On December 7, Josh Hart of StopSmartMeters.org led about a dozen women to return smart meters to the PG&E Capitola office where they told their stories to reporters about why they removed the smart meters and restored analog meters.
One woman spoke on behalf of her family stating, ” We’ve been a guinea pig for a year and a half” and ” I believe from my experience that they should not just have an opt-out, they should be banned.” Six police officers showed up in response to PG&E’s request and they closed the office.
PG&E is sending letters to people who’ve swapped smart meters for analogs and is threatening to turn off their power, however their letter does not include any legal codes to justify their threats. In a letter dated Dec.2, 2011, PG&E writes, “Given the public safety issues, if we do not hear from you, we will have no choice but to terminate your electric service.” It’s clearly bullying tactics.
EMF Safety Network lawyer who defined tampering for us is drafting a letter to PG&E to inquire about their legal authority to turn off people’s utility service.
Sent from Electra
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I’m so proud of this brave group of people. The tide is turning, and it is becoming our fight now. PG & E and the other electric companies are on the defensive. Why? Because we have all the facts on our side. Why these dangerous devices were ever unleashed on the public is a mystery. Anyone with half a brain would have known – as Richard Tell warned – that smart meters are not safe, and, as stated in the title, should be banned.
I will be speaking to a local city and to our county this week. This is highly stressful, and I’d rather not have to do it, but it must be done. Like Josh and these brave women and men, we have to step up and make sure our family, friends, and neighbors are safe and sound, especially since we now know the power company, which I trusted for many, many years, will sell us down the river for a few pieces of gold.
I’d like to mention the “Smart Meter Survival Kits” I’ll be taking to these meetings. They are gallon ziplock bags, filled with about a dozen pieces of paper that have documentation of why smart meters are a menace. The ziplock bag, of course, is for the refusal sign (also included) that should be taped underneath your safe, analog meter. Here is what else is in the kit, for those who’d like to use the idea:
1. ” Naperville Smart Meter Alert!” I use this because it contains just about all the talking points about the dangers of smart meters in one little three-page condensed form. Side note: As some of you may know, Naperville was a test location for smart meters. But there is a very vocal portion of the populace that is working hard to get a referendum to stop their installation.
I put the first and second page on the same sheet, and staple the third page to it.
http://napervillesmartmeterawareness.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/NSGI-SummaryRisks-09-20-2011.pdf
2. A bar graph showing how much more (almost 40 times) radiofrequency radiation the smart meter emits than any other device in your home. I found the graph in Dr. Daniel Hirsch’s scientific rebuttal to the CCST report. The graph I use is Figure 4, and I duplicate it in black-and-white, to save money.
http://www.committeetobridgethegap.org/pdf/110212_RFrad_comments.pdf
3. “WiFi May Damage Sperm Quality: Study.” Interestingly, the title of this article, since I first accessed it, now has a question mark inserted after the work “study,” whereas it didn’t before. Weird. I reprinted it and made it all on one page, which I do as often as possible, to save money.
http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-11-28/news/30452427_1_sperm-reproductive-medicine-computers
4. World Health Organization announcement/information that radiofrequency radiation is a Class 2B carcinogen.
http://stopsmartmeters.org/2011/05/31/
5. I combined two pages of a Prevention article for this page. Page 3 of the article “Is Dirty Electricity Making You Sick” talks about, well, how dirty electricity is making people sick, giving them cancer at rates much, much greater than average. The second half of the page is a table with the risks of the radiofrequency radiation emitted by smart meters, which they say includes an increased risk of brain cancer, dementia, and heart disease. They don’t mention smart meters specifically, but just that type of radiation.
http://www.prevention.com/health/health/healthy-lifestyle/is-dirty-electricity-making-you-sick/article/9e60d47569225210VgnVCM10000030281eac____
6. Page 372 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005. This is the law that says, and I’m going to yell here, because it gets me worked up – I’m not yelling at you: YOU DON’T HAVE TO HAVE A SMART METER (“TIME-BASED METER”) UNLESS YOU ASK FOR ONE. This is the law. Repeat it to the power company over and over. Tell them they’re breaking the law. Contact lawyers and see what they think. Get them to back you – they have families and houses they want to protect, too.
http://doi.net/iepa/EnergyPolicyActof2005.pdf
7. Maine Landmark Case – Cite this case, too, when you’re informing the power company that they have no right to give you a radiation-spewing meter on the side of your house. It is “unjust and unreasonable” to not give you an opt out option. I’d go even farther than that, and they did: In Maine, you now have to opt IN to get a smart meter. That’s following the law (see number 6)!
http://www.skeltontaintorabbott.net/news/85/77/Skelton-Taintor-Abbott-Wins-Landmark-Smart-Meter-Case.html
8. Page 3 of a letter from the EPA that states “Federal health and safety agencies have not yet developed policies concerning possible risk from long-term, nonthermal exposures.” The argument that the FCC’s guidelines cover the smart meters is the electric companies’ go-to position, and it’s just an out-and-out lie. This shows that, in black and white.
