• After all the erroneous billings by the spinning “$$mart” water meters, Tinley Park is considering spending millions to remove them and replace them.

Tinley Park officials are considering doing away with the village’s controversial water meters with a plan that will cost $6.5 million to do so.

Officials are expected to detail how the Village would remove and replace the smart meters that have been the subject of scrutiny after reports of faulty readings and over-billing. The Chicago Tribune reports the plan will be discussed during a special committee meeting Tuesday night. Trustees must approve the plan before it could be set in motion.

http://patch.com/illinois/tinleypark/tinley-park-could-ditch-vexed-water-meters-tribune

 

• Duke Energy is trying to get a smeter program in Indiana without going through the public utility process of having a business case approved, very much like BC Hydro. Their desire is to install smeters and implement time-of-use billing, again just like Hydro.

http://www.indystar.com/story/money/2015/12/08/duke-energy-revises-18b-plan-update-its-indiana-electric-grid/76975688/ (you may have to answer some silly question to read.)

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Letters:

Articles re. class action. Please comment.

http://www.fliuch.org/bc-hydro-supreme-court-battle-over-smart-meters-begins/

http://www.news1130.com/2015/12/07/bc-hydro-supreme-court-battle-over-smart-meters-begins/

I’d like to apologize for all of those who came to the hearing, many having to travel some distance, but couldn’t sit in on the first part of the session Monday Morning.  I had asked for confirmation from those attending to ensure the room was large enough, and by Friday I had received only 40-50. I told David the number so that he could ensure that there was a large enough room.  There was room for 50, but, amazingly closer to 70 attended. At the break, those who sat in the first  hours allowed the others to take their seats so, hopefully, everyone was able to listen to at least part of the hearing. Today about 45 attended, so there was room. Thank you to everyone who has come and those who will come.  This has demonstrated to the judge the depth of interest in the community.

 

A short summary of the proceedings of Day 2, Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2015, in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver, in Davis vs BC Hydro.

It might be impossible to prove in court that the electromagnetic radiation from BC Hydro’s “smart meters” is causing health problems.

But the public interest groups Citizens For Safe Technology and the B.C. Coalition To Stop Smart Meters say there is enough controversy in scientific papers and media reports about their safety that thousands of customers have refused to give Hydro permission to install the radio-frequency emitting devices on their homes and offices.

Yet Hydro has gone ahead against their wishes and installed the meters anyway, with the threat of cutting off the power if they refuse or imposing a $35 a month penalty for keeping their old analog meters.

CST and Stop Smart Meters are in B.C. Supreme Court this week seeking permission to launch a class action lawsuit for the constitutional right of Hydro customers to refuse the wireless meter and to recover damages.

David Aaron, lawyer for the two groups, said if the case is allowed, it won’t allege harm, but instead will prove that Hydro’s tactics have violated a person’s reasonable constitutional right to make the choice to keep their home safe from possible risk.

The electrical meters send out “bursts of emissions every 68 seconds at a minimum … you’re living with them day in and day out … every day of the year,” he said.

Smart meter radiation is similar to that from cellphones, and while more research is needed to know whether it’s harmful, it has been proven to have biological effects.

by Greg McIntyre

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Newsletter prepared by Sharon Noble

“In a room where people unanimously maintain a conspiracy of silence, one word of truth sounds like a pistol shot.”      Czeslaw Milosz