[Amiee Ringle – Analog – Andrew Weaver, BC Green Party – BCUC Independent Review of BC Hydro Smart Metering Program – Bills – Cell Phones – Clean Energy Act – Costs – Data for Sale – David Common, CBC Marketplace re Addiction to Wireless Devices (Brains, Behaviour & Emotions) – David M. Morton – Discrimination – EPIC Electromagnetic Pollution Illnesses Canada Foundation – Fiber Optics – FortisBC – Generation Zapped Documentary – Health – Jeff Randall, Kenneth Collins, Wayne King (Jefferson County PUD Public Utility District) – John Horgan – Julie Dumond – Karen Sturnick – Landis+Gyr – Letter to Sonia Furstenau re Fire Report by Sharon Noble & Opt-out Fees – Lifespan of Meters – Michelle Mungall – Privacy – RFR – Rosemary Sikes – Safety Risk – Site C – Smart Grid Security – SMOG Smart Meter Objectors Groups – Tamara Pratt – Thomas Engel – Tracking – Volunteers (Flyers & Signs) Needed Nov.03-05 @ Victoria Conference Centre | Victoria, BC – Winnipeg, Manitoba – Chimacum & Port Townsend, Washington, USA] & Film
1) Re. NDP convention: We are meeting at 8:15 am outside the Victoria Conference Centre, 720 Douglas St., Victoria. We will have flyers to hand out. Hope to see you there (unless a snowstorm prevents us from getting down our “mountain”. It is snowing hard in Victoria as I write this.)
(click on photos to enlarge)
2) There were 2 major programs that were exempted from oversight by the BC Utilities Commission by the Clean Energy Act 2010: Site C and Smeters. Now that the report from an independent review confirms that BC Hydro was irresponsible financially and with projections re. need, it’s time for a similar independent review of the smeter program.
We should continue to pressure Horgan and Mungall and all MLAs for this review, but also the Greens who hold power over the NDP’s status in government. I am not convinced that Weaver would understand or support concerns about health (he told a constituent that “as a scientist” – he taught climatology – that RF is safe and incapable of doing harm), but he seems to be concerned about costs and perhaps he will care about security and fires. There are so many problems with this entire program that certainly one should appeal to him. Andrew.weaver.mla@leg.bc.ca Please, let’s send so many emails to him that he cannot ignore us.
BCUC Report Puts Final Nail in Site C’s Coffin
“VICTORIA, B.C. – Andrew Weaver, leader of the B.C. Green Party, issued the following statement in response to BCUC’s release of the Site C report.
“I am pleased that BCUC’s comprehensive review and insightful report have been completed on time,” said Weaver.
“It is unconscionable that the B.C. Liberals demonstrated such reckless disregard for British Columbians and for sound fiscal management by pushing through such a substantial mega-project without proper due diligence and oversight”
http://www.andrewweavermla.ca/2017/11/01/bcuc-report-puts-final-nail-site-coffin/
3) On the Olympic Peninsula, people are asking the right questions about smeters, and it appears that the public officials are willing to listen.
Public outcry crops up over Jefferson County smart meter plan
“Jefferson County Public Utility District officials agreed to discuss potentially halting the rollout of new “smart meters” after a public meeting in which community members expressed health and privacy concerns as well as unease about the cost and longevity of the new meters.
The meeting Monday night lasted roughly three hours, with more than 100 community members in attendance, many of whom stood or sat on the floor in the Chimacum Fire Hall.”
4) Please share this with friends and relatives in Winnipeg. There will be a showing on Nov. 29 of this excellent new documentary, “Generation Zapped”.
GENERATION ZAPPED
New documentary film reveals evidence of health risks from exposure to wireless radiation emissions made inescapable by our addiction to wireless devices
http://iexistworld.org/index.php/updates
https://twitter.com/iexistworld/status/926211103956316160
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10154802076846507&set=a.10150180723551507.304531.718826506
5) Tomorrow, Nov. 3, 8:00 PM Pacific Time [http://www.cbc.ca/marketplace/airtimes/], CBC Marketplace will have a program about addiction to cell phones.
Addicted to your phone?
