- The BCUC has reinstated me as an intervener—thanks in no small part to all the great letters you wrote. Others (about 10) who applied for intervener status, requesting to have the meter choice fees reviewed and were rejected, have until Jan. 26 to reapply. They are listed in the response from BC Hydro. Our involvement is limited to the $700 reconnection fee and the amended Tariff that BC Hydro has presented. You can read the decision at:
- https://stopsmartmetersbc.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/G-5-16_BCH-2015-RDA_Intervener-Reg-Reopen.pdf
- A couple of members who wrote to Bob Mackin to thank him for the article about smeters received responses (see below in Letters) which indicated an interest in getting personal stories. If you have something you’d like to share about Hydro harassment, fires or melting meters, health, high bills, etc. please consider writing him, but keep your email short. Journalists tend to ignore long emails with lots of details. Give a general picture and if he wants more he’ll get back to you. Again, his email address is: mackin@me.com
- FortisBC has applied for changes to its Tariff, too. One of the changes is to allow for Time-of-Use billing. The application to BCUC was dated Dec. 17, 2015 and accepted for filing Jan. 6, 2016. Did anyone see notice in the local newspapers? Peak rates are 19.1 cents per kWh compared to 6.2 cents for Off-Peak for residential customers. Commercial customers rates are lower at 14.7 cents Peak and 4.768 for Off-Peak.
http://www.fortisbc.com/About/RegulatoryAffairs/ElecUtility/Documents/FortisBCElectricTariff.pdf
see Pg.39
I can’t find anything in the annual review of rates that includes TOU. I might have missed it – let me know please if anyone finds this.
Or in BCUC’s decisions:
http://www.ordersdecisions.bcuc.com/bcuc/orders/en/item/127119/index.do?r=AAAAAQAIRy0yMDItMTUB
- “Smart” technology may be losing its charm as failures occur. Let’s encourage the return to “reliable” or “safe” devices.
“It seems very likely. Judging by the number of internet-of-things products on display at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, we’re going to see a lot more of this kind of thing.
But we may also see the rise of a counter-trend, which is a move back to old-fashioned, non-connected, non-smart devices — what some people are referring to as “strategic downgrading.”
That sort of thing happens when early adopters decide that a new technology is too fussy, or not worth the trouble. They switch back to a previous generation of a product that might not have all latest features, but is better suited to their needs, or more reliable — or fails more gracefully.”
http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/nest-smart-home-problems-1.3410143
- BC Hydro responded in a press release to Bob Mackin’s article about BC Hydro’s 88,000 failed smart meters [https://web.archive.org/web/20200611044558/https://theprovince.com/news/b-c-hydro-must-remove-more-than-88000-smart-meters]. It is typical Hydro-speak: misleading, inaccurate statements. It is at:
- Lloyds of London is working with others to develop insurance coverage for cybersecurity risks. This is a serious concern.
http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/international/2016/01/19/395375.htm
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Letters:
From: Andy Shadrack
Sent: January 19, 2016
To: Commission Secretary BCUC:EX <Commission.Secretary@bcuc.com>
Cc: bchydroregulatorygroup@bchydro.com; electricity.regulatory.affairs@fortisbc.com;
Subject: BC Hydro Must Replace 88,000 Smart Meters and Install 5,000 that will work in rural areas
Kaslo
Tuesday January 19th
Commission Secretary. British Columbia Utilities Commission
I write further to my letter of January 14th noting that the following article has appeared in the Vancouver Sun:
http://www.theprovince.com/health/hydro+must+remove+faulty+smart+meters/11660282/story.html
I find the following commentary within the article extremely disturbing as this was precisely the point that Robert McLennan of Shutty Bench was trying to make to the Commission in the FortisBC hearing on smart meters:
“The 2014 annual report by the Office of the Auditor General of Ontario said “distribution companies we consulted said the 15-year estimate is overly optimistic,” compared to 40 years for an analog meter.
The report said smart meters are like other types of information technology: subject to upgrades, short warranties and malfunctions. Moreover, they will likely be obsolete by the time they are re-verified every six-to-10 years by Measurement Canada.
Last October, the chief information officer for Ohio-based FirstEnergy told a U.S. Congress subcommittee on power system security that the lifespan is five to seven years.
What we now face is having installed meters that wear out 5.7 to 8 times faster than the original analog meters, and what concerns me even more is to wonder whether the wired smart meters I proposed, that are being used by FortisAlberta and Idaho Power, have a better track record and life expectancy.
As I said in my earlier email I look forward to a response from the Commission at its earliest convenience.
Respectfully submitted,
Andy Shadrack
—————
Astonishing: Hydro One pulling plug on 36,000 rural smart meters after years of complaints
(name included with permission)
January 19, 2016
Honourable Susanne Anton via Registered Letter
Attorney General and Minister of Justice
Parliament Buildings
Victoria, B.C., V8V 1X4
Dear Minister,
Premier Clark Must Be Told!
Public Health and Safety are in Dire Jeopardy!
