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1)   As a follow-up on last night’s update [https://stopsmartmetersbc.com/2018-09-21-itron-admits-the-reasons-for-smeters/] about ITRON’s plan to use our homes as business centres and our data as a valuable asset, I have written to several government officials. This use was never included in the Clean Energy Act and was not approved by the BCUC when it approved FortisBC’s application for smart meters. For these and many other reasons, I believe ITRON’s plans are illegal and warrants investigation. How do we know if or when the meters have been “upgraded” to hold several transmitters?  When and how will we know when our data has been sold and used by third, fourth or fifth parties? And, to add insult to injury, will we be paying for the electricity for these commercial enterprises??

(click on photos to enlarge)

Please see my letter below to the Attorney General. I have sent similar letters to Premier Horgan, Energy Minister Mungull and BCUC Commission Secretary Patrick Wruck. All the email addresses for these people, and others you might want to write to, can be found at our website www.stopsmartmetersbc.com under “CONTACT” [https://stopsmartmetersbc.com/z/bc-contact-e-mail-lists/].  I hope you will consider writing your own letters and perhaps include your MLA, your local newspaper and your friends.

2)   If we could join together the many thousands in BC who object to BC Hydro’s smeter program, which has been shown to be unnecessary, expensive, unhealthy and invasive, we could get these things removed. This from someone in the USA where actions of large groups of people have changed many laws, e.g. the civil rights. We need to have many voices, picketing, marching, and sitting in hallways demanding that the Clean Energy Act be thrown out the window and our civil rights re-instated, have Wi-Fi out of schools and hospitals, not have 5G microcells outside our bedrooms, and have real science used for decisions in Health Canada and our Provincial Health Offices.

“Just saw the new Michael Moore movie Fahrenheit 9/11 an hour ago  and there was a whole segment on the West Virginia teachers strike and yes they were being forced to wear FitBit bracelets. They eventually won all their demands including dropping the requirement to wear a FitBit bracelet. The strike visually was pretty impressive and demonstrates what people can do when unified. They went out on strike when the Union officials were against it. They supplied food to students’ homes who were missing out on lunches because of the strike. They refused to go back to work till the school bus drivers and school food handlers got a raise also. They marched on the State Capitol. They were amazing and inspired other teachers in others states to do the same.

If only we had that kind of unity in the smart meter movement we could shut down the utilities forced deployment of smart meters and stop 5G. This was all the people we could muster for a smart meter demonstration in a state with 20 million people : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9T1G610xtMI . We did succeed in getting rid of the monthly opt-out fees. It will take critical mass to make the significant changes we all seek.

Steve – Stop Smart Meters Woodstock NY”

https://www.thetruthsayerswoodstock.com/

3)  Lively protests of smart meter programs continue in many places in the USA. This from Northern California and South Oregon.

Smart meters: a danger or a modern convenience?

“Smart meters have been the subject of much lively debate in Siskiyou County over the past couple months, with smart meter installations having begun in Mount Shasta in late July. While the California Public Utilities Commission and Pacific Power maintain that smart meters are safe and will provide numerous benefits for customers, many groups and individuals in the area have decried those assurances and claimed that smart meters may cause innumerable ills, from fires to adverse biological effects.

As smart meters also began to be installed in Oregon at the start of 2018, many Oregon and California residents who are opposed to smart meters have banded together to protest their installation. This was evidenced in Yreka on Sept. 15, when citizens from Siskiyou County and Oregon stood outside the Pacific Power office with picket signs.”

http://www.siskiyoudaily.com/news/20180921/smart-meters-danger-or-modern-convenience?start=2

Letters:

From: Sharon Noble
Sent: September 22, 2018
To: AG.Minister@gov.bc.ca
Subject: ITRON admits smart meters make homes its commercial platforms — Is this legal?

Dear Attorney General Eby,

I am writing to you as the official legal adviser for the provincial government and the various ministries. ITRON is the corporation that provides the smart meters and has developed the grid used by both BC Hydro and FortisBC. Below you will find ITRON’s vision for expanding the usage of the smart meters and the smart meter program beyond that approved by the Clean Energy Act or approved by the BC Utilities Commission. Many of the uses envisioned by ITRON invade our privacy and use our properties in manners which are unreasonable, if not illegal.

