1) For those who missed the webinar re. the Havana Syndrome on Tuesday, the video is now available. Dr. David Relman, who was part of a committee constituted with the purpose of investigating possible causes of the health problems being reported, is interviewed by a movie/TV producer, David Grae. I found it very interesting.
The Mysteries of Havana Syndrome
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8k1Hectj6f8 (1 hour – interview starts at about the 8 min. mark)
There is some good background in this petition update: https://www.change.org/p/joe-biden-president-of-the-united-states-of-america-joint-congressional-hearings-doj-investigation-of-microwave-assaults-on-u-s-citizens/u/29848256
2) I have signed on behalf of the Coalition to join Arthur in his effort. Assurance has been given that there will be no financial implications to joining this amicus brief.
FOUR DAYS LEFT TO JOIN AMICUS BRIEF TO U.S. SUPREME COURT
“The Santa Fe Alliance for Public Health and Safety — an organization to which I belong — has succeeded in bringing a challenge to that clause to the doorstep of the U.S. Supreme Court, and we need all the might of your organizations throughout the world arrayed on our side to take advantage of this unique opportunity to stand for truth and hope and against fear and despair. This opportunity will not easily come again, and our planet is running out of time.”
Click to access Four-days-left-to-join-amicus-brief-to-U.S.-Supreme-Court.pdf
3) There are still many people with analog BC Hydro meters who are fighting to keep them, still paying the exorbitant extortion fees, and still being punished for their refusal. One member is fighting on behalf of an 88 yr old woman whose electricity was cut, who this day is suffering from the cold and dark, because she does not want a dangerous device on her home. This “crown” corporation is shameful, having bullied, lied, and endangered people since 2011 when the first smeters were installed. Below are 2 letters, written Nov. 11 and Nov. 16, begging for accommodation.
A lot of detailed info has been provided including a letter from Adrian Dix, who was opposition critic of BC Hydro from 2011-2014, questioning BC Hydro’s honesty about the financial benefits of smeters. We still have no idea, even though Dix has been in the cabinet for years, if the program was financially justified, how much money has been collected as opt-out fees, the costs to read smeters, etc. Neither do we know how much this program truly cost those of us who are paying for it.
In January 2016, thousands of failed meters, less than 5 years old, had to be replaced and we paid for them, not ITRON, for an additional $20 million.
(click on photos to enlarge)
https://theprovince.com/news/b-c-hydro-must-remove-more-than-88000-smart-meters
How many more have failed? And now it is time for them to be replaced (expected lifespan of 5-7 years) with the next generation, at what cost? Shouldn’t the NDP provide the information they once were demanding of BC Hydro?
Letters:
Adrian DIX letter to BC Hydro, 2016, short version…
“expenditure of more than $1 billion of ratepayer’s money. The Smart Meter Program was exempted by the Liberal Cabinet from BCUC review and approval….Have the $732 million in electricity theft benefits over the past 3 years and the next 17 years from the Program gone missing? The $100 million figure doesn’t appear as any separate entry in a BC Hydro’s Annual Report from 2004 to the present. BC Hydro claims it is included in the Annual Report under “Unaccounted for energy and line losses.”
This item is where BC Hydro records the losses that occur when electricity moves through the wires and other electrical devices such as transformers. If BC Hydro was losing a $100 million a year to grow operators, one would expect it would have told the public about this other than when it needed to justify the Smart Meter Program…If BC Hydro is to achieve its financial goals with respect to smart meters, we should see clear evidence of success three years into the program. And yet, there is nothing in subsequent annual reports, public filings or on BC Hydro’s website to indicate any major reduction in electricity theft. None.
In the SMI Program Business Case, the Liberal government and BC Hydro claimed the following: there was a $100 million of electricity theft due to marijuana grow-ops in BC Hydro territory and that this involved the theft of 850 GWh/yr in fiscal 2012. BC Hydro then claimed that “realization of theft benefit is estimated at an initial 75%, declining to about 67% by 2027.” There is little evidence of any realization of these promises – no media articles and no BC Hydro public reports. And there is little evidence of an increase in the number of marijuana growing operations shut down by police. Nor is there any evidence of a significant difference between New Westminster, an electricity system without smart meters and Burnaby, which has since had them installed.
My questions are simple: 1. BC Hydro continues to publicly stand-by the exaggerated claim of $732 million in net benefits of the Smart Meter Program to reduce electricity theft compared to the pre-2012 system. What money has been saved to date? Is the realization of theft benefits anywhere near the claimed “initial” 75%? And if not, why does BC Hydro continue to mislead the public about the benefits of its investment? What impact will this have on rates should this initial failure continue?
The Liberal cabinet, not BC Hydro, made the decision to proceed with smart meter spending. It refused to see those assumptions tested before the BCUC. And now, after the Northwest Transmission Line, deferral account, IT investments and the Clean Energy Act, it is ratepayers that are forced to pay the price. Similar claims are being made about the Site C dam, also exempted from legal review by the BCUC. BC Hydro then claimed that “realization of theft benefit is estimated at an initial 75%, declining to about 67% by 2027.”
The customers who paid for smart meters deserve to know the truth about BC Hydro claims about the program, whether the business case presented was credible or not, whether BC Hydro advertising was truthful or not. It appears that $732 million of BC Hydro claimed benefits of smart meters may be missing. I look forward to an explanation as to what has happened to date.
Sincerely,
Original Signed Adrian Dix MLA”
Sharon Noble, Director, Coalition to Stop Smart Meters
“Everybody gets so much information all day long that they lose their common sense.” Gertrude Stein