[Andrew Ferguson, Lawyer – Apple – BC Hydro – CIA – Connected Cars – Covert Hacking – Data Privacy – Duke Energy Complaints – Ethics – FortisBC – Fourth Amendment – Google – Guy Hoffman – Health – Higher Bills – Housing Ombudsman – IoT – Novo Solar Solutions Information Meeting – Opt Out – Smart Appliances (Amazon Echo, Roomba, Samsun TVs) – Smart Meter Roll-out Participation – Solar Panels & Going Off the Grid – Stop Smart Meters Websites | Burnaby, BC – UK – Arkansas & Florida & Indiana & Kentucky & North Carolina & Ohio & South Carolina, USA]
1) In several southern states in the USA, Duke Energy is the major utility company. Someone has gathered many complaints made by customers about the smeters. We should be doing the same thing re BC Hydro and FortisBC, having a central repository for complaints for all reasons so that BC Hydro and FortisBC can’t deny that errors and problems have occurred.
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2) What appears to be an industry article reminding us all about the invasive nature of all “smart” devices,, from Roombas to TVs, cars and smeters. The definition of “privacy” is required that can guarantee our right to not have our lives/homes invaded.
http://electronics360.globalspec.com/article/9649/smart-devices-versus-privacy
3) Change of payment method to grant higher fixed payments to cover “smart” heating system results in large increases in fees paid in the UK.
Residents of Queen’s Court in Richmond are unhappy that their pre-payment meters are being replaced with a new system that will charge them a fixed rate of £3.30 per week irrespective of the amount of gas they use.
This is set to rise to £6 by 2020 and residents say it will see their bills soar.
Richmondshire Council says that the change is necessary to remedy an unsustainable situation whereby the smart meter systems currently fitted at Queen’s Court have not kept pace with inflation, meaning residents have been paying much less than they should do.
4) For those interested in learning more about solar panels and going off the grid, there is a public meeting being held in Burnaby by this company on Sept. 7. I know nothing about this company and share this info that was sent by a member. If anyone goes and learns anything that others would like to know, I hope it will be shared.
September 07, 2017 – 6-8PM – Novo Solar Solutions, 201-7426 Hedley Avenue, Burnaby, BC V5E 2P9
https://www.facebook.com/globalsolarshift/photos/gm.1707104876253143/470565306639764/?type=3&theater
5) In the UK, where people are “offered” smeters to replace their analogs, a very small percentage are agreeing to the exchange. If we had been given a choice and full knowledge about the smeters and the problems associated with them, I bet BC Hydro’s and FortisBC’s acceptance rate would have been just as low. No wonder they gave us no choice.
Smart meter roll-out in question as only a fraction of households sign up
“The Government’s smart meter roll-out is in peril as energy customers are so far failing to sign up. A Telegraph investigation reveals for the first time that less than half of households have accepted one, with take-up rates as low as one in five.
The meters – which have been widely promoted via government-backed campaigns and by individual energy suppliers – are supposed to eliminate the need for manual meter reading, fix the industry-wide problem of billing errors and help households reduce consumption.
The £11bn initiative requires suppliers to offer every household a smart meter by the end of 2020, with those which don’t comply facing fines. But analysis disclosed by this newspaper suggests that while millions of households have indeed received the offer, a high proportion of them are not accepting it.”
Sharon Noble
Director, Coalition to Stop Smart Meters
“But what we need above all is critical citizens, who can spot the difference between technical progress and consumer foolishness: citizens who, as both voters and consumers, remember that democracy once meant rule of the people, not ruling the people.”
~ Dr. Karl Hecht