Introduction to Smart Meters
As Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) in Northern California along with Southern California Edison (SCE) and San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) in Southern California roll out a combined total of 11.7 million new electric and 10.6 new, gas Smart Meters (so-called), we as a property management team see Californians’ Constitutional rights and personal freedoms eroding right before our eyes!
The giant utility companies of California have launched a slick, aggressive campaign promoting Smart Meters as a green energy alternative and purporting to lessen the state’s carbon footprint thus saving consumers money.
Thankfully though, a grassroots movement of concerned citizens from every walk of life has banded together to educate as well as activate 48 cities, towns, counties and one tribal land to stand against the forced installation of these far-from-benign meters.
After nearly two years and three thousand hours of reading, research and lawfully-yet-peacefully exercising our civil rights, we are convinced that Smart Meters are Dangerous, Invasive and Expensive¦and taken together that spells DIE! We call this the DIE Effect.
Please don’t stop reading at this point thinking we are mad. The situation truly is a nightmare-in-the-making. We believe that you, as conscientious Apartment Owners and Managers, will TAKE ACTION NOW to protect your property, your tenants and your bottom line.
What Are Smart Meters?
Smart Meters are wireless electric, gas and water meters operating on the microwave spectrum and electronically reading energy consumption via a new Time-of-Use (TOU) basis. They are being deployed to both commercial and residential properties as part of the AMI (Automatic Metering Infrastructure) and AMR (Automatic Meter Reading) systems.
Smart Meters are NOT UL approved; they are certified by the FCC because they are in fact radio transmitters; and they are generally installed by utility subcontractors having only 20 hours of training for this highly bio-hazardous job.
The World Health Organization (WHO) recently classified microwave Radiation Frequency (RF) and Electro-Magnetic Fields (EMFs) which power the Smart Meters as a Class 2B possible human carcinogen in the same category as DDT, diesel fuel, gasoline and lead.
Microwave technology was developed by the U.S. military as a weapon of war. A declassified Army document verifies the uses of microwave, viewable at this link: www.freedomfchs.com/usarmyrptonmicrowavefx.pdf.
A single PG&E electric Smart Meter transmits an average of 10,000 radiation pulses per day! This meter has 1 watt of transmitting power at 900 MHz; it is a radio-on device working 24/7. These numbers do not even factor in the Medusa or collector meters which act like Smart Meters on steroids collecting data from up to 5,000 Smart Meters!
This type of non-ionizing (non-heating) radiation represents a bio-hazard to our bodies, especially to our delicate brains, hearts and nervous systems. Environmental Consultant, Cindy Sage has done extensive research on Smart Meters, providing a scientific study revealing the potential damage done to the body by Smart Meters. You can read her Sage Report by going to www.sagereports.com.
A Brief History of Smart Meters
These high-tech AMI and AMR systems utilizing Smart Meters join with a larger Mesh Network known as the Smart Grid, crucial to the environmental objective of the United Nations’ global initiative known as Agenda 21. For further reading, be sure to visit www.freedomadvocates.org.
President Obama signed the 2009 Stimulus Bill allowing a combined total of $24.1 billion to go towards the Smart Grid Project. Despite the economic downturn in our country, you – the ratepayers – will pick up the tab for this national debacle.
There is no federal or state law mandating the installation and acceptance of Smart Meters. The giant utilities are using their relationship with the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) in order to strong-arm the public into believing that they have no choice in the matter¦ but we DO indeed have a choice if we the people will exercise it.
The current Opt-Out Program being considered for customers by the CPUC is totally unacceptable since common sense is missing from the plan. Customers should not have to pay a $90 initial fee plus $15 monthly charges (exception, the CARE customer) for a Dangerous, Invasive and Expensive Smart Meter. Remember, the DIE Effect is in place.
The Smart Metering Program has started a slow kill for many individuals who are EHS (Electro-Hyper-Sensitive) to Radiation Frequency. Others who have experienced Electro-Magnetic Radiation/EMR from the meters are suffering headaches, insomnia, heart palpitations, grand mal seizures, interference with Pace Makers and more! Tragically, some have become Smart Meter Refugees having to abandon their homes to sleep in their cars or live as vagrants moving from place to place in order to outrun the Smart Meters.
Freedom-loving people such as ourselves have banded together to just say no to this unlawful, unconstitutional violation of our God-given rights. To join forces with those who care about America and the preservation of our liberties, please visit the following sites: www.emfsafetynetwork.org, www.stopsmartmeters.org, www.refusesmartmeters.com, www.eon3.net, www.electrosmogprevention.org and www.thepeoplesinitiative.org.
Smart Meters Are Dangerous
Smart Meters have been suspect in a number of fires, most notably at the Santa Rosa Mall as well as East Palo Alto and San Francisco. Dirty electricity and wiring overloads”especially in older homes and buildings – is of real concern. Sparking power lines, melting Smart Meters, exploding TVs plus fried appliances and computers have occurred and will no doubt continue as long as the utilities ignore the handwriting on the wall.
