1) People are starting to ask the right questions about the RF radiation from $$meters.
2) Ontario Premier and Energy minister seem to be ready to ignore the AG’s report and recommendations. More feedback.
Video: “smart meters ineffective” http://video.theloop.ca/watch/smart-meters-are-ineffective/3933021399001?sort=date&page=1#.VIs1qrl0zbh
3) A response re. fires from Adrian Dix that shows that he is ignoring the evidence that many fires have occurred, just as Bennett is. Very sad and frustrating that he won’t look at the reports I’ve sent him – or else chooses to misunderstand all that the BCSA, Hydro and Fire Commission provides. Many people are upset that Dix is saying that the MLAs are not receiving enough emails to incent him to take a stand against having a fire risk on our homes.
4) Attached is an excellent article published in the Valley Voice about the extortive fees and the punitive actions Hydro is taking against those refusing or unable to pay. Also are letters sent to Reimer of Hydro, Alex Atamanenko, MP, and Horgan which were sent with the article. Please share these widely.
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Letters:
Sent: December 11, 2014 12:19 AM
To: doug.morgan@leg.bc.ca; Scott Fraser.MLA; adrian.dix.mla@leg.bc.ca
Cc: Dennis and Sharon Noble
Subject: 29 smart meters 8′ away from my condo
Doug, (for Bill), what you wrote here is a bunch of crap. Ask Scott how many emails I sent him and Adrian and phone calls to NDP caucus!!!
29 f’m stupid meters next to my condo and I can’t live there anymore. Now it is a financial ruin. Who will buy it?
I am in Saskatchewan and you NDP’s in BC are a bunch of useless a$$. Go find your balls.
I know Scott is sitting on his arse waiting for his pension, what’s Adrian’s excuse??
XXXXXXXX
Ucluelet, BC
On Wednesday, December 10, 2014 1:44 PM, “Morgan, Doug” < Doug.Morgan@leg.bc.ca > wrote:
Hi XXXXXXXX
Sorry it took a while to get back to you but I have tried to get new messaging from Adrian Dix the critic for this issue and I also have approached the Ministers office with no success.
Most of the other CA’s that work at other MLA offices tell me they are not hearing the Smart Meter issues at there offices vary much any more. I think that is some of the reason Adrian is not raising this issue. You could email at Adrian.dix.mla@leg.bc.ca <mailto: Adrian.dix.mla@leg.bc.ca >
On Thursday, December 11, 2014 10:21 AM, “Dix.MLA, Adrian” <Adrian.Dix.MLA@leg.bc.ca> wrote:
Hi XXXXXXXX
We are and I have extensively reviewed fire data from BC. In BC, there is no category for “smart meter fires” in the statistics (nor is there in any other province), but there has been a significant decline in electricity-related fires since Smart Meters were installed – a decline of more than 10%. This doesn’t prove that the installations have made things safer, but it surely doesn’t prove the contrary.
I have gone over the data in detail and have reviewed individual cases. There does not appear to be evidence in BC for what happened with a poor operator in Saskatchewan.
This doesn’t mean we are stopping reviewing the matter – I am working to see that Fire Chiefs independently review this question on a regular basis, given the concerns expressed by many.
Also, I have consistently raised with BC Hydro issues around fairness and billing related to Smart Meters. In a number of cases we have succeeded in reducing bills.
As well, I will be proposing dramatic reductions in fees for the Meter Choices Program which in my view, dramatically and unfairly overcharges Hydro customers. I will forward this information to you shortly.
Thanks for your note. I am taking the issue very seriously. As you know, approximately 1% of Hydro customers have rejected Smart Meters. The fact that they are prepared to do so, given the unfair cost, reflects their strongly held views. These should be respect by all, including BC Hydro.
Adrian
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From: XXXXXXX
Sent: December 10, 2014 4:54 PM
To: Dix.MLA, Adrian
Subject: smart meters
Hello Mr. Dix,
I’m wondering why the NDP isn’t making an issue of BC’s smart meters, given that Saskatchewan has started to remove theirs because of the fire hazards. BC has had fires from these meters too and many of us would like to see BC follow Saskatchewan’s lead.
Yours, XXXXXXXX
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Date: Thu, Dec 11, 2014 at 8:23 AM
Subject: Smart Meter Removal
To: Adrian.dix.mla@leg.bc.ca
Dear Adrian Dix,
There are now serious, verified consumer concerns about the costs of the smart meter bullying, and I rely on the NDP to champion the removal of Smart Meters and return to the analog meter.
Smart meters on private homes has been a project that has been poorly implemented, technically flawed, ineffective at reducing unnecessary consumption. and, most seriously, privacy invading through inappropriate technology.
If we allow the current Liberal government to continue to bully and extort the public over this expensive installation of a flawed technology we are allowing a monopoly to price-gouge the public on an essential service.
The poor are hit hardest by having to over-pay for electricity schemes. Privacy in the home is destroyed by two-radios that monitor households without permission.
The electricity use could have been monitored much more cheaply and effectively without placing a transmitter on every home.
I personally look to you to stand up and right these wrongs as do thousands of people in this province.
