1) A FortisBC customer erroneously removed the “seal” from her analog meter while installing a protective ring. (see email in “letter” section). FortisBC accused her of tampering with the meter and wanted to remove the analog immediately, replacing it with a digital meter. The seal is usually attached with a wire and the utility company will consider any removal of it as a sign that the meter has been compromised. There is no reason to remove this seal in order to enclose the meter in a protective covering or to put a ring about the base. Please, don’t give FortisBC or BC Hydro any excuse to take your analog.

2) An industry report identifies major vulnerabilities of the “Internet of Things”, of which the $$mart grid will be a part. Our politicians are receiving this information regularly, with experts warning of the inevitability of attack or accident, yet none seem to take this threat seriously. What do we need to do to have our security and privacy protected by the people we elect to protect us?

http://www.engerati.com/article/70-internet-things-devices-reveal-vulnerabilities

3) Many people, especially those who are sensitive, will benefit from watching this  YouTube telling how EMF travels on metal pipes in our homes, and how to mitigate this danger to our health and well-being.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2iejrZsXkM

4) If you recall, last year someone took a photo of a  BC Hydro truck with keys to apartments, condos, and homes sitting on the front seat. It has happened again, and a member took a photo of the keys in a truck in Vancouver (see attached).  BC Hydro has a responsibility to secure keys to our homes which have been given in order for employees to read meters. An insider told me about a year ago that when not in the truck, keys are on available to anyone in the office, including Corix temporary employees passing through. How do we know that the keys have not been taken, copies made to use or sell? I encourage everyone to reconsider allowing BC Hydro to have keys to your premises. They cannot be trusted to take the care that we have a right to demand and expect.

5) A favour please. Tomorrow (Wednesday) there is a meeting about solar power at the North Oyster Community Centre near Nanaimo.  I do not have Peter Nix’s email to ask him if he would share information that he will be presenting.  Would someone who is attending please ask him if he would send it to me so that I can share with others who might want it but were unable to travel to the meeting?

Letters

Emails between a member and Mr. Dix, from the bottom up.

On 2014-10-07, at 10:30 AM, Dix.MLA,  wrote:

Dear XX

I am actually at work on a detailed proposal on this issue right now. Given the $32.50 charge has been approved by the BCUC, it requires a substantial response to change existing Hydro practice.

I receive a lot of correspondence on many issues by e-mail. On the Smart Meter issue, given our past criticism of government policy and its implementation, I am reviewing how best to intervene to protect and support residents of BC. Ignoring what is happened won’t be enough. This is why I am preparing what I hope will be a detailed and thoughtful response.
Adrian

Sent: October 7, 2014 10:24 AM
To: john.horgan.mla@leg.bc.ca; adrian.dix.mla@leg.bc.ca
Cc: Andrew Weaver.MLA;
Subject: NDP non-responsive to

Mr. Horgan and Mr. Dix,

I am a home owner with a “legacy” meter [and  have both voted NDP and contributed $ to the NDP in the past] and was surprised by the following letter I read in Dennis and Sharon Noble’s anti-$meter newsletter. If this letter is accurate, it bodes badly for an NDP vote from me in the future. Please tell me you are committed to British Columbians who would like to protect their privacy, health, security and wallets by defying the devious, anti-democratic, imposition of dangerous technology on/in our homes and in our communities

Yours, in anticipation of a positive, democratic response,

Sent: October 5, 2014 6:18 PM
To: Times colonist
Subject: Adrian Dix

Those persons who elected to refuse a smart meter from BC Hydro have been forced to pay a $32.50 a month opt-out fee for what BCH calls a meter reading. This fee is the highest in North America. Just recently Hydro Quebec dropped their fee to $5.00 per month with the approval of the Quebec government. The Liberal government of BC cannot seem to understand this and the NDP are seemingly no different. I wrote Adrian Dix the NDP Energy critic five times regarding fees and never received a reply let alone an acknowledgement. The last two times I copied the letters to John Horgan leader of the NDP. Again nothing. If this is what we can expect from the NDP in the next election it makes me wonder who will get my vote

Hello,

Just an overdue update from our meeting with the Fortis manager.

According to him they will be installing Smart Meters in Kelowna from January to May 2015.  He said he did not know when the installations will be at our place as Corix will be installing the meters and they are working on the roll out.

We had to remove the metal ring.  The manager said (as politely as possible) that we had tampered with their meter and they now had to inspect the meter and replace it with a digital meter.  He said (again as politely as possible and more than once) that they could charge us with tampering with the meter but that he did not want to do that….that he did not think we were stealing power.  My husband told me that he had to remove a seal in order to put the ring on.  It was a big deal with the Fortis manager that the seal had been removed and he kept talking about that seal.  We firmly said we were told that he was only coming here to talk…not that they were replacing our meter.  In the end, they inspected the meter and let us keep our old meter.  They put a new seal on after they checked over the meter.  He later sent me an email at our request saying that they had inspected our analogue meter and we could keep our analogue meter until the new smart meters are rolled out.

We focused mostly on the smart meter fires in our meeting with him and had printed off pictures that Sharon had sent.  He really did not have much to say in response to what we said.  I would say he almost acted as if he had not heard of these fires…or tried to act that way anyway.  Both him and the installer looked at the pictures and then handed them back to me.

I hope some miracle happens to stop these meter installations in January.

Sharon Noble

Director, Coalition to Stop Smart Meters