Our environment is already bombarded by an inordinate amount of microwave radiation and wireless technology from cell towers, Wi-Fi, cell phones, computers, laptops, Dect phones, wireless gadgets and gizmos. Even bees, birds and insects are affected. Please read Dr. Ulrich Warnke’s Bees, Birds and Mankind: Destroying Nature by Electrosmog.
Daniel Hirsch, a nuclear policy expert at UC Santa Cruz, critiqued a state study only to discover that a Smart Meter has 100 times more cumulative radiation exposure than a single cell phone. The Hirsch review is online at www.committeetobridgethegap.com.
Health-wise, some of the symptoms being experienced from Smart Meter exposure are: Insomnia, ringing in the ears, heart palpitations, headaches, neurological problems, brain fog, blood-brain barrier disruptions, nausea, vomiting, memory loss, high blood pressure, blackouts, seizures, decreased melatonin, dizziness, depression, pain and fatigue.
DNA damage and cancer, including childhood leukemia, can result from this radiation. Researcher Dr. Olle Johansson (formerly of the Karolinska Institute in Sweden) and Dr. Magda Havas (www.magdahavas.com) of Trent University in Canada have been voices crying in the wilderness against wireless technology.
A recent Santa Cruz Board of Supervisors health officer’s report is stunning reading: http://emfsafetynetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Santa-Cruz-Public-Health-Official-Smart-Meter-report.pdf.
Smart Meters Are Invasive
The Fourth Amendment to the Constitution grants U.S. citizens the right to privacy. Yet the Smart Meters are radio transmitters which can perform surveillance and monitoring of all persons in a home or business via the electronic readings of energy used. The power companies can remotely control and shut off thermostats, appliances and electronics without your consent or your knowledge. This could result in life-sustaining medical devices being shut off to the hurt or demise of the patient (think Pace Makers and Parkinson’s brain implants).
Anyone with an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) reader can easily hack your Smart Meter to gain personal information and to track your movements in your own home or business. In the midst of this RF fiasco, are we seeing George Orwell’s 1984 Big Brother springing to life?
Smart Meters Are Expensive
All appliances and electrical outlets will need to be replaced (and possibly old, incompatible wiring) so that the Smart Meters can talk to them and get a Time-of-Use reading. This will bring the Apartment Owner and Home Owner into compliance with the Home Area Network (HAN) program slated for the very near future.
Insurance exclusions are the norm as no environmental coverage is provided to ameliorate problems originating with Smart Meters”problems such as fires, arcing, explosions, dirty electricity, health impacts, hacking of personal information and the frying of computers, electronics and appliances. Individual and class-action lawsuits will increase.
Tobie’s nephew from the Sacramento area received his first Smart Meter bill for $400¦ a quadrupling of the previous month’s analog meter bill for $100! A farmer in Bakersfield got a whopping PG&E bill for $11,857.99 when a newly-installed Smart Meter glitched!
Expect to receive double, triple, quadruple and even more charges if a Smart Meter is installed. Peak rates will not or cannot be avoided (thereby saving energy) by many Apartment Owners and tenants; thus, rates will increase. Eventually, rising energy costs will produce higher taxes.
How to Protect Your Property Rights
Write and call your utilities and tell them you do not want any Smart Meters on your property under any circumstance. Be polite but firm. Get a confirmation number.
Put sturdy cages around your analog meters; lock and secure them, allowing a clear view for the meter reader; post a No Trespassing sign on or near them; go to Jerry Day’s video at www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJNFr_j6kdl then find the drop-down form, fill it out, laminate and affix to your meters.
If you already have a Smart Meter, file a formal complaint with the Consumer Affairs Branch of the CPUC at https://is.cpuc.ca.gov/cimsapp/ (telephone 1-800-649-7570); then copy and paste to the new consumer advocate site www.smartmeterhelp.com. Purchase a Smart Meter Replacement Kit at www.freedomtaker.com, hire a qualified electrician to replace the Smart Meter with the new analog meter and return the Smart Meter.
Most importantly, BE PROACTIVE in order to protect your God-given Constitutional rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness without the threat of these digital disasters otherwise known as Smart Meters ruining your property, your people and your profit margin!
For nearly twenty years, Tobie Cecil has managed a 70-unit apartment complex on the beautiful Central California Coast. An AOA Member, Tobie has been the overseer of a three acre rental property with the help of his wife, Ellen. Two years ago, the Cecil couple embarked on their Smart Meter Adventure after reading about deployment of the meters and realizing that an action plan was needed to protect Tobie’s employer, their residents, neighbors and themselves. This alarming discovery turned them into consumer advocates; their activism has been blessed with modest media attention further spotlighting their message. Tobie and Ellen may be reached by e-mail at [email protected] or by phone at (831) 883-2310.
[Editor’s Note: This article is for informational purposes and may not be the expressed opinion of AOA.]