• Many people worry about the RF emissions from their smart meters, which is reasonable. Smart meters are very bad, worse than many emitting devices because of their unique high pulses. But we should all do as much as we can to reduce the exposures in our homes from things we can control. There are some excellent suggestions here:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmnnuLSjKm4b

 

 

• From a smeter resister in the US. Hot sockets can cause arcing and fires.  Note that #4 below confirms what the Texas worker testified in the legal brief. Also, the “jaws” become loose over time and with exchanges. Given that the smart meter has a 5-7 year life expectancy, it is inevitable that the jaws will become loose, causing fires and our having to pay to have the meter bases “repaired”

 

I have a personal acquaintance that is a 6 year supervisor of Utility Partners of America (UPA) who installed smart meters nations wide for utilities.

 He told me the following:

1. Hot sockets are a fact of life when changing meters
2. The tension on the female jaws on the meter base gets loose over time
3. Rapid deployment of smart meters does not allow for proper investigation of the existing jaw tension
4. Some of the new smart meters have thinner male blades which makes for a looser fit and potential for micro arcing
5. Meters were installed rapidly by workers on a base pay with bonus of a few dollars extra per meter
6. He had some smart meters Explode when first installed and fragments of hot metal were imbedded into his workers hard hats and face shields
7. They were supposed to listen for a sizzling sound indicating a Hot Socket but ambient noise levels prevented that determination in many cases

 

• Tesco has produced several videos for the industry addressing hot sockets. On slide 6 they report that over 4 years 1% of fires involve meters or meter boxes. But also on that slide 48% of fires involved electrical distribution equipment or lighting equipment. Hydro loves to quote the report that they paid Len Garis to write, in which he says a fire reported to  involve “electrical distribution equipment” usually means a meter was involved.

http://www.techadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/LL1C_Tom_Lawton.pdf

Tesco states that analogs can handle heat much better than digital/smart meters can. Also they report that the number of meter fires has increased dramatically since smeters were starting to be installed and wonders why. A startling admission that BC Hydro refuses to make.

An average of 125 per year and an incidence rate of less than one in a million meters each year. • Since that time the number has increased dramatically to the point where meter fires have dominated the news locally, nationally and internationally at various times over the past three years. – Utilities going through a full AMI deployment are seeing incident rates one and two orders of magnitude greater than normal, leading to a media frenzy and a public focus on the safety of the meter on the side of their house.

http://www.slideshare.net/bravenna/keeping-customers-safe

 

• Listen to the definition of “catastrophic meter failures” in a review of $$meter failures in Saskatchewan. By this definition we have had many, dozens of catastrophic failures yet BCHydro, the BC Utility Commission, Bill Bennett, all of our MLAs are allowing this defective dangerous device to remain on homes and more are being put on every day.

https://vimeo.com/132867945

 

• A car is made into a wifi “hotspot”. The term is perfect because everyone in that car/faraday cage will be irradiated as if they were in a microwave.

https://www.onstar.com/ca/en/services/connections/4glte.html

 

 

• Telus’s “small” cell transmitters, I still have no information from Telus or the City of Colwood. I have been told that these are all over the place in or near Victoria. I suspect the same is true with Vancouver. On this Telus site you can see that they plan to cover the entire province. From what I have read it appears these are for both wifi and cell phone coverage. These would be licensed sites and Ind. Can. and consultation policies would apply. Did anyone receive a notice from Telus that these were being put in your neighbourhood? It is possible, but wrong, that they notified only Telus customers.

 

http://www.telus.com/en/bc/mobility/network/coverage-map.jsp?INTCMP=NETWORKcoveragemap

 

• Sequim, Washington, has voted for a moratorium on cell and wifi installations until city policies can be developed to ensure safety. The FCC policies are not that different from Ind. Can. policies. I wonder what would happen BC municipalities if this type of action were taken.

http://www.sequimgazette.com/news/338046141.html#

 

• Another rate increase for Hydro One customers in Ontario. A 77% increase in peak rates since most homes were smart metered 5 years ago! BC Hydro’s infrastructure for charging time-of-use rates was completed in July 2012. They are waiting until everyone has been forced to have one of these fire hazards of their homes.

