1) Water bills in parts of Texas have increased 3-4 times after $$meters were installed. People forced to pay more for water than for their mortgage.
Graham Residents Say Their Water Bills Have Nearly Tripled by Samaria Terry – Texoma’s Homepage – July 28, 2016:
– http://www.texomashomepage.com/news/local-news/graham-residents-say-their-water-bills-have-nearly-tripled
2) The internet of things (IoT) is projected to touch just about everything in our lives over the next few years, putting trillions of dollars in corporate profit with not a thought about the health and environmental implications.
“Industries that will face “significant” disruption over a longer period of time include healthcare and utilities. “Australia’s century-old electricity market is undergoing structural changes, driven by the rapid development of renewable energy, government mandated energy policy targets and new energy consumption patterns,” the report says. “We expect digital disruption from the Internet of Everything to improve utilisation of assets, increase system flexibility, and drive behavioural changes among consumers (smart meters, a subset of the smart grid, will provide better, real time information to customers and operators, enabling a change in consumption patterns and new commercial offers).”
3) New report by Dr. Martin Pall on relationship between microwave radiation and neurological and psychiatric conditions. These have been known for several decades, but the public is still being exposed.
“Two U.S. government reports from the 1970s to 1980s provide evidence for many neuropsychiatric effects of non-thermal microwave EMFs, based on occupational exposure studies. 18 more recent epidemiological studies, provide substantial evidence that microwave EMFs from cell/mobile phone base stations, excessive cell/mobile phone usage and from wireless smart meters can each produce similar patterns of neuropsychiatric effects, with several of these studies showing clear dose–response relationships. Lesser evidence from 6 additional studies suggests that short wave, radio station, occupational and digital TV antenna exposures may produce similar neuropsychiatric effects.”
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0891061815000599
4) A human rights complaint against the polluters being held responsible for catastrophic changes in weather conditions for the Philippines. Could this be a precedent for a similar case against the telecom companies polluting the environment of the entire world?
“The Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines (CHR), a governmental body, sent the multinational “carbon majors” a 60-page letter accusing them of “breaching people”s fundamental rights to ‘life, food, water, sanitation, adequate housing, and to self determination,'” the Guardian reports …
“This is an important building block in establishing the moral and legal ‘precedent’ that big polluters can be held responsible for current and threatened human rights infringements resulting from fossil fuel products,” Soriano added.”
5) In Michigan, a retired electrician explains how smeters don’t fit into the analog’s base properly, leaving a gap which can result in arcing and fires, just as the Texas linesman testified re. ITRON meters. https://stopsmartmetersbc.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Reed_Answering_Brief-1.pdf
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lM-UZzxV5SA (9 minutes)
6) In Segment #20, BCUC says there is no evidence that hiring untrained people and instructing them to use “non-standard” installation methods has resulted in any increase in incidents. They say there have been “only” 7 incidents while I gave them a report that I had obtained from Hydro, via an FOI, showing 157 incidents at installation through Sept. 2014. Nowhere does BCUC acknowledge that poor installation practice could result in fires or “thermal events” weeks or even months after installation. ITRON and Hydro were careless in their hiring, in their instructions (e.g. allowing exchange while the power was on), and in their reporting. And BCUC has been careless (perhaps irresponsible) in reviewing the evidence.
Letters:
Lakeshore News, Salmon Arm printed my letter and our comments re. the judge’s decision all in response to Tom Fletcher’s article [http://www.bclocalnews.com/news/386708081.html] last week.
https://issuu.com/blackpress/docs/i20160729054255674 (pg. 16/24)
_____________________________________________________________________
RESPONSE TO “BCUC’s Staff Report on Smart Meter Fire Safety Concerns” Segment #20
KEY: Highlighted text is from Sharon Noble Non-highlighted text is the draft report as written by BCUC staff.
= = =
Observations (continued)
The evidence reviewed indicates the safety hazard associated with watthour meters has not materially increased with the introduction of smart meters in BC as further detailed below:
3) Is the meter installation process and/or training of meter installers a factor in the incident rate?
The evidence reviewed does not suggest that installation procedures or lack of training of meter installers has resulted in materially increasing the incident rate.
Comment: This conclusion is not based on hard evidence, only conjecture, because of the fragmentation of reporting and incident data. From this assertion, one could also conclude that the Utilities no longer need to use any trained and qualified staff to work on their power systems.
Of the evidence reviewed 7 fires were started during smart meter installation, the cause of one of these fires was identified as installer error. Both BC Hydro and FortisBC reported that no installer lost time injuries occurred during the smart meter installation programs. Fires occurring during installation pose a relatively small risk to residents as they occur in the presence of the installer. However, it is clear installation practices vary somewhat between utilities and have evolved over time. The hot socket gap indicator tool was introduced after the start of BC Hydro’s program. On a relatively small sample size, FortisBC who used the hot socket gap indicator tool for most of their installations reported no incidents during installation and no post installation fires.
- Installations were done under power which is counter to all electrical rules and CSA regulations.
- Incidents at installation were not limited to fires. Many homeowners suffered damages to electronics and appliances as a result of the live exchange. Although some were reimbursed by BC Hydro, many claims were refused by Corix and BC Hydro, with the homeowner or the insurance company to pay for damages.
- Poor installations do not necessarily cause “incidents” at the time the installation is done. Damage to the meter and/or the meter base can and did result in fires/failures weeks later. One example is a home fire that occurred in Coquitlam on Aug. 5, 2012. The smart meter had been installed 2-3 weeks prior to the incident which, according to the fire report, was caused by “failed electrical distribution equipment”. BC Hydro removed the meter before the BCSA could investigate the incident, but did pay for repairs.
- Given the lack of accurate tracking, there is no reason to believe BC Hydro’s assertion or BCUC’s conclusion that lack of training or poor installation procedures did not result in increased incidents. What was the incident rate of fires and damages to electronics, appliances and homes during installations in the 5 years prior to 2011?
- There were any more than 7 fires and major incidents that occurred during installation. A report from BC Hydro obtained via an FOI which included 157 events through Sept. 2014. There is no reason to accept any of the statistics provided by BC Hydro.
Comment: The hot socket gap indicator tool was introduced by TESCO around 2014. The Manufacturer recommends it be used on de-energized equipment. The Question arises: Why is BC Hydro not using this device?
Sharon Noble
Director, Coalition to Stop Smart Meters
“In a room where people unanimously maintain a conspiracy of silence, one word of truth sounds like a pistol shot.”
~ Czeslaw Milosz