Letters to Editor on Smart Meters (Whistler Question):
Smart meter concerns remain (july 22, 2011)
Dear Editor,
Recently, several B.C. municipalities such as Lake Cowichan, Saltspring Island and Colwood have passed moratoriums on smart meter installations, citing health concerns over increased radiation. Both Gibsons and Sechelt councils passed motions urging B.C. Hydro to study the issue further, with potential input from the Ministry of Energy and Health Canada.
Why is Whistler not joining the ranks of the other progressive municipalities and how do we stop smart meters from being installed in our homes and neighbourhoods?
Gary Murphy, chief project officer for B.C. Hydro’s smart metering program, stated that he was “totally confident” that the emission levels were safe. “Exposure to radio frequency from a smart meter over its entire 20-year life span is equal to a single 30-minute cell phone call.”
If this is the case, then why are municipalities opting out until we have more data? If you call B.C. Hydro to opt out of the program they assure you that smart meters are safe, yet they have no long-term studies to back up their claims. Thalidomide was also supposed to be safe.
Until now, we've had a choice on whether our cell phones stay on and whether to allow microwave ovens, Wi-Fi or other electronics into our homes. When it comes to these EMF-emitting smart meters, we appear to have no choice.
I live in a large townhouse complex, with a separate electrical room for each building that will house six to eight smart meters each. How can we ask one unit to act as an electrosmog hub and take on that amount of exposure, especially when kids live in many of those units? At this point, no one knows the long-term effects of these devices, yet B.C. Hydro is intent on installing these meters at the expense of our health.
I am hoping that our local and provincial governments listen to the people and their concerns when it comes to smart meters.
Paula Palmer
WHISTLER
Smart meter ‘boondoggle' (july 14, 2011)
Dear Editor,
Without debate, consultation, health studies or permission from the public, B.C. Hydro is installing costly wireless devices in all B.C. homes by the end of 2012, under the guise of combating hydro theft and over consumption.
Smart meters emit radio frequency radiation 24/7 and can be read from many metres away, blanketing entire neighbourhoods with electro smog. Worse off are densely populated areas or multi-unit dwellings, like townhouse complexes, where one unit acts as a "hub" for the rest of the smart meters in the complex, increasing radiation exposure.
The World Health Organization found that not only cell phones, but radio frequency radiation and electromagnetic radiation (EMR) are to be classed as Class 2B "possible carcinogens" — the same classification as lead paint and DDT, both of which are banned in Canada.
A July 6 Globe and Mail article states that B.C. Hydro will not allow anyone to opt out of the program. Customers concerned about health issues can relocate the meters on their properties at their own cost. In California, anti-smart meter protestors were arrested for stopping meters from being installed, and Santa Cruz, CA approved a moratorium on PG&E smart meter installations in 2010.
B.C. Hydro claims that smart meters are more secure and will curb hydro theft from grow ops. According to an AP report, smart meters are vulnerable to hackers or other cyber attacks. If you're curious, just Google "smart meter hack."
Under B.C.'s Clean Energy Act, the B.C. Liberals exempted the smart meter program from oversight by the public watchdog, the B.C. Utilities Commission (BCUC). Smart meters allow utilities to implement "time of use" billing to increase hydro rates. Ontario's Hydro One customers saw their hydro bills double after smart meters were installed. In Australia, the smart meter roll out in Victoria was plagued by customer complaints about incorrect readings, forcing the state government to launch an inquiry.
Our politicians keep approving failed experiments, wasting our money and endangering our health. Why not fund retrofits, invest in solar panels or transmit data over telephone lines or fiber optic cables, where no radiation is emitted, instead of rewarding Washington state-based Itron Inc. with a $270 million contract to supply digital meters?
I predict the $1 billion smart meter boondoggle will join the failed ranks of the HST, CFL light bulbs and Whistler's hydrogen buses. More info: www.emrabc.ca.
Pina Belperio
WHISTLER
‘Not so smart’ meters (July 7, 2011)
Dear Editor,
It is with concern that B.C. Hydro plans to install smart meters this year in British Columbia.
Smart meters work on wireless technology and, in May, the World Health Organization deemed cell phone radiation and wireless technology a type 2b carcinogen; that is it possibly causes cancer to humans. Other type 2b carcinogens are lead and DDT.
What I find extraordinary is that a utility company would see fit to install a wireless device on the outside of every home in B.C. when that technology is deemed harmful by many in Europe. B.C. residents are being forced into having a wi-fi electricity meter on their homes and whilst one might argue that many use wireless and cell phones daily, the fundamental difference is that one can choose not to use wi-fi technology or use a cell phone incessantly. B.C. Hydro appears to not be offering such a choice?
Why is it that pharmaceuticals require extensive testing before drugs are released on the market but wireless technology is exempt from this type of testing? Surely the B.C. public deserves the precautionary principle to be applied to a technology that is, relatively, new?
Perhaps B.C. Hydro can save the save the millions of dollars it will cost to install the 'not so smart' meters throughout the province and invest in more worthy causes? Whistler council has the power to take a stance, as many in B.C. are doing. I hope that we can keep B.C. the best place on Earth, without smart meters.
Joanna Runciman
Whistler, BC
