An excellent summary of a major design flaw in every $$meter that can lead to fires – the remote disconnect switch. This also contains info from a Forensic Engineer who works with an Insurance Inspector. The fire reported occurred in Nevada last summer and was included in testimony given before the New Mexico Public Utility Commission by Norm Lambe.
If we only had an Insurance Adjuster who would step forward about fires in British Columbia …. Several Firemen, Fire Chiefs, Engineers and BC Hydro workers have spoken to me anonymously confirming what I’ve told BCUC about the fire issue, but no one is able to speak out for fear of losing his job. This sort of intimidation is putting our lives and property at risk. Please note that the Engineer said that this sort of fire could not happen with an analog. In fact, I have been told, again anonymously, that analogs have never caused fires. Experts have told me that fires have occurred if the analog were damaged during installation, or if corrosion had occurred, but the analog itself has not caused a fire.
“The previous ‘not smart’ meters cannot and do not cause these types of fires because they are not equipped with the switching contacts that allow the utility companies to turn power ‘on’ and ‘off’ to their customers at will without the nuisance of having to actually go to the site. The switching contacts are not required to make a meter ‘smart’…the smart designation comes from the ability of the meters to track power usage continuously and transmit the data back to the utility company. The switching contacts are a feature provided purely and solely for the convenience of the utility companies.”
Sharon Noble
Director, Coalition to Stop Smart Meters
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Press Release by Coalition to Stop Smart Meters
– December 15, 2015
CERTIFICATION BODY (UL) DECLARES SMART METERS TO BE FIRE HAZARDS.
Smart meters have failed, melted and caused fires in British Columbia. While BC Hydro continues to deny that these devices pose risk of fires, Underwriters Laboratory admits it in its introduction of a “voluntary” standard:
“… design flaws in smart meter units have been known to cause serious fire hazards and spotty performance. This has caused a lot of concern for utilities and manufacturers of smart meters.”
http://www.metlabs.com/blog/meters/new-ul-2735-electric-utility-meter-standard-ensures-safety-and-performance/
It is doubtful that the “voluntary” certification will address all of the fire-causing features of these devices which are mandated by the BC Liberals for every home and business. For example, legal testimony in Texas stated that the smart meters do not fit properly into the meter base, a base that was certified to hold an analog and nothing else. The smart meters’ blades leave a gap which causes arcing and fires.
“Childers explained that part of the problem was a loose connection between the meter and the meter base because the smart meters had thinner “blades” than the previous analog meters. (JD slip op. at 12, LL 36-38; Tr. 265, LL. 3-6). Childers told Reed that the loose connection caused heat, which, in turn, caused an electrical arc, which resulted in “two pallets of burned up meters” in CenterPoint’s meter shop. (Tr. 265, LL. 13-22).”
https://stopsmartmetersbc.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Reed_Answering_Brief-1.pdf pg. 8
The meters used by Houston’s CenterPoint Utility are the very same model, ITRON Openway, used by BC Hydro and FortisBC.
https://web.archive.org/web/20160813133504/http://etsinsights.com/news/centerpoint-energy-completes-itron-smart-meter-roll-out/
Months ago BC Utilities Commission (BCUC), BC Hydro, Energy Minister Bill Bennett, and BC Hydro critic Adrian Dix were given this information and more, yet these fire hazards remain on our homes.
What more is needed to have these meters declared defective? Why are the BC Liberals, the BCUC, and the utility companies playing Russian roulette with our safety?