Read the Auditor General of Ontario’s 45 pages of facts about the failure of Smart Metering here:
http://www.auditor.on.ca/en/reports_en/en14/311en14.pdf
You should have all the information in the above report to understand that the NDP, as opposition, must act quickly to halt this terrible program.
Now is the time to do so. Strike while the iron is hot, please.
Thank you for moving quickly on this.
Many of us (over 14 thousand BC households) are over-paying the extortive “legacy fees” while we wait for the opposition in government to catch up to the reality of the smart meter boondoggle.
I appreciate your help,
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Sent: December 11, 2014 4:40 PM
To: Adrian.dix.mla@leg.bc.ca
Subject: NDP membership & smart meter issues
Hello Adrian Dix,
The last time I had the pleasure of your company was at a brunch sponsored by the Comox Valley NDP Association at the Coast Westerley hotel prior to the last provincial election. I enjoyed hearing you speak and of course was very disappointed when we lost the election. I think you would have made an excellent premier.
I have been an NDP supporter since 1972 and often make donations to the party. I am concerned at the moment by your silence on the problems surrounding the smart meter program, and am consequently wrestling with the problem of which party to throw my support behind- The NDP or the Green Party.
I understand from an email from your constituency assistant Doug Morgan that he has recently been unsuccessful in getting a response from you on the smart meter problem.
The reasons are different for each person who decides to not have a smart meter on their home. My reasons are health -WHO classified smart meters as a type 2B possible carcinogen. This is in the same category as drinking 8 cups of coffee a day, which seems relatively innocuous. However, the difference is that no one would come into your home and force you to drink 8 cups of coffee each and every day. I believe that the precautionary principle should have been used in this situation, that smart meters should have been PROVEN to be harmless before they were considered as an option. I have had considerable health problems over the past ten years and do not want to take any chances. I am in a very high risk group for cancer. All the women in my immediate family have had breast cancer. The negative health effects have been extensively studied and documented by scientists all over the world for those that care to look into these matters.
A major problem with the meters is the fact that they have not been safety tested. They are not CSA approved and even though BC Hydro states that they have undergone extensive testing and certification by an ITRON engineer, there has been no certification by any professional electrical engineer licensed in BC as required by law. There have been several fires associated with smart meters but because of the flawed reporting system for fires and the fact that there is no category for smart meter fires (they are simply classified as electrical) BC Hydro is able to claim that there have been no smart meter fires. As you are probably aware the Saskatchewan government has ordered the removal of the smart meters that had already been installed due to smart meter associated fires. Ontario is in a similar situation to BC according the recent Auditor General’s report in that the Office of the Fire Marshall is aware of smart meter fires in the province but distribution companies and fire departments do not report such fires to the FMO. The Auditor General concluded that “insufficient tracking and monitoring of smart meters-related fires has made it difficult to determine the extent and scope of the problem across the province as well to address the problem accordingly, creating safety risks in Ontario.”
As well, the Auditor General found that there have been no savings to the public and anticipates increased costs because the meters will only last (optimistically) for 15 years as compared to 40 years for the old analog meters. I know that BC has already spent in excess of a billion dollars on this program and there have been no cost savings to date. There was no cost benefit analysis done prior to the implementation of the program because the government excluded the BCUC from evaluating the project.
Another problem is the invasion of privacy issue. People’s energy use and patterns are being monitored 24/7. This data could reveal when the owner is home, when they are out and when there are changes in their patterns.
I am very upset that I am required to pay over $400 a year for keeping the analog meter that has been on my home since I moved here 33 years ago. This is under threat of having my power disconnected if I don’t pay. I am a senior on a disability pension so as you can imagine this has quite an impact on my budget. BC Hydro, in their application to BCUC to review these fees, said they were necessary for the increased costs associated with these analog meters. One of those costs was increasing the amount of money needed to monitor theft of energy, as though everyone who wants to keep their analog meter is engaged in illegal activities! BC Hydro estimates that 200 to 500 theft detection units will be required to correspond to 2,500 to 10,000 customers with legacy meters. This amounts to one for every 12.5 to 20 customers! They estimate that they would need up to $1million for the capital costs associated with this and up to $1.66 million for (?annual) operating costs. It appears that this is quite an increase in costs with the implementation of the program whereas one would expect a decrease in the costs proportional to the number of customers with new smart meters. This is just one of the costs they itemize to justify charging $32.50 a month for legacy customers. Other jurisdictions charge much less. The Quebec energy minister recently ordered a review of their analog meter rates and found them excessive and had them reduced, first from $17 to $8 and then further reduced to $5.
If you were able to help us by putting pressure on the government to bring the legacy fees down in line with what other jurisdictions are charging, assure us that we would be able to keep our current analog meters by having them re-certified by Measurements Canada as has always been done in the past and conduct a thorough independent investigation into the smart meter-related fires, you could help alleviate a lot of the stress and suffering that we experience by simply wanting to safeguard our health, safety and privacy.
I would urge you to look at the findings of the Auditor General’s report for more information regarding the failure of Ontario’s smart meter program.
Thank you for your attention to this matter. I would hope to receive a reply from you at your earliest convenience.
Sharon
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4 Attachments
Preview attachment 3. THE NEXT STAGE OF SMART METER EXTORTION.pdf
Preview attachment 12-8-2014 Reimer.pdf