1) BC Hydro is driving the provincial debt higher and higher through reckless spending on unnecessary projects while apparently deliberately over-projecting requirements to justify them. Site C and the smeter program are just 2 that cost many billions of dollars. Erik Andersen explains how this is happening in this 19 minute YouTube which I would encourage you to watch and share.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REYbljiO8lw
We have yet to see a full and comprehensive financial report on the $$meter program. BC Hydro has not planned for early meter replacement (at the 5-7 year vs. the 20 year used in the business case) or for the security that will be required when the grid is complete. This means we (and perhaps BC Hydro) have no idea how much this program will cost in total and, in fact, on an ongoing basis.
2) In Ontario, the Auditor General has called Hydro One on its irresponsible decisions. Why isn’t the BC Auditor General doing its job – is this office being silenced by the government?
Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk says electricity customers in Ontario have paid billions of dollars for the Liberal government’s decisions to ignore its own planning process for new power generation projects.
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2015/12/03/ontario-hydro-audit-37-billion_n_8707404.html
We need to push for a full, independent audit of BC Hydro and every program.
3) What appears to be a fabulous site that is new to me. It says it has more than 23,500 studies on the effects of EMFs. The studies/reports include those from independent scientists as well as some from the industry. I searched for “smeters” and found some by Ken Foster and IEEE.
This site was among many at this main site:
https://www.emfanalysis.com/research/
4) Last week, I sent info about dirty electricity (DE) and how devices such as $$meters increase the DE in our homes. In 2008, Lloyd Morgan and Dr. Sam Milham (who many consider the father of DE) reported on a school in California where there was a cancer cluster and high levels of DE were found.
Someone who does RF testing recently measured DE and EMF in schools in the Sacramento area and found similarly high levels and has shared his findings. All schools should be tested by independent professionals for both RF and DE/EMF. Note that $$meters have Switch Mode Power Supplies (SMPS) which converts a portion of the AC to DC to run the smeter. As I understand it, it is this conversion process that results in DE being put on the home’s wiring.
http://www.windheimemfsolutions.com/dirty-electricity-in-sacramento-area-schools
5) We have not faced the inevitable “Time-of-Use billing” that is a prime feature of the $$meter itself and the program as designed for BC Hydro and FortisBC. The US government is pushing “Demand Response” as a way to reduce energy consumption. Some utilities offer customers incentives to sign up for this “option”, and for allowing the utility to control usage to a certain degree. If BC Hydro or FortisBC offers incentives for any new billing type, etc. be very cautious.
“Demand response provides an opportunity for consumers to play a significant role in the operation of the electric grid by reducing or shifting their electricity usage during peak periods in response to time-based rates or other forms of financial incentives…Methods of engaging customers in demand response efforts include offering time-based rates such as time-of-use pricing, critical peak pricing, variable peak pricing, real time pricing, and critical peak rebates. It also includes direct load control programs which provide the ability for power companies to cycle air conditioners and water heaters on and off during periods of peak demand in exchange for a financial incentive and lower electric bills.”
http://energy.gov/oe/services/technology-development/smart-grid/demand-response
Letters:
https://www.canada.ca/en/services/defence/cybersecurity/consultation-cyber-security.html
From: X
Sent: August 20, 2016
To: ps.cyberconsultation-consultationcyber.sp@canada.ca
Cc: elizabeth.may.c1a@parl.gc.ca; Sharon Noble
Subject: Cyber security
To Whom It May Concern:
I have several areas of concern regarding cybersecurity, the threat involved and what we can do about it.
Increasingly we are being infiltrated in our homes by government sanctioned devices which gather ‘data’ about our lifestyles and our daily lives. This threat and actuality comes in the form of the avenue presented to big business and others who can hack into it, from the placement of smart meters on our homes and businesses. It is touted that these meters can inform the electrical company, through ‘smart appliances’ and communication devices (computers and TVs) about the consumption habits of the homeowners. In many jurisdictions this information will be or is being sold to corporations to help with the bottom line of the energy company. But this ‘wireless’ connection is susceptible to hacking and those with other than a commercial interest in our private lives can discover other information about the home which make it vulnerable to invasion and theft. Rates of consumption can indicate absence of the inhabitants.
A further concern with the ‘smart grid’ is the ability of hackers to shut down or otherwise immobilize the electrical feed to large blocks of a country. Surely this vulnerability is a huge consideration?
With regard to wireless devices in general, it is well known that information can be obtained through hacking of cell phones and computers that are not hard wired. Hard wiring makes the transfer of information faster and more secure. The ability of police to use their ‘hacking’ device to intercept cell phone communication is an example. Cell phones have become a necessity in many people’s lives but they are unaware of the hazards of their use.
Thank you for the opportunity to express my concerns.
X
Sharon Noble
Director, Coalition to Stop Smart Meters
“The greater the power, the more dangerous the abuse”
~ Edmund Burke