Category: Hall of Shame

SMUD smart meter burn out causes electrical failure & fire hazard

Margie Rothwell was having serious problems with the electricity in her home.  The power turned on and off for no apparent reason. The house fire alarm kept going off and the noises were scaring her dog.

She called her brother, who was a master electrician, to help her.  He found electrical lines not working and the smart meter digital readout was unreadable.  He recommended she call the utility SMUD right away, which she did.  (SMUD stands for Sacramento Municipal Utility District.)

Note: upper right meter base clip is visibly burned
Note: upper right meter base clip is visibly burned

A couple hours later, the SMUD technician came and when he got closer to the smart meter he said he smelled “burn”.

Margie recalled, “He had a very horrified look on his face when he looked at the burnt smart meter and meter socket.” The technician removed the smart meter and quickly put it in his truck, concealing the evidence.

The technician installed a temporary adapter which left her home with only 110 volts and limited power in parts of her house.

She was left with no dryer, no air conditioner, no electricity in the master bedroom, or anything that required 220 volts.

She asked the SMUD technician for a business card. He said he didn’t have one. She asked him for his name and he would not give her his full name.

The SMUD technician told Margie that she was responsible for replacing the damaged meter base, which included hiring a professional electrical contractor and getting a city permit.  Margie asked him if SMUD would fix it. He said no.

She called several electrical professionals to get estimates which ranged from $1,500-$3500.

She then searched the internet for “smart meter problems” and she found out that this is a common problem with smart meters.  In California, fire captain Ross had similar electric problems, as did another fire captain Matt Beckett.  A fire erupted shortly after a PG&E smart meter was installed in Vacaville, California which killed a man.

She contacted the EMF Safety Network director, Sandi Maurer, who connected her to Eric Windheim, EMF Safety consultant, and director of Sacramento Smart Meter Awareness.  Together they helped her write a declaration about the burnt meter and panel, the limited electricity, and her experience with the technician.

Margie sent the declaration and a demand letter to SMUD via certified mail with returned receipt. The following week Eric supported Margie at two SMUD board meetings, where she demanded they pay for the repairs as soon as possible. Margie asked the board, “If SMUD’s smart meter is so smart why didn’t it send SMUD a warning message that there was a very dangerous electrical failure going on at my house? Was SMUD going to wait for the fire department to send you a report in the mail?”

Following the board meetings, Margie:

  •  Kept all communication with SMUD in writing
  •  Refused to risk having another smart meter on her home
  •  Demanded the analog meter as the only replacement
  •  Never agreed or consented to the opt-out extortion fee

The smart meter could have burned down her house, with Margie in it.  Since it caused similar hazards for other customers, she was not going to take that chance ever again.

Analog restoredNine days after she went to the first board meeting SMUD repaired the burnt panel and restored an analog meter.  SMUD paid for all the repairs, and they returned analog meter without Margie’s agreement to pay their opt-out fees of $127 plus $14 a month.

SMUD denied the smart meter was to blame for the electrical problems. The SMUD representative wrote to Margie, “What I can assure you of, is that the damage to your panel was not caused by the Smart Meter.  The origin of the damage was in the meter socket assembly.”

Eric Windheim says, “A Maxim of Law is: “Where damages are given, the losing party should pay the costs of the victor” which is exactly what happened here. Since SMUD is paying for all of this they have admitted causation.  If Margie’s wiring was really at fault SMUD would have charged her for all repair costs.”

Click here for more information on smart meter fires and explosions.  If you are a SMUD customer and have questions about smart meters contact Eric Windheim at 916-395-7336 or contact him here.

CPUC President doesn’t want to answer your g*dd*mn questions, now shut up!

President Michael R. PeeveyThe California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) is responsible for protecting utility customers and ensuring safe and reliable utility service.

Michael Peevey, the President of the CPUC,  has been in charge of the decisions regarding smart meters.  He approved wireless smart meters without any safety review.  He approved smart meter opt-out fees without any legal review.

Peevey cussed out an attorney who’s asking questions at a public hearing.

Do you have questions about utility smart meters?  President Peevey can be reached at mp1@cpuc.ca.gov  He doesn’t want to hear from you!

Manager comes unglued at protest of electricity disconnect

Request for fair treatment ignored

A small rural electric utility in Northern California, Plumas Sierra Rural Electric Cooperative (PSREC), has disconnected power to Stop Smart Meters Director Josh Hart and his partner Heidi for refusing to pay fees to keep an analog meter. Within this cooperative other customers are allowed to self read their analog meters, at no additional cost. Because Josh and Heidi refused a smart meter, they are forced to pay more, $300 a year more. They were not given the option to self read their meter.

Josh and Heidi moved to Plumas County to live in a safer environment. They live in an all electric house, and they have been without electricity since February 19, when PSREC cut the power to their home.  In the following video Heidi tells the “cooperative” why she believes the disconnect is unfair and illegal, and how she feels scared, bullied and shocked about how they are being treated.

