From Stop Smart Meters: We need to continue to tell the CPUC that smart meters and their mesh network are unacceptable and should be recalled! Come to the next business meeting in San Francisco!
At the last CPUC meeting, Commissioner Florio stated that, “We will not tolerate consumer abuses in any shape or form.”
That is really fantastic news. Let’s hold the PUC at their word. They can start by taking action against current utility abuses such as:
giving people who pay hundreds of dollars to ‘opt out’ a wireless- transmitting ‘trojan horse’ meter that looks like an analog meter (especially SCE)
threatening to disconnect people who insist on their right to an analog meter
forcing people to spend 1-2 or more hours on the phone simply to “opt out”
failing to respect the democratic decisions and laws of local governments who represent the public in the areas these companies do business
threatening homeowners with analog meters who let their dogs out in their own yard with disconnection of their electricity (SDG&E)
refusing to remove smart meters mounted on the wall even with a doctors’ recommendation (do the utilities know better than our doctor what is a health threat?)
allowing smart meter surveillance and selling the collected data to third parties
using our homes for commercial purposes (mesh network) without informed consent
lying about how often smart meters transmit pulsed radiation
forcing smart meters on businesses without informed choice or consent
utility employees spying on activists and then forwarding ill-gotten messages to CPUC staff who do nothing about it?
We look forward to this brave new CPUC who is willing to stand up for the rights of the public. Let’s hold them to their word.
April 18th 9:30am (arrive by 9:15am) CPUC Meeting 505 Van Ness Ave. (at McAllister) in San Francisco. Members of the public are guaranteed at least 1 minute to speak if they arrive before the end of public comment.
The EMF Safety Network presents a special pre-release screening of the film “Take Back Your Power: The “Smart Meter” Agenda Unveiled”, by Canadian director Josh Del Sol on Wednesday April 17 at 7pm. The film will be followed by a panel discussion, at the new Sebastopol Center for the Arts.
This eye-opening documentary feature film investigates the “smart” meter program being rolled out worldwide without the people’s consent. The film uncovers alarming issues about health, privacy, property rights, corporate fraud, and the unprecedented vulnerability of the “smart” grid. You will leave with a deeper understanding of the motives behind the agenda and proven solutions for coming together and co-creating a healthier world.
Following the film there will be a Q and A panel discussion moderated by Sebastopol City Council member John Eder. The panel includes Cindy Sage co-editor of the BioInitiative 2012 Report, Michael Neuert EMF electrician, Take Back Your Power director, Josh Del Sol, and EMF Safety Network director Sandi Maurer.
This is a great opportunity for people to learn why the City of Sebastopol and a dozen other cities and counties in California made Smart Meter installations illegal.
This event is a fundraiser for the film. Donations requested, but no one will be turned away for lack of funds.
Take Back Your Power: The “Smart Meter” Agenda Unveiled
Today the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) approved a settlement in its investigation into Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) for spying on anti-Smart Meter groups. PG&E will be required to pay $390,000 to the state’s General Fund.
This infiltration by PG&E was part of an on-going surveillance program conducted by PG&E and Edelman, a public relations firm PG&E hired in January of 2010 in response to escalating Smart Meter complaints and problems.
As part of this program, the director of the PG&E Smart Meter program, William “Ralph” Devereaux, other PG&E employees and third parties spied on groups with the knowledge of senior PG&E staff. PG&E employees and senior management exchanged emails insulting and demeaning the members of the anti-SmartMeter groups. For example, these PG&E customers were referred to “insurgents.”
PG&E coordinated moving an entire Smart Meter deployment yard to derail a non-violent protest and sent an employee to surreptitiously observe and report on the reactions of the protestors, who also transmitted pictures of them to PG&E. This “spy” expressed his pleasure in observing and taking photos of anti-SmartMeter activists.
Devereux resigned from PG&E in November 2010, after he was caught trying to infiltrate an EMF Safety Network discussion list using the false alias, “Ralph”. He wrote to Sandi Maurer, moderator of the list, “I live in Oakland where Smart meters have been sweeping across town and wanted to learn more about them and join the conversation to see what I can do to help out here. Thanks, Ralph”
Maurer’s email program revealed his true identity as William Devereaux. She responded, “Aren’t you the head of the Smart Meter program at PG&E? We’d love your help!…”
CPUC Commissioner Mike Florio said ,“We will not tolerate consumer abuses in any shape or form. We expect our utilities to treat their customers with respect and compassion and engage with their customers in a transparent, ethical, and productive manner.”
From Stop Smart Meters Australia: “Nicole Bijlsma, author of Healthy Home, Healthy Family, a Building Biologistand founder of the Australian College of Environmental Studies, presented a moving account of the effects of increased electromagnetic radiation levels on the population and, in particular, on children. She said that our children are the “canaries in the mine”. Nicole pointed to overseas standards for radio frequency emissions which have been set at a fraction of our standards. She called for urgent action on smart meters, saying that smart meter emissions affect the population in their home, the one place in which children were able to rest and should be safe. Nicole said that already 30,000 papers have been produced on electromagnetic radiation in the last 30 years. “By the time the data is available [on smart meter effects], it may be too late.”
LOS ANGELES- Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) has terminated electricity to the family of a middle school teacher, her husband, and their six children for refusing to have a smart meter on their home, which they say caused their family serious health problems.
