1) Many of you recently have received threats from BC Hydro similar to the one above. Hydro is lying about having sent earlier notices, failing to honour requests and commitments to call in advance to ensure someone is home and able to turn power off to reduce possibility of fires or damages during meter exchange, and using the new $700 reconnection fee to bully people into accepting a smeter that many have fought to avoid. Our rights are being trampled and still no one is helping us, as we wait for the decision by the Judge regarding our Class Action lawsuit.
I have written to the BCUC (letter below), and I hope you will write about your experiences, and share with your MLA and the media. I am sending my letter to multiple media contacts. Feel free to send it to some media contacts in your area.
https://stopsmartmetersbc.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Media-List-B.pdf
2) BC Hydro has a history of misleading and lying not only to us, the public and its customers, but also to the BCUC, the regulator who is responsible for utilities. Adrian Dix is voicing major concerns about this. My understanding is that lying and deceiving BCUC is illegal according to the Utilities Commission Act. Who is going to be held responsible?
“Late last year, he pounced again, citing documents to show that Hydro had kept the commission in the dark about the full extent of a planned upgrade to its financial, human resources and project management software.
“B.C. Hydro knowingly deceived the commission, and the evidence for this is overwhelming,” charged Dix, as he alleged the running price tag for the utility’s ambitious IT schemes was approaching half a billion dollars.
“B.C. Hydro lied to regulator,” as the headline on a piece by Rob Shaw of The Vancouver Sun put it last Dec. 11.”
3) More and more people are going off grid, and costs continue to drop. With BC Hydro and FortisBC trampling on our rights, more will be taking this step.
http://www.prpeak.com/news/demand-for-solar-panels-heats-up-in-powell-river-1.2246025
4) A video with a combination of information, compiled by a group in Massachusetts fighting $$meters. There is info. with firefighters presenting to a council in LA last year when cell towers were planned for installation on firehalls. This starts at about 21 minutes and is well worth watching, especially the second fireman’s talk. At the end of the video is info about the sounds of RF devices as heard by an RF meter.
https://archive.org/details/SMARTMETERS56
5) A public network in Massachusetts has a long list of videos about $$meters and RF problems, and people involved with educating the public.
http://www.wccatv.com/video/about-smart-meters
Letters:
– http://www.pqbnews.com/opinion/letters/378271891.html
Comments would be good – ignore Derek Ward, PLEASE. He is an industry hack and tries to take over the conversation.
Letter to the Editor – Smart Meters by Pat Davis – Douglas County Herald – May 04, 2016:
– http://www.douglascountyherald.com/2016/05/letter-to-the-editor-smart-meters-2/ (about ITRON meters)
___________________________________________________________________________
From: Sharon Noble [mailto:dsnoble@shaw.ca]
Sent: May 5, 2016
To: ‘commission.secretary@bcuc.com’
Cc: Bill Bennett <mem.minister@gov.bc.ca>; Opposition Leader John Horgan <oppositionleader@leg.bc.ca>; adrian.dix.mla@leg.bc.ca; ‘rshaw@postmedia.com’
Subject: Unreasonable harassment by BC Hydro
Dear Secretary Hamilton, et al.
If you recall, I raised concerns about BC Hydro’s request to increase reconnection fees to as much $700 because I feared this would be used against those of us in the Meter Choice program.
My concerns are warranted as per the attached letter that I received from someone yesterday, May 4. This fee is being used as a hammer with which customers are being threatened, intimidated and harassed.
In the letter BC Hydro states that it had sent an earlier letter explaining that “meter maintenance” was needed and that the recipient should contact Mr. Sanders to confirm access. A threat of disconnection was made if the person did not call BC Hydro immediately to confirm access.
The recipient never received a letter prior to this one, and was shaken to be threatened in this manner, followed by the threat of a $700 reconnection fee. Never has he refused access so why this treatment?
I believe this is the very reason BC Hydro asked for (and received) approval to charge this outlandish amount for reconnection of service. It is unconscionable for a company to treat its customers in this way. Not only is BC Hydro misleading by asserting it has made previous attempts to contact the individual, but it is holding the threat of loss of power over people who have been paying the extremely high legacy fees for nearly 3 years.
Two other customers who received the same letter (as the first and only letter) have pacemakers and have been told by their doctors to avoid having smart meters. When these people have advised BC Hydro of their physicians’ warnings, the BC Hydro representatives have rudely told them that it doesn’t matter, they WILL receive smart meters or power will be cut.
Ms. Hamilton, more and more it is apparent that BC Hydro has no respect for its customer and neither does it have any concerns about their well-being. For this reason, many people are preparing to go off grid.
This is not the first time complaints have been lodged with the BCUC about BC Hydro’s rude and irresponsible treatment of the public. I hope you will advise Mr. Sanders and those responsible that this is unacceptable in British Columbia. I am in contact with various groups across North America and I have found no other utility that treats its customers this way. Accommodations have been made, options are being offered, and the grid is working just fine.
BC Hydro is shameful. I realize that the Clean Energy Act has tied your hands with regard to the smart meter program itself, but certainly the BCUC has authority over the manner in which Hydro is carrying out its business. I ask that you use it.
Regards,
Sharon Noble
Sharon Noble
Director, Coalition to Stop Smart Meters
“Get up, stand up, stand up for your rights. Get up, stand up, don’t give up the fight.”
~ Bob Marley