Many have hypothesized that the smart meters were intended to do more than just measure our power usage. We’ve feared that our privacy would be invaded when our personal data is gathered and, potentially, shared with third parties. ITRON has now admitted that this is indeed the plan, and has been all along.

Itron, in the article linked below, foresees using our homes as a commercial base for corporations other than BC Hydro and FortisBC. Itron also foresees the smart meters being used for many purposes in addition to measuring electricity, gas or water usage. “Edge” devices will connect to the IoT (Internet of Things) via the smart grid, thus being a major part of the smart cities program by having multiple types of transmitters from multiple companies in the ITRON smart meter, to gather and “create business value” from all the data being gathered.

These statements are from ITRON’s own information page:

WELCOME TO THE ACTIVE GRID

“The Active Grid demands both high-performance communications and reliable connectivity. That means a communications solution that combines multiple communication media – RF wireless, powerline carrier and Wi-Fi – on the same chipset and in the same edge devices. Edge devices are able to intelligently select the most appropriate path, data rates and communications mode (e.g. mesh, point-to-point, peer-to-peer, local broadcast) to assure the highest level of communication performance and reliability to support an entirely new portfolio of smart grid, smart distribution and smart city use cases. We call this Adaptive Communications Technology and it delivers assured connectivity at the highest possible speed.

Not a Meter; a Grid Sensor and Computing Platform

With a powerful distributed computing platform, the Active Grid transforms the smart meter from a consumption measurement device to an advanced grid sensor with metering being one of multiple applications. That means embedding the equivalent computing power of a smart phone or desktop computer in every device, enabling real-time analysis of high-resolution data (1-second or better) at the edge, while eliminating latency and loss of data resolution during transfer over the network. This distributed computing platform also provides the ability to run multiple “apps” on meters and other edge devices, thereby unleashing a growing ecosystem of developers to innovate on the platform…

This type of self-directed device interaction has always been central to the vision of a smart distribution network but never possible until now…

One of the key trends identified in the latest Itron Resourcefulness Index, an annual survey of utility executives, industry stakeholders and consumers to gauge progress in achieving more effective management of energy and water resources, was that utility executives are very concerned about creating business value from all the new data coming their way.”

https://www.engerati.com/system/files/welcome-to-the-active-grid-web_1.pdf

At no time has ITRON been granted permission by any customer, by BC Utilities Commission or, at least as far as I know, by any government to use private residences for commercial purposes or to allow meters on residences to be used for anything other than to measure power usage. Is it legal to expand the use of the smart meter for “multiple applications”, transforming it from a “consumption measurement device” to a “computing platform” without having received explicit agreement from all the parties involved?

Neither has any customer, BCUC or any government, to my knowledge, agreed to allow personal data to be used to “create business value”.

BC Hydro and FortisBC customers have been misled about the benefits, costs and risks associated with the smart meter program from day one – and to this day this deception continues. Both the Liberal and NDP governments have turned a blind eye to the way this program was implemented, leaving the citizens with no choice and no advocate because the Clean Energy Act precluded the BCUC from regulatory oversight. Now, with this new information from ITRON itself about its intention, we know what has “always been central to the vision of a smart distribution network” –  using smart meters for purposes about which we were never told and to which we never agreed. Given BC Hydro’s lack of transparency and history of deception, how are we to know if the meters have been altered already to contain multiple transmitters, being transformed into a device capable of being used as a grid sensor and computing platform?

Mr. Eby, I will not agree to allow my data to be used for commercial purposes and neither will I allow my home to be used by ITRON or BC Hydro as a platform for its “multiple applications” on the Active Grid.

Can you please tell me if I can be forced to have such a device put on my home as a condition for having electricity?  In your expert opinion, is it legal for electrical meters to be used for purposes other than measuring usage without explicit approval from the customer?  I realize there are many other legal implications that must be considered and questions that have been raised. I hope that you will share your opinions after your review is completed.

I look forward to receiving your response at your earliest convenience.  Thank you for your time.