In July 2012, LADWP installed a Smart Meter on Derek and Anura Lawson’s home without notice or consent. Their house was part of a smart meter pilot program. Other houses in the neighborhood still have their analog meters.
That same month their four youngest children started to have serious health problems. The mother, Anura Lawson writes they had fevers “out of nowhere”, “as high as 105”, and they “began to have problems controlling their bodily fluids, our five year old began peeing and pooping herself, our four year began to display the same problems…” The mother also struggled with migraines, insomnia, concentration problems and other health symptoms.
The family requested LADWP restore the analog meter. LADWP then gave them what they said was an analog meter, but the health symptoms persisted. The family objected. According to Anura, LADWP ridiculed them. She says, “When I called customer service, “Jennifer” laughed at me, telling me they would not remove the meter.”
When an agent of LADWP met with the family he said, “This isn’t one of those ‘SmartMeters’ that have been making all those people sick. These are RF meters. Totally different.” He talked about how safe radio was and that it had been used for years. Meanwhile the children’s health problems persisted.
Clearly something had to be done.
In January 2013, after repeated, unfulfilled requests to LADWP for help, the family restored a true analog meter obtained from Jerry Day. The mother wrote that after the analog meter was restored the children’s symptoms “diminished greatly, they no longer get high fevers, or suffer from loss of their bodily function.”
Two weeks later, LADWP disconnected their electricity. Anura saw the workers scale a neighbor’s wall, climb the power pole in their backyard and literally cut the wire to their home. Since February 11th the Lawsons have been living without electricity, without heat, without use of their appliances and without lights.
Joshua Hart, director of Stop Smart Meters! says, “Pilot programs are supposed to be a test to see how a new system operates. When problems crop up, you don’t punish customers for reporting them- you fix the problem.”
The family has been using candles and battery powered lanterns to see at night. They are cooking on a camping stove outdoors, and keeping their food cold in ice chests. The family says the incident has been extremely stressful.
This incident echoes other bullying incidents around the country, where people have been cut off after having had their smart meters removed due to health issues.
Sandi Maurer, director of the EMF Safety Network states, “Federal law states customers should be offered smart meters, not be forced to have them on their homes. LADWP is exceeding its authority by mandating these devices.”
Jerry Day, a video producer on the forefront of empowering customers to stand up for their constitutional rights states, “This is inexcusable. This is not responsible power company management. This is senseless abuse of utility customers.”
We agree. The Lawsons need their power switched on and an analog utility meter restored on their home. NOW.
IMPORTANT FOLLOW UP! Anura Lawson took this issue to the Los Angeles City Council meeting and their power was restored that same day.
In extreme contrast to this situation, Liz Barris of the People’s Initiative Foundation today reports LADWP has removed a smart meter from a property in Hollywood Hills Ca. She says it took two weeks of wrangling with them until a senior manager Vincent Zabukovec 213-367-2725 agreed to the switch. Here’s her video of the meter swap.
From The EMRadiation Policy Institute (EMRPI): US workers and families are at risk of overexposure to RF at hazardous levels. Hundreds of wireless industry-operated antenna sites from Maine to California have been tested by EMRPI and found to be in gross violation — up to and in excess of 600% — of the FCC’s public exposure limits. These sites include rooftops as well as locations where the general public, including children, can gain access, and where workers are on the job. (See video below.)
Wireless Radiation Can Harm Health.
Public health is threatened by wireless radiation exposure at current FCC lawful limits as they are among the least protective in the world. FCC safety limits do not acknowledge current science, nor the 2011 World Health Organization International Agency for Research on Cancer’s classification of wireless radiation as a 2B carcinogen. The FCC does not even enforce its own inadequate radiation limits.
FCC Fails to Enforce Its Own Wireless Radiation Limits.
EMRPI informed FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski in December 2011 of widespread FCC rules violations. Despite detailed complaint letters sent to FCC Enforcement Bureau Chief P. Michele Ellison, of RF safety violations in 23 states across all regions of the US, EMRPI has received no response that the FCC has taken any enforcement action against any noncompliant site. EMRPI’s investigation re-tested sites and found violations still occurring months after EMRPI’s initial filings with the FCC. The FCC responded to a US Senator’s inquiry on sites in her state with misleading information about the safety of the Senator’s constituents.
Are the FCC and the Wireless Industry Turning a Blind Eye to RF Violations?
FCC policy allows wireless companies to self-report their compliance with the lawful RF limits. The FCC website provides no information or procedures for either the public or workers to report potential or actual violations. Despite hundreds of thousands of wireless antenna sites across the US, since 1996 the FCC has issued only one wireless Notice of Violation, and not until 2010. Is FCC policing site violations and are violations hidden from the public?
The American Public Is Not Protected.
Congress must act to hold the FCC accountable. If not, Americans will remain at risk from unlawful RF radiation exposures at antenna sites across the country. The American people have a right to know and a right to be protected. EMRPI urges the American people to demand that the FCC enforce its own RF safety limits to protect all Americans.
From Maryland Smart Meter Awareness: “Garic Schoen submitted testimony to the members of the Economic Matters Committee on March 14, 2013, the date of HB 1038 Smart Meter Opt Out without Penalty hearing. Mr. Schoen experienced adverse health effects following a Smart Meter installation, as documented by his doctor and physical therapist. Upon removal, those adverse health effects stopped.”