Did tobacco, asbestos, Thalidomide, etc. teach us nothing about Health Canada? Given the subject matter, as British Columbia’s top legal authority, I respectfully urge you to personally ensure that Premier Clark is made aware of this letter – – and that she fully understands the gravity of its portent. Informed, non-industry people (of whom I am one) know that Premier Clark and her government are heading inexorably, Lemming-like, toward what will be crippling lawsuits in the foreseeable future due to her government’s blind adoption of and adherence to Health Canada’s ‘industry-friendly’ and globally-reviled Safety Code 6 (SC6) radiation Exposure Guidelines with respect to both wireless technology and 60 Hz alternating current (A/C) electricity. [1] [2] [3]
It is critical for Premier Clark to realize that, since Dr. Perry Kendall became Provincial Health Officer (PHO), in 1999, he has seen fit to simply adopt, promote and defend SC6, which does not even recognize, let alone protect people and all life forms against:
- Radio/Microwave frequency NON-thermal ‘radiation’ – the kind emitted by today’s consumer wireless products, e.g. baby monitors, cell phones, cell towers, cordless phones, Wi-Fi routers, Wi-Fi and Wi-MAX zones, Bluetooth, laptop and tablet computers, etc., as well as Smart Meters and Smart Appliances.
[Note: ‘Radiation’ is more correctly called “EMF” for the electric and magnetic fields of which it is comprised.] - Extremely Low Frequency (60 Hz) EMFs – which are present with all 60 Hz A/C electricity, e.g., high voltage transmission & distribution lines, sub-stations, power transformers, household electricity and all electrical appliances, tools, machinery, etc. [4] [5]
- Electro-Hyper-Sensitivity or “EHS”, which is a debilitating, often times severely disabling, illness people experience who cannot tolerate either form of EMF (above). It is estimated that between 3% and 15% of the entire global population suffers from EHS. [Note: EMF from either/both 1) and 2) above can be particularly harmful if one is constantly exposed to it on a 24/7/365 day basis in perpetuity. [3]
It is also important for Premier Clark to realize that, to date, 218 leading scientists and health researchers from 40 countries – repeat – 40 countries have signed the “International EMF Scientists Appeal” because they are concerned for the biological and health effects humans – and all living things – experience when constantly exposed to 1) and 2) above. Addressed to the Secretary General of the United Nations, the Director General of the World Health Organization and to the U.N. Environmental Programme, all were urged to “Protect mankind and wildlife from EMFs and wireless technology!” In the appeal it was stated: “Numerous recent scientific publications have shown that EMF affects living organisms at levels well below most international and national guidelines.” [6]
For the sake of all British Columbians, it is imperative for Premier Clark, her entire government and all healthcare providers in B.C. to wake up and realize that eminent non-industry scientists and medical researchers globally have been telling governments for decades – repeat – decades that the explosion mankind is experiencing in epidemics of autism, ADHD, leukemia and many other forms of cancer, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, ALS and other diseases of the brain, central nervous system and immune system parallels the explosion of wireless products in our society today! Each of us is now participating in what non-industry scientists say is: “The largest technological experiment in the history of our species.” Many believe this will prove to be the greatest crime against humanity in our planet’s entire history!
For more than 16 years, Dr. Perry Kendall’s mandate has been – and still is – to protect the health of British Columbians [7] – which includes protecting them from both radio frequency and extremely low frequency EMFs, and protecting those who already suffer from EHS! Why does he continue to stubbornly ignore those of us who have attempted to ‘enlighten’ him over the years? Not one of my many emails to him has even been acknowledged let alone answered.
Sincerely,
James G. (“Jerry”) Flynn, Captain (Retired)
References
[1] http://www.albany.edu/ihe/assets/Scientist_Declaration.pdf
[2] http://www.cellphonetaskforce.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/medical-doctors-submission-to-health-canada-english.pdf
[3] www.bioinitiative.org
[4] http://www.newhealthadvisor.com/Living-near-Power-Lines.html
[5] http://www.feb.se/Bridlewood/HEALTH.HTM
[6] http://www.reuters.com/article/ny-emfscientistorg-idUSnBw115200a+100+BSW20150511
[7] http://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/health/about-bc-s-health-care-system/office-of-the-provincial-health-officer
Distribution List
Extensive list reflected in email
——————-
From: X
Sent: January 19, 2016 3:28 PM
To: bob.mackin@me.com
Subject: thank you
Hi Bob,
I just wanted to thank you for your excellent article in the Province. This is the first one that has expressed this aspect of the financial background…. that I’ve seen anyway.
I’m one of the several thousand hold-outs with an analogue meter – finding the $32.+ monthly charge a burden…. so I’m very glad that this practical information is getting out there.
It’s easy to call protesters against the proliferation of EMR – tin-hat conspiracy nuts….. but the financial situation is, clearly, something that can by analyzed in a strictly pragmatic way….. and needs to be…
All of us analogue choosers send our thanks for your good research into this aspect of the smart meter fiasco.
Sincerely,
X
= = =
On 2016-01-19, at 3:35 PM, Bob Mackin, Jr. wrote:
Thank-you for the message. I would be interested in hearing more about your experiences with BC Hydro.
Would you like for me to forward this to my editor, for consideration as a letter to the editor?
–bob
************************
Newsletter prepared by Sharon Noble
“An activist is someone who cannot help but fight for something. That person is not usually motivated by a need for power, or money, or fame, but in fact driven slightly mad by some injustice, some cruelty, some unfairness – So much so that he or she is compelled by some moral engine to act to make it better.”- Eve Ensler