PSREC general manager Bob Marshall comes unglued as he responds to Heidi’s comments and having the public meeting filmed.  He demands Josh stop filming and threatens to call the sheriff.  Marshall then responds to Heidi’s request for fair treatment saying,“We disagree strongly with everything you said”.  Then he turned the blame on her saying, “we disagree with your bullying…”

You can read more at http://stopsmartmeters.org/2014/02/26/psrec-general-manager-loses-it-after-illegal-disconnect/

Smart meter extortion in Illinois: pay $21.53 a month to delay the inevitable

extortionUtility customers in Illinois can delay smart meter installations on their home by paying $21.53 a month…but eventually everyone will be forced to have a smart meter, according to the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC).

Sky Vision Solutions reports the ICC has ordered ComEd to install new wireless smart meters for all customers over a ten-year period.  “If customers make the decision to refuse a [smart] meter now and incur monthly charges associated with this choice, it should be with full knowledge that this refusal is simply deferring the inevitable,” the ICC said in its order.  Beginning in 2022 the ICC has stated that customers will receive the smart meters regardless of whether they want them or not.

Read more here: http://smartgridawareness.org/2014/02/07/comed-smart-meter-opt-outs/#more-6031

CPUC delays smart meter opt-out proceeding – again

Photo by Isis Feral

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) once again delayed the smart meter opt-out proceeding by another two months, until April 7, 2014.  The opt out proceeding started nearly three years ago, amid a strong customer backlash against the overcharging, privacy snatching, radiation emitting smart meters and demand for the return of the analog meters.

In 2012, customers were ordered to pay extortion fees to retain or restore an analog meter, even though the CPUC never held hearings on the legality of those fees, or investigated the safety complaints.

In 2012, briefs were filed arguing the fees were unlawful, testimony was taken, evidentiary hearings and five public hearings were held.   A second round of briefs, based on the testimony and hearings were filed in January of 2013.  Read the EMF Safety Network’s brief here.

The opt out proceeding is in the hands of CPUC judge Amy Yip-Kikugawa who said she would rule on the legal issues in January of 2013.  A full year later, no rulings or decisions have been issued and the discussion on the right for a community to opt out is still pending.  Nothing has happened for a full year, except delays.

The Commissioner overseeing the proceeding is Michael Peevey who cannot be trusted to care about utility customers when he is personally invested in a “green” technology economy.  Peevey is on the board of The California Clean Energy Fund, a multi-million dollar investment fund created to “spur investment and innovation in California’s clean energy economy.”

“With world-renown research universities and a supportive policy-making climate, California has proven to be a leader in developing clean energy innovations,” said Michael R. Peevey, chairman of CalCEF and president of the California Public Utilities Commission. “CalCEF’s investment strategy to help commercialize these innovations fills an important need in realizing California’s goal of becoming the world’s premier clean energy economy.”

Peevey is also an advisor for the UC Davis Energy Effiency Center, and the UC Davis Policy Institute for Energy, Environment and the Economy.

The CPUC states they need more time  on the opt-out proceeding because the issues are complex and require additional time to resolve.

Are you frustrated and fed up with the CPUC’s lack of safety oversight and extortion fees? The California State Auditor conducts investigations into improper governmental activities by state agencies.  They take anonymous complaints from the public and whistle blowers:

Protect Monarch Butterflies from radiation

 

On August 21, 2013 the city of Pacific Grove will hear an appeal on the placement of an AT&T 4G cell tower next to the Monarch Butterfly sanctuary.

Pacific Grove is an overwintering area for the monarch butterfly. Each year, these butterflies migrate thousands of miles from Canada to Pacific Grove and other special places in the Western Hemisphere. They arrive and stay through several reproductive cycles, and then continue their travels.

Pacific Grove has an ordinance specifically protecting monarch butterflies. It has a small area set aside for the butterflies as a sanctuary, but the butterflies roost and feed in trees in the surrounding area. Many travel books feature this sanctuary to attract visitors from all around the world.

AT&T wants to put a permanent set of cellular 4G antennas at Wilkie’s Inn, (1038 Lighthouse Avenue) next to the butterfly sanctuary. This is one of the few monarch habitats the butterflies rely on.

Here’s two studies that indicate insects are harmed by radiation.  Food collection and response to pheromones in an ant species exposed to electromagnetic radiation found exposure to radiation caused colony deterioration and affected social insects’ behavior and physiology. Another study Oxidative and genotoxic effects of 900 MHz electromagnetic fields in the earthworm Eisenia fetida found radiation caused genotoxic effects and DNA damage in earthworms.

Please take action to help stop these antennas in Pacific Grove, California. Sign this petition by Tuesday, August 20, 2013  Read more and sign the petition.

UPDATE: The city Pacific Grove council voted against the butterflies. The petition author writes, “Thank you to the hundreds of supporters on this issue. Sad to say (but not surprised) that all but one of the city council members voted for the cell antennas to be built near one of the rare monarch butterfly overwintering sites in Pacific Grove. AT&T must’ve made the incentive worth while.The city is supposed to protect the butterfly sanctuary and didn’t.”