- It appears that Hydro has been dishonest with us (again) about another “benefit” of the smeters, identifying outages more quickly. Most occur not at individual homes, which is what the smeters would (eventually) identify, but rather along the route to homes. A better use of money would be to work on the infrastructure.
“The flow of current along the high-voltage transmission lines that cross the country is well monitored, and the growth of smart meters has increasingly allowed utilities to read when the power goes down at individual homes, experts say.
But most disruptions occur in the distribution grid — millions of miles of medium-voltage lines connecting substations to buildings — where electric companies have had little visibility.”
- Attached is an excellent letter from a member to the AG with concerns that certainly fall into her area. Hopefully Ms. Bellringer will respond appropriately and consider the many points raised. https://stopsmartmetersbc.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Auditor-General-letter-Feb-515-2.pdf “Please take a thorough audit of BC Hydro, from this tax payer’s perspective, it is a crown corporation gone rogue.”
- Going off the grid: A report from someone who has used solar panels for a year. The benefits are there and dependence on Hydro is reduced. This person has a smeter but I’ve been told that analogs can run backwards to credit the input. Hydro knows that more people will be going off grid and that as more efficient solar panels and, potentially, wind turbines are on the market, more people will be going off grid, so why the push for Site C? We already have surplus energy and soon we’ll have more.
http://www.alaskahighwaynews.ca/opinion/columnists/pettit-my-solar-year-1.1751508
- Many people wonder what concerns should be raised when faced with an application for a cell tower in their community. Health is the major concern for most of us, but many councils shy away from discussing this, and many people don’t understand the risks yet. But one thing everyone understands is property value. A US survey that confirms that people are very concerned about living/buying/renting homes near a cell tower. Homes don’t sell (I can confirm this from my experience) and if they sell, the price will be dramatically reduced. Property values ARE negatively affected by having a cell tower in the area.
http://electromagnetichealth.org/electromagnetic-health-blog/survey-property-desirability/
From 2010 http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/29/realestate/29Lizo.html?_r=5&
From 2011 http://www.getthecelloutatl.com/2012/08/yes-cell-tower-will-lower-property.html
- Airlines are establishing some regulations for transporting lithium batteries. Concern exists because these things explode and when many are being carried have been considered responsible for causing crashes.
http://emrabc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/lithium_battery-risk-mitigation.pdf
http://www.iata.org/whatwedo/cargo/dgr/Documents/passenger-lithium-battery.pdf — Personal devices
- Someone in a Calif. group sent this to me regarding a survey being done by a prof. at the Univ. of Calif. at San Diego.
Dr. Beatrice Golomb, of UC San Diego is conducting a study of people injured by EMF’s.
I have just completed taking the survey. It took me over an hour to complete- but I felt it was well worth my time. The survey is well written, and asks appropriate questions.
If you have been injured by EMF’s, please take the survey and pass it along to others. I believe a survey like this can help our collective cause.
The following link provides access to the survey:
https://golombgroup.az1.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_bBkSl2GWMqT5w7b
All my best,
Sandi
www.emfsafetynetwork.org
- See below, in Letters, an attempt by Hydro to gain even more of data, to use as they wish.
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Letters:
From a member as per the application at https://www.bchydro.com/content/dam/BCHydro/customer-portal/documents/power-smart/residential/programs/ecap-application-form.pdf
Please note: it was this type of incentive or perhaps a small rate reduction that got people in Ontario to unwittingly agree to allow Hydro One to control electricity use, e.g. to turn off or reduce electricity used by a customer when they needed it elsewhere.
I’ve just received a letter today from one of hydro’s contractors, Carillion, advising me that I would be receiving my new fridge which I qualified for under hydro’s Energy Conservation Assistance Program. But first they want me to sign a “Declaration And Consent” Contract. This contract says ” BC Hydro uses, discloses and collects my personal information in accordance with the provisions of the Freedom Of Information Act.” But just let us try and find out what is under the same act.
“I understand that if I indicated that there is a Fortisbc Account associated with the property listed above, BC Hydro may disclose my personal information including but is not limited to my name, contact information, Fortisbc account number, health and safety assessment results, EcoEnergy Reports, products installed and building information and I consent to that disclosure. I understand that FortisBC will use and dispose of this information in accordance with the provisions of the Personal Information Protection Act.”
And here’s the kicker.
“I consent to BC Hydro, FortisBC and the program contractors to carry out any necessary inquiry and to collect and use any information provided by me in this form and under this program for the purposes of administering, carrying out and evaluating the program including, without limitation, determining the eligibility of my property and tenants to receive funding under this program, conducting an evaluation of my property, recommending and installing energy efficient measures in my property , conducting quality assurance evaluation, conducting evaluations of this program and internal audits for this program.”
I can’t sign any form which is an automatic ticket to a smartmeter as well as making a hydro lab rat out of me, if they can do what they want, when they want. walk right in, set right down, share all the info they have on me with whoever. I think I’d better buy my own damned fridge.
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From a member concerned about the cell tower Rogers want to erect in the Osoyoos area. Mr. Collins is the rep. of the Agricultural Land Reserve.
Sent: January 29, 2015 1:13 PM
To: Collins, Martin
Subject: Rogers’ cell phone tower application
Dear Mr. Collins,
It would be appreciated if you could advise if the proposed cell phone tower site is within the Agricultural Land Reserve, and if it would meet the requirements as an “agricultural use”.
The impact on bees (it is in the middle of orchards) would probably also affect your views (to Industry Canada).
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