 

The Ontario Energy Board (OEB) announced the rate increase on Oct. 15 for winter months, which will impact most households and small businesses. Effective Sunday:

• The price for off-peak hours goes up 0.3 cents to 8.3 cents/kWh.
• The price for mid-peak hours goes up 0.6 cents to 12.8 cents/kWh.
• The price for on-peak hours goes up 1.4 cents to 17.5 cents/kWh.

Sunday’s rate hike means the on-peak price of electricity has jumped 77 per cent since Smart Meters became common five years ago. In November 2010, the price was 9.9 cents/kWh.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-hydro-rate-increase-1.3298396

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Letters:

From: X (in Ontario)
Sent: November 2, 2015 11:15 AM
To: nancy.evans@electricalsafety.on.ca
Cc: steve.smith@electricalsafety.on.ca; rosemarie.leclair@ontarioenergyboard.ca; Jim.Jessop@ontario.ca; bchiarelli.mpp.co@liberal.ola.org; Wilson-CO, Jim <jim.wilsonco@pc.ola.org>
Subject: Fire Risk Associated With Smart Meters

Ms Evans –

Both the Ontario Energy Board and the Ontario Fire Marshal’s Office have suggested we direct any queries regarding smart meter fires to the attention of the Electrical Safety Authority. I hope I am correct in contacting you directly in your position as VP Communications and Stakeholder Relations.

It has been 5 months since our experience with a smart meter fire which occurred at our home on May 31, 2015. It is our understanding from the executives at Collingwood PUC and Steve Smith, General Manager of the Electrical Safety Authority, as well as  publicly available information that the role of the ESA is to “enhance public electrical safety in Ontario………….electrical distribution system safety, and electrical product safety….”

The only information we have received regarding the investigation of our specific smart meter fire is the press release issued by the ESA on June 10, 2015 stating that the review of the fire incident , which was undertaken by the ESA, Collus Powerstream and the Collingwood Fire Department, concluded that the meter was “definitively ruled out as the source”. The same press release indicated that the “ESA and the others continue to review the incident”.

This prompts us to ask two questions:

1. What have the ESA and “others” done since then to specifically review the incident and, if so, what has  been identified as the cause of the fire which resulted in the burning of the smart meter on our house? We are, of course, very anxious to learn more since Collus immediately installed  another smart meter on our home one day after the fire. We were not given a choice. Having another one of the hydro smart meters attached to our home has  been extremely unsettling and has given us cause for much concern for our personal safety as a result.
2. Accepting the conclusion of the ESA  that the smart meter was not the “source” of the fire, is it not the role of the ESA to insure that smart meters are properly installed and properly safety tested for  installation on older and dated adapter and base equipment to make sure smart meters are not at risk of catching fire after installation?

In the event that your agency is not fully aware of the dangers of smart meter fires, I direct your attention to the attached youtube video which highlights this very real problem around the world.  You have most likely never seen the intensity of a smart meter fire – I HAVE and I assure you the smart meter fire on our house was frighteningly similar to a clip about half way through the video that was taken by someone in the US in May 2012. The only reason that damage to our home was limited is because it is built of brick.

The fire risk and dangers associated with smart meters are very real and we believe this is a serious matter of public safety for the people of Ontario. We sincerely hope that it is within the ESA’s  mandate as a responsible government agency to fully investigate the fire safety of smart meters and introduce necessary safety measures before any lives are lost. We look forward to your reply and update on this matter.

X

Survivors of a Smart Meter Fire

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMfgO3vXqMw

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Newsletter prepared by Sharon Noble

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”  Martin Luther King, Jr.