Opponents Push to Stop BC Smart Meters

BC Hydro began rolling out its digital “smart” meter program in British Columbia on July 1, but opponents are still hoping they can stop it.
Opponents Push to Stop BC Smart Meters
Joan Delaney
8/8/2011
Updated:
10/1/2015
<a><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/09/installer.jpg" alt="A worker with Corix Utilities installs a smart meter on a B.C. home. BC Hydro began rolling out its digital 'smart' meter program in the province on July 1, but opponents are still hoping they can stop it.  (BC Hydro)" title="A worker with Corix Utilities installs a smart meter on a B.C. home. BC Hydro began rolling out its digital 'smart' meter program in the province on July 1, but opponents are still hoping they can stop it.  (BC Hydro)" width="320" class="size-medium wp-image-1799589"/></a>
A worker with Corix Utilities installs a smart meter on a B.C. home. BC Hydro began rolling out its digital 'smart' meter program in the province on July 1, but opponents are still hoping they can stop it.  (BC Hydro)
BC Hydro began rolling out its wireless “smart” meter program in British Columbia on July 1, but opponents are still hoping they can stop it.

Anti-smart meter campaigns are gaining momentum, and at least five municipalities have applied for a moratorium after concerns were raised by residents. The B.C. Green Party has also called for the program to be cancelled.

The $930-million program will replace electric meters at every B.C. home and business with wireless smart meters by 2012—1.8 million in all.

BC Hydro says the meters, which relay information about energy use several times a day, improve safety and reliability, are more accurate and cost effective, will conserve energy, and will greatly reduce electricity theft by marijuana “grow ops.”

But with concerns around possible billing changes, adverse health effects from radiofrequency radiation, potential privacy violations, and the fact that BC Hydro does not allow anyone to opt out, the smart meter plan has many British Columbians apprehensive.

Sharon Noble, who co-founded Citizens Against Unsafe Emissions specifically to fight the installations, is urging people to lobby their municipalities to apply for a moratorium on smart meters.

“My major concern is how these meters are little cell [phone] transmitters that are put on the side of every home, every apartment—which means in apartment buildings people are going to have dozens of them—and every business,” says Noble, noting that the World Health Organization recently deemed radiofrequency electromagnetic fields from cellphones a Class 2B carcinogen.

“It’s the same as in cellphones, it’s the same as in cell transmitters, and [smart meters] are going to be sending this through your house 24 hours every day, and you don’t have a choice. There are people who have an environmental sensitivity where they’re exposed to this stuff all the time and their bodies just can’t take it any more, and they can’t opt out.”

Noble says the radiation from spikes that occur every time a smart meter sends signals is “extremely dangerous,” especially for children and people who are sick or elderly who already have impaired immune systems.

However, BC Hydro says the cumulative exposure to radiofrequency from a smart meter over its entire 20-year life span is equal to the exposure of a single 30-minute cellphone call.

Dr. Patricia Daly and Dr. John Blatherwick, the current and previous Chief Medical Health Officers for Vancouver Coastal Health, have said there is no known health risk and no reason for concern over radiofrequency from normal cell phone usage.

No Risk to Privacy


A BC Hydro spokesperson was not available for comment by deadline, but a July 29 letter from Greg Reimer, Executive Vice-president, Transmission and Distribution posted on the Crown corporation’s website, seeks to address privacy concerns.

Reimer says BC Hydro welcomes the review of the smart meter program recently announced by B.C. Privacy Commissioner Elizabeth Denham.

Denham launched an investigation on July 28 after her office received numerous complaints that the information collected by smart meters amounts to a breach of personal privacy.

Reimer says smart meters cannot detect how someone uses electricity or which appliances are being used, but instead measure how much energy is used or generated in total.

“This is the same electricity consumption data we always have collected, just more frequently—up to three or four times per day rather than once every two months,” he writes.

Information collected, which will be encrypted, will be handled in accordance with the B.C. Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act and will not be sold or disclosed to third parties, Reimer says.

“In-depth security has been designed into every element of the program and we have hired online experts to test our systems and develop the strongest possible protections.”

With the new system, BC Hydro expects a net benefit of up to $520 million over the next 20 years, which will keep rates lower than they otherwise would have been. The company says it will maintain the current rate structure throughout the implementation period of the smart meters.

California Controversy


Noble questions the wisdom of BC Hydro going ahead with the program given the problems associated with them in some other jurisdictions. In Ontario, which initiated a time-of-use smart meter plan over a year ago, some people’s hydro bills have increased by up to 70 percent, she says.

According to a survey by Toronto Hydro, 84 percent of those using smart meters are seeing increases in their bills, while no reduction occurred in energy use.
South of the border, soaring electricity bills have led to smart meter lawsuits in Texas and California.

In California, where the issue has become highly controversial, residents with smart meters have complained of mistakes on their bills; interference with cordless phones, baby monitors, and home security systems; the hacking of personal information; and the selling of personal information by utilities companies.

According to the group Stop Smart Meters, more than 2,000 health complaints related to the meters have been submitted to the California Public Utilities Commission.

Forty six cities and counties in California, including San Francisco, have rejected the smart meter program, as have Maryland and Westerville, Ohio. Maine is allowing people to opt out, while Colorado is allowing people to opt in.

Wired Smart Meters


Idaho’s utilities provider, Idaho Power, is replacing traditional meters with wired smart meters throughout its service area in Idaho and eastern Oregon.

David Saunders, Mayor of Colwood on Vancouver Island, the first municipality to apply for a moratorium, says he has been talking with BC Hydro about doing something similar in Colwood.

“BC Hydro has been very proactive in dealing with the City of Colwood—it’s been refreshing,” says Saunders.

“They’re looking at addressing the citizen’s concerns in an expedient fashion, and I don’t see why there wouldn’t be any reason that in the future these systems could be hardwired, such as other areas, and that would negate both the privacy and the radiation concerns of our citizens.”

BC Hydro said last month that it would modify the program to allow those with concerns about exposure to radiofrequency radiation to relocate their smart meter elsewhere on their property at their own expense—which, according to Noble, could cost up to $10,000.

Noble urges those who don’t want a smart meter to put a sign on their existing meter saying so. She says people can have their smart meter installation delayed by calling 1 800 224 9376 and getting on a “do-not-install” list.

“[BC Hydro] has told us that this means that they will not do it without notifying people and without coming up with some options,” she says.

“If people get on this do-not-install list at least it gives them a chance that hopefully we can get a lawsuit going and we can continue fighting this. It will give some option for a delay, and it also gives Hydro an indication of how many people do not want this thing.”
Joan Delaney is Senior Editor of the Canadian edition of The Epoch Times based in Toronto. She has been with The Epoch Times in various roles since 2004.
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