Hydro’s ‘smart’ meter program there, stating that the regulatory body that should be exercising oversight and review isn’t doing its job. This is a familiar story to us in California, as we have watched our own utility commission repeatedly accept utility priorities as their own, rather than acting to protect the consumer.Press release:
Citizens’ Group Seeks Injunction Against Smart Meter Program
A complaint has been filed under Section 47 of the Utilities Commission Act requesting an injunctive freeze on the wireless component of the Smart Meter Program without delay. This action is being taken to engage the Commission’s administrative function as a regulator of BC Hydro in accordance with the rule of law; only by operation of the rule of law can the public interest in health, security, privacy and safety be factored into Smart Meter Program decisions.
Up until now, the Commission as a regulator has been left out and, with that, any consideration of the public interest has been eliminated from BC Hydro’s decision. The action taken is about preserving the regulatory oversight and democratic process we uphold under the rule of law in British Columbia. BC Hydro cannot be allowed to act with impunity, without regard to the public interest, on a matter that raises serious concerns with respect to human health, environmental integrity, individual privacy and civil liberties.
The Clean Energy Act purports to excuse BC Hydro from having to obtain a BCUC issued Certificate of “public convenience and necessity” but not with respect to the wireless and snooping components of the Smart Meter Program. The Commission is requested to issue relief on an urgent and interim basis, without hearing and without delay, so as to effectively freeze any and all activity being carried out by BC Hydro in contravention of section 45(1) of the Utilities Commission Act. Any delay in the issuance of the relief sought will allow BC Hydro to continue with unauthorized expenditures associated with the Unauthorized Extensions. This Action is taken to preserve and give weight to the public interest with regard to the deployment of the Smart Meter Program in British Columbia.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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?"
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The British Columbia-based group, Citizens for Safe Technology, filed a complaint recently against BC Hydro’s ‘smart’ meter program there, stating that the regulatory body that should be exercising oversight and review isn’t doing its job. This is a familiar story to us in California, as we have watched our own utility commission repeatedly accept utility priorities as their own, rather than acting to protect the consumer. Press release:
