1) Tests show exposure to 900 Mhz (the frequency used by $meters) affects neurological functions. Cell phone exposure, with very low level exposure usage. Increases chances of brain tumors. Cell phones radiate small areas of the body while $meters expose the entire body:
“The researchers found no association between regular mobile phone use and risk of the brain tumour (phoning at least once a week for six months or more); however, it did find an increased risk of common types of brain tumors with intensive mobile phone use (active calling for more than 15 hours per month).” How many phone owners use phone for only 30 min. a day!!!?
http://businesstech.co.za/news/mobile/59767/cellphones-are-affecting-your-brain/
2) One member in Victoria reported a good experience with an installer, Jordan, on Thursday. Although the member had asked for an appointment, Hydro didn’t pass that on to Jordan apparently, who appeared at 8:30 am. He was asked to come back at 11:00 to give time to remove the protective cage. He agreed. The power was turned off, and an analog installed which, Jordan had been told, was re-certified quite recently, although he didn’t have the full info. He was polite and professional, and will be heading to Bamfield, Port Alberni, Tofino and Ucluelet next week for 1-2 days in each place.
3) I received an anonymous phone message left on my machine telling me that Hydro’s $meters were not working as planned and that new “extenders” or “boosters” were needed in many areas. The implication was that the legacy fees were needed to pay for this new equipment, not because of our opting out but because the equipment was not working as planned. That would explain the installation of “new” analogs so that we will keep paying the outrageous fees to cover Hydro’s shortfall. Wonder if we will ever be told the true costs of this “program”.
4) Some interesting info. from a member:
I was visited unannounced by a Corix employee yesterday at approximately 4:30 pm. He knocked on the door and announced that he was here to change my meter. He was very nice and I had a good chat with him. He actually told me about someone he knew in the West Kootenays who had to move away from where she was living because the smart meter radiation was making her daughter very ill.
5) In Massachusetts “$$mart grid” antennae are being put in church steeples, hidden from view, irradiating the neighbourhood for $1000 a month!! This is a common practice for cell companies. They know churches need money.
http://www.telegram.com/article/20140604/NEWS/306049424/1116
6) C4ST continues to criticize and to draw attention to the fact that Health Canada is biased and that its “Royal Society” panel was made up of people who have had (and still do have) close ties with the industry, and others with no relevant expertise. Health Canada has shown itself to be corrupt in many areas, and the area of wireless radiation (“Safety” code 6) is one of them.
7) Huge catch up bills being blamed, in part, on the person having an analog, as if the $meters were working!!
http://www.bclocalnews.com/news/261893851.html
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Letters:
Sent: June 5, 2014 12:50 PM
To: greg.reimer@bchydro.com
Subject: Inappropriate designation of a capable smart digital meter as a legacy meter to charge us BC hydro customers more…
June 5, 2014
Mr. Greg Reimer
BC Hydro
PO Box 9530 Stn Terminal
Vancouver, BC V6B 4G8
Dear Mr. Reimer:
I am writing to you as I have learned that the electrical meter I have installed at my home is an Itron Centron CS1 wireless capable meter (see link below), which you are calling a “legacy” meter.
I see that designation as inappropriate by BC hydro so unaware costumers pay the full fee of $32.40 for having a digital capable smart meter installed at their homes. If I’m going to pay that amount I want to have the real thing or what is called an “analog mechanical meter” installed at my home. If you cannot fulfill that order for whatever reason I believe I should be paying
$20.00 a month and not $32.40.
This morning, I have talked to Billy a smart meter specialist at BC hydro. He has refused to install me an analog meter and kept on telling me that a digital Itron Centron CS1, which is wireless capable by adding a module to it is not the same (someone must read it every two months) as an Itron Centron that has the module installed on it but the radio is turned off. As a customer I really do not want a Itron Centron smart meter with the radio off. I say this, because Billy the smart meter specialist, after a lengthy discussion with him on the phone, told me that the Itron Centron “smart meter” even with the radio off can be manipulated offsite, which the Itron Centron CS1 without the smart meter plug in cannot do.
That, has confirmed my belief that BC hydro is not telling us customers the whole truth about the “smart meters” capabilities even with the radio off. For that reason alone I would like to have an independent electronic engineer to tell us what those smart meters are capable off. I am copying this letter to my MLA Doug Routley, as I want a full inquiry about the way BC hydro has been treating us customers, and why is not telling us the whole truth about smart meters capabilities even with their radio’s turned off, or the inappropriate designation of a digital capable smart meter as a legacy meter, or the damage that wireless pollution can cause to human beings.
I also want to indicate that I have become a party to the Class Action Suit against BC Hydro – BCSC Action No. S135590
https://www.itron.com/na/productsAndServices/Pages/CENTRON.aspx
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From a member re. his experience with the installer.
It was just good luck that I happened to be home when the Corix installer showed up. Since I was on site, I was able to ensure that my analog was replaced with another analog. The unit removed from my property was made in 1989 and the expiry date was 2013. The replacement now on my property was made in 1981 and has an expiry date of 2018. The installer was able to show me the manufacturing dates on the units but did not know the expiration dates, that information I had to obtain from BC Hydro, by email in the case of the 2013 expiration and by telephone in the case of the 2018 expiry. The previous unit appeared to be in pristine shape. The replacement has some white paint on the glass but is otherwise without blemishes.
I went out of my way to put the installer at ease so he would be comfortable answering my questions. Since he had already come to my property on May 7 only to be turned away by one of my family members who thought he was going to install a “Smart” meter, I wanted to know why he had not returned until June 2. He explained that he is one of only four installers who are now covering all Vancouver Island non-“Smart” replacements. There were many installers before, during the big blitz to convert the province to “Smartness” and they were paid bonuses for extra units installed above their daily quotas. Now, to replace expired analogs with any sort of non-“Smart” unit, the four installers are simply paid their daily wage. Hence, so much of the mistreatment we are experiencing with respect to BC Hydro/Corix refusing to schedule appointments with us is made inevitable simply by the miniscule labour-power devoted to the current replacement campaign. Four workers for all of Vancouver Island cannot make and keep appointments and this is exactly how BC Hydro wants it.
The installer confirmed that had I not been on hand to indicate my preference for another analog, he would have installed a digital. This is definitely the default dictated to him from his superiors. Is this because digitals could be converted to “Smartness” down the road? The installer did not deny this technological potential, but he countered economically that it might be more cost effective to simply replace a digital with a “Smart” rather than convert. Although he had no expiration date knowledge of the analogs he handles, he did know that all the digitals he is currently installing expire in 2019.
I asked the installer his opinion regarding the environmental health hazards associated with electromagnetic radiation fields emitted from “Smart” meters. On this topic he proved to be a “company man,” although more uninformed than ill-informed; that is, more naive than corrupt. Turning to the economics involved, he was far more realistic. While he has encountered cases of both bills going up and going down after the installation of a “Smart” meter – (down particularly when the prior analog had been running improperly) – this average of no change either way is soon enough going to end with the imposition of time-of-use billing, which will unquestionably raise the price of power. As for the big economic picture – the ongoing covert privitization of BC Hydro – the installer could only shrug his shoulders.
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Member re experience with $meter rep.
To: smartmeters@bchydo.com; greg.reimer@bchydro.com; john.horgan.mla@leg.bc.ca; Mike Farnworth; Jean Crowder; Bill Routley
Subject: Incorrect information from alleged “Smart Meter Choices” “specialists”
We spent so far well over 8 hours trying to get correct information from SMC “specialists” . We are not sure whether they are just particularly well misinformed or are intentionally lying – with BC Hydro it is now impossible to discern.
Two BC Hydro employees, who would not give employee number or last name, for privacy and security reasons, of course, Will from May 22nd and another particularly rude man late the 22nd and again on May 23rd whose name I cannot remember, (I asked him to make notes on account # XXXXX, so it SHOULD be on file) , gave this wrong information:
- BC Hydro has no way to contact Measurement Canada (MC). The Regional Director of MC found this particularly amusing.
- Although he did not know how to find MC # – he said I could easily find it online (this took about 3 hours of my time).
- One of them said the MC seal is the same as the expiry date on the meter – I patiently instructed them that this was incorrect and why.