“Revealing how companies influence us, our brains, our behaviour, our emotions. How they use science to ensure we’re more engage[d] in ‘the infinite scroll’ on our smartphones. And tech insiders teach us how to curb the urge to constantly stay connected.”
http://www.cbc.ca/marketplace/episodes/2017-2018/addicted-to-your-phone
Letters:
Please read from the bottom up.
From: Sharon Noble
Sent: November 2, 2017
To: sonia.furstenau.MLA@leg.bc.ca
Subject: RE: BCUC Smart Meter Fires — A report
Dear Ms. Furstenau,
I realize that you are busy as a new MLA, but I am hoping that, as an activist and being more independent than most MLAs, you would take an interest into the issue of the smart meters that concern so many people. I would appreciate if you would acknowledge receipt of the fire report binders that I mailed to your office 2 months ago.
Smart meters concern all of us, whether we know it or not. The problems are many and varied, as I said below. But one issue that I did not identify for you is the cost that many are paying just to protect themselves and their families: the opt out fees.
BC Hydro customers who have been able to keep their analogs for the time being are charged $64.80 per billing period, or $32.40 a month. These are by far higher, in some cases multiples, of the fees charged in other places for the same service. Why? Is BC Hydro that much less efficient? Even within our province, BC Hydro customers who are allowed to have a smart meter with the transmitter disabled pay $20 per month when FortisBC customers pay $9. According to the BC Utility Commission Act, BC residents are not to be discriminated against, but yet we are.
Did you know, Ms. Furstenau, that many people are paying more for the opt out fee than they are paying for electricity? And this is when they may have neighbours whose smart meters must be read manually because they are not working. No additional travel or time is needed to read the analog. According to BC Hydro, more than 50,000 smart meters are read manually without additional cost. It appears that we are subsidizing BC Hydro’s poorly designed and implemented program.
BC Hydro has collected in excess of $20 million in opt out fees yet has never provided a public financial accounting to show the costs incurred or the amount collected.
We the public need someone with your dedication to support us. I hope you will accept this challenge.
If you have any questions about anything that I’ve said either in my emails or in my Fire Report I would be more than happy to answer them via email or in person.
Regards,
Sharon Noble
Director, Coalition to Stop Smart Meters
= = =
From: Sharon Noble
Sent: September 2, 2017
To: sonia.furstenau.MLA@leg.bc.ca
Subject: BCUC Smart Meter Fires — A report
Dear Ms. Furstenau,
Next week you will receive a box containing 2 binders with a report and evidence gathered over the last 3 years, entitled “BCUC & Smart Meter Fires: The Failure to Protect” [https://stopsmartmetersbc.com/bcuc-smart-meter-fires-the-failure-to-protect/]. The report has been delivered to Premier Horgan’s constituency office and mailed to Mr. Morton, CEO and Chair of BCUC. The covering letters are attached above. [see 5) Addenda at the above link]
I would ask that you and your staff give serious consideration to the incidents documented and to the failure of BC Hydro to take appropriate actions to ensure that the smart meters are safe. After 3 years of asking, I still have not received confirmation that this device was inspected and found safe by a professional engineer at BC Hydro. This alone speaks volumes to the failure of BC Hydro to exercise due diligence with regard to this equipment which has been put on homes.
In addition, the report contains evidence that rules and regulations are being ignored, and that the Office of the Fire Commissioner is not reporting or tracking fires as intended. Neither are electrical fires being inspected according to the BC Safety Standards Act. With the information available to the officials, it is impossible for them to know that the smart meters are failing, burning and putting the lives and property of British Columbians at risk.
This is a matter that is of vital importance which the previous government caused and refused to acknowledge. The smart meter program, as you may know, is fraught with problems ranging from health (radiation being emitted), to security (data can be gathered and in many places is being shared and sold), to cybersecurity (many experts warn of accidents or attacks bringing down the grid via the smart meter), to costs (these meters have a 5-7 year life expectancy, benefits have never been sufficient to justify the costs). But safety is one problem that cannot and should not be delayed or ignored any longer. The consequences are too great.
Ms. Furstenau, I know that you are as concerned as I about health and safety. I ask that you join with me in demanding that this program and these meters be recalled for the sake of all British Columbians.
I am happy to answer questions or to provide more information, should you ask.
Regards,
Sharon Noble
Sharon Noble
Director, Coalition to Stop Smart Meters
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”
~ Margaret Mead.