- URGENT: BC Hydro (via Ted Olynyk) has misled by telling the Comox Valley Record that there is a winter moratorium on disconnections. From an insider:
on the line crews….we have disconnected power for non payment,at any time of the year, and in all weather conditions…I do not believe you will find any directives, stating that power is not to be turned off at certain times of the year
Olynyk often has lied or been poorly informed – telling the public information that has proven to be false. This could be deliberate on BC Hydro’s part. Once power has been cut, accepting a $meter is a condition of having power turned on again!! Outrageous what these bullies will do.
- A member raised the issue of remote disconnect switches.
I happened to come across this information while searching for stories related to fires. It’s my understanding that part of the reason BC’s smart meters (Itron OpenWay Centron) cost so much more than in other places (approximately $550 per meter) is that BC Hydro opted for an expensive remote disconnect switch “…to save the trouble and cost of sending out a technician when you move.” Turns out (as could be expected from their track record of lying and obfuscating) there’s a lot more to it, at least potentially: it’s what makes prepaid metering possible.
This is from Itron’s own advertising – scroll down and see that the remote switch “…supports many new services, such as prepaid metering.”
https://www.itron.com/na/productsAndServices/Pages/OpenWay%20CENTRON.aspx
And this is from 2009, but it’s sure explicit in extolling the virtues of prepaid metering.
http://www.metering.com/wp-content/uploads/i/100925WP-01_Prepaid%20Metering_in_North%20America.pdf
Can you imagine, say, cooking Thanksgiving dinner for eight and trying to figure out when you last made a payment and whether or not you have enough electricity to finish the meal before the power is (remotely) cut off? Or having to monitor your “in-home device” constantly just to keep the lights on and/or have automatic payments come out of your bank account – all online and all hackable?
I also seem to remember that the remote switch was implicated as a possible contributing factor to smart meter fires, but I can’t remember the source.
All utilities that I know of have opted for the remote disconnect switch so this does not explain the extremely high price paid by for the ITRON meters. These things are desired because the utility has complete control over the power – it can be turned off for late payment or if power is needed elsewhere, if you’re suspected of using too much perhaps, without proof, of a grow op. And yes for prepaid metering.
The remote disconnect switch has been identified by electrical engineers across North America as a serious design flaw that can contribute/cause fires. In Florida the fire inspector determined several fires were caused by these switches and the $meters were ordered removed from homes. Perhaps they have caused some of the many fires in BC, but no forensic inspector’s report has been made available. In fact, in many cases the meter is completely burned up and there isn’t enough left to determine the specific cause.
- Like BC’s $meters, those being considered in Saskatchewan cannot work in all the rural areas, but worse, BC’s ITRON meters don’t work well in urban settings either – their signals are not strong enough to go through concrete walls like those in many apartment and condo buildings. That is why Hydro is manually reading so many thousands of $$meters.
- $$meters invading privacy continues to be a major concern in many parts of the world:
http://smartgridawareness.org/2014/11/03/smart-meter-privacy-invasions-not-justified/
- A member reported that her brother in Regina did have his $$meter removed and it was replaced by an ITRON digital. I suggested she warn her brother that the digital meter has many of the same design flaws that have caused smeters to fail and catch fire. Hopefully Sask. will think twice about the cost benefits of the $meter program given the many problems.
- Major winds on Vancouver Island led to power outages from early morning until late at night (projected to come on at 11 pm) What if the billions of $$ spent on the $$tupid grid had been spent on infrastructure, perhaps some underground lines?? Hydro says the infrastructure was in need of upgrading when promoting $$meters. $meters are not part of the infrastructure. They do nothing except measure usage and gather our personal data.
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Letters:
From: Dennis and Sharon Noble [mailto:dsnoble@shaw.ca]
Sent: November 5, 2014 10:19 PM
To: ‘letters@timescolonist.com‘
Subject: Smart meters being subsidized
Dear Sir,
Last year Energy Minister Bill Bennett instructed the BC Utilities Commission to set fees for additional services required for those with “legacy meters” – ones that need to be manually read. The BCUC was led to believe that all smart meters were being read remotely, through cell transmissions. Consequently, when BC Hydro said it needed more than $360 to read a meter 6 times a year, those of us refusing to accept smart meters were told we have to pay $32.40 a month. This additional fee began to be charged Dec. 1, 2013, even to those on equal payment who have their meters read once or twice a year.
Recently BC Hydro admitted that as of Sept 1, 2014 close to 50,000 smart meters are being read manually. There is no additional fee being charged to those accounts, even though they are receiving the exact same service as I am – and I am paying $32.40 per month! Because Hydro did not buy a smart meter that worked in concrete meter rooms like those in large condo buildings, or meters that could send data over rugged, difficult terrain, it is likely these smart meters will never be read remotely.
According to the Utilities Commission Act, all people are to be charged the same fee for the same service. Why am I and many thousands of others who wish to exercise our Charter Right to decide not to put something we consider dangerous on our homes having to subsidize these 50,000 meters being read manually? When did we agree to allow the government to ignore the laws that have been written to ensure fairness and equity?
Sincerely,
Sharon Noble
Date: Thu, 06 Nov 2014 05:05:06 +0000
Subject: ARE BC HYDRO AND THEIR EMPLOYEES GANGSTERS ?
To: sunletters@vancouversun.com
Cc: editor@comoxvalleyrecord.com
Are BC hydro and their employees gangsters ?
If you talk to an employee they will only give you their first name not their last name, letters from BC hydro such as disconnection notice do not have anybody’s name on it just BC hydro. The hydro customers that opted to keep their analog meters are forced to pay an extortion fee of $34.02 per month or non payment will get their power cut off and several hundred to get reconnected. It seems they will stop at nothing to get 100% compliance for the smart meter program. My last hydro bill was $203.58 and the power i consumed was $67.29 and $68.04 for the extortion fee for the privilege of keeping my analog meter, a second extortion fee was $68.25 for a failed meter installation charge. Hydro was unable to change my meter because i had a collar and a non pickable lock on it and a notice beside the meter that said any work to be done requires an appointment it has been there for 6 months so hydro knows about it and no attempt was made by hydro to make an appointment. It appears hydro has an agenda they say that the remaining analog customers approx. 60,000 had their meters expire at the same time, so hydro wants to change those meters with used digital or analog meters with the expiry dates between 2016-2020.
The reason there are so many hold outs with analog meters is analog meters are safe smart meters are not, that is why SASK. recalled all the smart meters they installed over 100,000 because they had a dozen fires. In BC it appears there have been several dozen fires that were caused by smart meters and every time hydro blames the home owners wiring. There are health concerns as well a good web site for information is the coalition to stop smart meters.
Sincerely, _________________________