http://www.emrpolicy.org/litigation/case_law/docs/noi_epa_response.pdf
9. Administrative Judge Amy Yip-Kikugawa’s 11 questions for PG & E. Having this worked out well at my last presentation to a city (I’m doing that for every city in my county). It was a lame duck session, but they talked about doing a resolution next meeting to present these questions to our local power company. Of course, I’ve already presented them to the power company, but a large city has more clout than I do. (: Again, they are formatted to get the questions on one page.
http://eon3emfblog.net/?p=3687
10. A smart meter refusal sign, which says: “We Refuse the “smart meter,” Due to Health and Privacy Issues. Do Not Replace the Meter.” At the bottom, in small letters, it says “Place sign in ziplock or other airtight material. Do not cover electric meter. Place sign where it is visible to anyone looking at the meter.”
11. Page of Contacts. I’ve included the numbers of our state’s Public Utilities Commissioners, our state’s attorney general, representatives, senators, and links for those wanting more information. There are a few notes, in case this is the only page someone sees. It tells those who might already have smart meters that they should demand this device’s removal, and an opt out option, because they don’t have to have a smart meter, by law. I also put my name and my secondary email address. I also put a link to the page showing which jurisdictions have made smart meters illegal. This is especially to help the officials I’m speaking to know that there IS something they can do.
http://stopocsmartmeters.com/get-the-word-out/contact-your-local-and-county-officials/
12. I’ve just added a page that talks about Nevada ‘s recent actions, because they are starting to step up to the plate, and their meters are made by the same company that makes our state’s meters (Sensus).
I also take a recording on my little DVR of a smart meter pinging. This is the one I use. Notice the plant is dying around the stupid smart meter:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsuP_WBBr2c&NR=1
I know this sounds like a lot, but it’s not, really. To me, it’s the bare minimum you need to thoroughly convince people what a disaster these machines are. Stick a dozen sheets of paper in a ziplock, and you’ll see what I mean – it’s nothing. And all we do in a talk is, my husband goes over the Naperville Smart Meter Alert, then I quickly tell the officials what the rest of the papers cover, with choice comments for each one. Then a friend talks about the refusal sign and the contacts page, and talks about her little boy. He’s a Cub Scout, very active in caring for the community, and she wants him and all other children to live a long and healthy life. Why, then, are the power companies putting untested (for human safety) meters on our houses? This personal note is a great way to end the discussion. Even with all this, we stay inside the five minute limit for each person, but cover a lot of territory.
If you’re speaking alone, as I will be tomorrow, then it’s the same drill (actually, I’m still in the planning stages, and a little nervous :). Just briefly go over each page, and they can peruse them later at their leisure. Each fact is so shocking, and so jarring, that you really don’t have to say much more than the facts!
One thing I wish I had known at the beginning: A neighbor said that a friend of hers got a charge of $150 of her bill for installation of a smart meter. If I could have told people that was going to happen, our “refuse a smart meter” rate would probably have risen by 50%! So check out your local situation, and see if the power company is charging for the privilege of putting the poison “smeter” on your home, and let everyone within hearing distance know if they are.
I’d like to thank the EMF Safety Network and all the other sources of smart meter information that make protecting our citizens possible. Without your hard work and dedication, it would be very difficult to fight the powers that be trying to screw us over royally, because that is what they’re doing. How they sleep at night, I do not know.
To end on a positive note, I’d like to encourage anyone considering a public appearance to fight against smart meters. You can do it! It gets easier, each one you do. And they don’t last too long, as you’re only allowed a very short time to speak. Recruit your friends and neighbors, who may be more willing, once they hear of the dangers and outrageous fees. Together, we will win this battle, friends. The power companies, being so unbelievably and totally wrong, don’t stand a chance.
I too replaced my smart meter in October and returned it to PGE in November after numerous attempts to have PGE restore my old meter due to health problems caused by the Smart Meter. Now, Mark Torres and Phil Balistrieri of PGE are threatening to turn off my electricity due to “health and safety hazards.” What a joke… Don’t bother wasting your time calling the CPUC. They are worthless. The commissioners and their staff will not take your call but only refer you to Public Affairs which in turn refer you to Harold Williams in the CPUC Consumer Affairs dept. Harold is worse than PGE as he told me that President Peevey should never have told PGE or SCE to give any customer back their analog meter and he was wrong in doing so.
The only solution, as I see it, is to get an intiative on the next ballot to change the requirements for becoming a CPUC commissioner or President. The initiative should change the CPUC code of the California Constitution to state that only 1 commissioner can be from or have lobbied or contracted for any industry that the CPUC regulates. Also, the other commissioners should not have worked for, lobbied for or contracted for any industry that the CPUC regulated within the last 20 years and they cannot work for, lobby for, or contract for any of the aforementioned CPUC regulated industries while in office or within 10 years after leaving office. Combine this with some type of term limit on the CPUC commissioner and president and we may be able to restore the CPUC to looking out for the public (utility consumer) best interest as it used to do decades ago.