An interdisciplinary expert panel will present a program at the Commonwealth Club of California Tuesday, January 28, 2014, from 12:00 – 3:00 p.m., called “The High Road to a True Smart Grid”. The program will cut through misunderstandings about the value of the ‘smart meters’ being rolled out across the country, and the misguided direction of electricity and energy policy in the U.S. The panelists will outline a blueprint for a safer and smarter approach to both electricity generation and distribution in the United States—one that has all of our best interests, and the interests of planet Earth, at heart. Complimentary light buffet will be served from 11:30 a.m. until noon. Download Flyer for Sharing (PDF)http://electromagnetichealth.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Flyer-Commonwealth-Club-Getting-Smarter-About-the-Smart-Grid.pdf To RSVP, please contact the Commonwealth Club of California at www.commonwealthclub.org/events/2013-12-03/high-road-true-smart-grid or 415-597-6700

Tickets: $32 non-members, $20 members, $10 students (with valid ID)

 “The High Road to a True Smart Grid” Billions of dollars of ‘smart’ utility meters are being installed across America that are unable to integrate with, or enable, the ‘smart grid’ of the future on which U.S. energy sustainability depends, according to the landmark report, “Getting Smarter About the Smart Grid” published by the National Institute for Science, Law and Public Policy in Washington, D.C. Called a colossal waste of taxpayer and ratepayer dollars, the new meters and networks do not improve energy efficiency, enhance energy management, help balance supply and demand, or facilitate the integration of renewable sources.  Instead the meters drive up costs, introduce unnecessary risks to personal privacy and health, and divert resources from creating a true smart grid. Join us to dive deeply into the roots of electricity paralysis in the United States and learn what it will to take to create a reliable, safe, and sustainable electricity grid with our planetary interests at heart. Learn:

• How state and local governments, and environmental organizations, have been misled about the purported benefits of ‘smart’ meters.
• How ‘smart’ meter investments, using billions in stimulus funding, do not benefit ratepayers or support economic growth, but financially prop up  unsustainable Investor-Owned-Utilities (IOUs), while postponing investment  in genuine ‘smart’ technical solutions and the inevitable transition to a      decentralized and democratized electricity system.
• How conflicts of interests in the IOU monopoly utility business model are preventing us from moving to a renewable energy economy.
• Why the utility industry is so desperately pushing back against rooftop solar and net metering?
• Why the right to ‘opt out’ of ‘smart’ meters will not solve the pressing  underlying risks and economic problems, nor will exploiting more fossil fuels, and why opt-outs may make the situation worse.
• How “smart meters” may be a surveillance “drone” in your home.
• How  U.S. policymakers evidence a lack of a basic understanding of the problems associated with the future of energy and electricity.
• Why local communities need to take control of their energy future, as we are seeing happening now in Boulder, CO.

More information: http://electromagnetichealth.org/electromagnetic-health-blog/smart-grid-dec-3/