Smart Meter Dangers

One of the purposes of this website is to gather facts and source documentation for those of us that like to make rational, informed decisions.  Do your own research and question everything, because  Smart Meters (and the coming Smart Grid) are here.  They are attached to our homes, schools and businesses.  We will never get away from them.

Should we do our due diligence to make sure these utility-controlled devices are safe, secure, private or do not harm public health?

Why is there very little media coverage on the this issue?

MAIN AREAS OF CONCERN

PUBLIC HEALTH HAZARD

Health complaints:  Here are a few:

• people moving out of apartment/condo situations where they were unlucky enough to share a wall with a bank of meters,
• a physician sickened by living above a bank of meters,
• people living out of their cars and not being able to return home,
• people becoming sensitive to electromagnetic fields after constant exposure to a RF radiation (Are you electro-sensitive?),
• elderly having health problems,
• families choosing to reduce their EMF exposure,

One couple we have communicated with live, with their baby, above a bank of 8 smart meters.  Their baby wakes up every night since the smart meter was installed holding his head and crying.  

RF problems seem to occur when the meter is too close to a person for a sustained period of time (i.e., on a bedroom wall) or in bank situations when there are multiple meters (i.e.,.apartment/condos). Of course, time exposure and personal sensitivity (immune systems) are factors as well.  By the way, these meters never turn off.  They constantly transmit.  SCE will tell you that they only emit RF 15 seconds per day.   Not true....and they have admitted it.  I've measured it myself.  Besides how else can you get real time data usage if it is not on all the time?


Like cell phones, Smart Meters produce pulsed Radio Frequency (RF) radiation, but at elevated levels on an almost continuous 24/7 basis.  RF has been labeled a possible class 2B carcinogen by the World Health Organization on the same scale as lead and diesel fuel.  Smart Meters contain 100 times more RF exposure than a cell phone, says a UC nuclear expert.  Adverse health effects have been widely reported to the CPUC after installation of their Smart Meter. Symptoms reported include headaches, inability to sleep, nausea, vertigo, ringing in the ears, heart palpitations, skin rashes, etc.  

"The company has not studied health effects, (Southern California Edison's Ken) Devore said, but the communications system runs within Federal Communications Commission standards."  Unbelievable. --- - O.C. Residents Fight Edison Digital Meter Installation OC Register, Sept. 29, 2011



Please tell us why was the Environmental Impact Report for Smart Meters waived?

LOSS OF CONTROL 

All utilities (water, gas and electric) will be remotely controlled via the Smart Meter.  The utility company has complete control over program adjustments and the ability to upload "new firmware via the network".  At a touch of a button someone can simutaneously shut down your entire life line of water, gas and electric.

It's called Demand Response.  In the near future, SCE will have the power to make a determination as to whether or not you are using too much energy and then selectively and remotely turn off your appliances. This happened to an 80 year old Palm Springs man.  His wet clothes sat in his dryer because it would not turn on…wrong time of day for him.

PRIVACY INFRINGEMENT

The Smart Meter measures electricity usage in your home using a wireless computer (containing the ZigBee radio and chip), collecting data on our daily habits and activities with the permanent storage of information at an offsite data collection center.   Who has access to the data collected by the utility companies?

By definition a surveillance device, the Smart Meter violates Federal and State wiretapping laws by recording and storing databases of private and personal activities and behaviors without the consent or knowledge of those people who are monitored.

 Why should you care if someone knows when you turn on the lights? Most people don’t care…unless the information is used against them.  The CIA is giddy with all the free surveillance they are now able to collect without the hassle of warrants.



PRICE INCREASES

Smart meters monitor your personal life by collecting minute-by-minute information on your appliance and energy usage.   Their sole purpose is to change your behavior (through demand response, load control, time-of-usage pricing, and peak pricing).  Many customers experience price increases after the installation of their Smart Meter.  As tiered pricing begins after complete roll-out many will experience a significant increase in their monthly utility costs.

In some areas, SCE started their new Time of Use (TOU) rates where electricity cost will fluctuate during the day. For instance, the 2 to 6pm slot will be the most costly and midnight to 6am the cheapest. That way you can do your laundry at midnight!

HACKING AND CYBER SECURITY

As a wireless computer the Smart Meter can be hacked perhaps even exposed to viruses and malware in the grid software.  Foreign enemies have attempted to map our infrastructure, such as the electrical grid.  Former CIA Director James Woolsey calls the Smart Grid "really, really stupid".  Testifying on Capitol Hill in Feb. 2011 before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence current CIA Director Leon Panetta, "The potential for the next Pearl Harbor could very well be a cyber-attack,".

RESEARCH

Internet documentation has been compiled from mostly independent (non-governmental, non-utility sponsored) researchers in various expert fields related to electromagnetic radiation (EMR) as well as testimonials of those already living with Smart Meters in various areas of the country as well as Europe.  We attempted to present documentation rather than conjecture so that

YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO AN INFORMED CHOICE!

Especially, take a look at the problems in Australia and Canada of those people already living with a Smart Meters.

Much more research can be found in the "More Links & Information" section and, being a brand new site, we are working to give you more. 

If 10 California counties and 40 cities and 18 British Columbian Councils have placed a moratorium on further installations, perhaps we too should err on the side of caution as well.

(Remember, that there is a small window of opportunity for you, your friends and neighbors to "Opt Out" of installation.  And once your analog meter is gone... it is more difficult to get it back.