- We were given wrong information about the expiry of another meter, on another account, in our possession – one which apparently expired over 3 years ago, but which has not been deemed to need replacement. The agent insisted we had received a letter about this, which we have not, and no work order by an installer has been received.
- There is no way to tell the expiry date of any meter until it is installed on the house and attached to an Account # (again denied by Regional Director of MC). When I said this was not the same info given to me by MC, the FOURTH time, then he changed his story and told me the installer had this information.
- When I spoke to the installer, he said this was incorrect – BC Hydro has the info NOT the installer.
- ON May 22nd I was told a manager who could give me correct information would call, within 24 hrs. June 2nd I have not heard back yet.
So to date, we still, after more than a full day of hours of research, have not been able to make a decision about replacement of our analogue. We have 2 sources, MC and installer (employee of BC Hydro) saying BC Hydro has this information and BC Hydro denying this. There are at least 2 other neighbours also waiting for this information. One of them has been told he will be charged $65; as he refused – this is also incorrect he JUST WANTS CORRECT INFORMATION to make decision.
This is yet another example of why it is next to impossible to trust BC Hydro.
NOTE: That this email in no way, shape or form, constitutes any acceptance on our part of any new contract with BC Hydro.
This communication is solely for purposes of educating BC Hydro about the ongoing challenges they are causing by misleading and/or wrong information to customers/share-holders in this publicly owned corporation.
This is just adds to the many reasons for our legal “REFUSAL FOR CAUSE” – “No Disclosure – No Rebuttal- No Meeting of the Minds – NO TRUST_ NO CONSENT – as per documentation BC Hydro has in their possession.
A response from any MLA or MP representing the people, not the corporation of BC Hydro, or those protecting our rights as citizens can be made to this email.
A response to this correspondence by any BC Hydro employees will only be accepted via letter to: (address given)
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Further follow up from member:
After quite a few MORE hours the truth is:
Hydro does still have analogues; they have no radio junk hidden in them and at the the SMC phone # (sorry I can’t find that letter among the 3 ft. of paperwork Hydro has created) they CAN give you the expiry date of any analogue meter they want to install on your house. Don’t let them tell you they can’t – they HAVE this info – you need the serial # of the meter (get at least 2 of them from installer to check) . Some meters only have 2 yrs. expiry from now, so one would have to go through all this again in 2 yrs., at which time they would probably say they have no analogues left.
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And another experience with a Hydro rep:
I received a call today at 8:52 a.m. from Aaron (not sure how he spells it) on behalf of BC Hydro, in response to my request for the full installation and recertification history of the mechanical analogue meter currently on our home. This is the meter which we were recently informed had had its certification “expire” in 2011, necessitating it be exchanged by the end of 2014. He told me that the current meter had been installed May 22, 1985 (that is when our townhouse complex was built). When I asked again about dates of any recertification, he paused, then said that it had not been recertified since it was installed. When I asked how it is possible that it not be recertified at all in 29 years, he hemmed and hawed for a few minutes, and then said that at that time, some meters were designed to last for 30 years, and this was the case, but it had now come to the end of its life. I am not buying that story, ( as it would have been a “mere” 26 years old when they have told me its certification expired) and will be checking with Measurement Canada to confirm or refute this. Aaron (or maybe he is the “Arun” others have referred to?) was very pleasant and personable. As we were informed on May 21 that our meter would be replaced in the next 10 days, I asked Aaron if he could tell me if there was a work order on our meter’s exchange, and he check his system, and told me that no, there is not, so that meant I could expect it to be done by the end of June, or into July…..as they are now starting to get teams working in the Lower Mainland this week. I asked him again to confirm that the original meter was on our home for 29 years, without any recertification in all that time, and he did ( I could hardly believe it, after all this fuss about their legal obligation to recertify the meters, and then I could hardly believe he would actually admit this was the case….twice).
The level of inconsistency and confabulation is remarkable. I take this as a symptom of the level of chaos within Hydro.
I would imagine that if our bills go up after the meter exchange, Hydro will tell us that the old meter was not accurate, as it was 29 years without recertification!!