Smart Meter manufacturers are top sponsors for regulatory commissions’ national policy summits

Posted on January 26, 2018 by admin

NARUC is the United States National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissions – the umbrella organization of all of the state utility commissions.

NARUC meets throughout the year, including two national policy summits, and an annual meeting and educational conference.

“[NARUC] members gather to set policy, share best practices, and discuss crucial industry issues”

http://www.naruc (dot) org/meetings-and-events/meetings-overview/

Smart Meter manufacturer Itron was the top sponsor of the 2017 NARUC summer policy summit. Landis & Gyr is the top sponsor of the 2018 winter policy summit to be held February 11-14 in Washington, D.C.

In addition, Aclara (TWACS Smart Meter manufacturer) and Oracle Utilities were gold sponsors of the 2017 summer summit. For the winter 2018 summit, Itron is again a Platinum sponsor, and Oracle Utilities returns as a Gold sponsor.

See also,

https://smartmeterharm.org/2014/10/25/u-s-national-association-of-regulatory-utility-commissioners-presentation-on-smart-meter-problems-2011/

https://smartmeterharm.org/2014/11/16/u-s-public-utility-regulators-in-san-francisco-nov-15-19-for-annual-conference-with-industry/

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Smart Meter manufacturers are top sponsors for regulatory commissions’ national policy summits

Cell phones — questions and answers

Posted on January 22, 2018 by admin

Which is safer, low power or high power?

Neither. The higher the power, the more heat. The lower the power, the more leakage of the blood-brain barrier. The higher the power, the more your metabolism is disturbed.[10] The lower the power, the more calcium leaks out of your cells.[11] Microwave radiation injures the body in many different ways. It depends on which effect you are looking at.

From Cellular Phone Task Force
By Arthur Firstenberg
December 2017

How much radiation does a cell phone emit, compared to what exists in nature?

If Neil Armstrong had brought a cell phone to the moon in 1969, it would have appeared from earth to be the brightest object in the universe in the microwave spectrum. In the daytime, the sun would have been brighter, but at night, the cell phone would have outshone every star.

There is a reason cell phones are outlawed in Green Bank, West Virginia: even a single cell phone, even from miles away, would blind the radio astronomers there and make it impossible for them to see the stars. Astronomers measure radio waves in units called janskys. A typical star shines at 10 to 100 janskys. The Sun shines at about 500,000 janskys. When you hold a cell phone against your head, you are pumping energy at the rate of about 100,000,000,000,000,000 janskys into your brain.[1]

How does that compare to radiation from a cell tower?

Suppose there is a 2,000-watt cell tower two blocks from your house. The part of your brain next to a cell phone is absorbing up to one hundred thousand times as much radiation from the phone as it is from the tower.[2]

Are the FCC’s exposure limits the same for cell phones and cell towers?

No. Cell phones are exempt from the limits imposed on cell towers. The FCC measures exposure in milliwatts per square centimeter. Depending on frequency, the FCC’s limit for whole body exposure to radiation from distant sources is about one milliwatt per square centimeter
(1 mW/cm2). The limit for partial body exposure to a cell phone is approximately 20 mW/cm2 (for the brain), which assumes the phone is held at least one and a half centimeters away from your head. It is 50 mW/cm2 (for the hands, wrists and ears). If you hold the phone flush against your head, like most people do, or tightly between your head and your shoulder, the exposure to the brain can approach 50 mW/cm2 also.[3]

Who set the exposure limits?

A radar scientist named Herman Schwan who was brought to the United States from Germany after World War II as part of Project Paperclip. He made some assumptions about the rate at which the human body is capable of getting rid of heat, and on that basis he estimated that the body could safely absorb an amount of radiation equal to 100 mW/cm2. His assumptions were soon proven wrong, since experimental animals died within minutes when exposed to that much radiation. So over the years, the safe level was reduced first to 10 mW/cm2 and later to the current limit of 1 mW/cm2.

Why is the brain exempt from those limits?

Because those limits would make cell phones impractical. And because new assumptions were made about how much heat the brain could safely absorb, and the rate at which the body could dissipate that heat. It was decided that the brain could be safely heated by up to 1° C
(1.8° F).

Have these assumptions proven correct?

No. A 1° C rise in temperature is usually considered a fever. And although the brain as a whole is heated less than 1° C by a cell phone, the absorption is not uniform. DNA, for example, resonantly absorbs microwave radiation. In experiments done at the Food and Drug Administra­tion during the 1980s, DNA absorbed 400 times as much radiation as expected.[4] Research done at the Max Planck Institute in Germany in 2006 found that brain synapses may be resonantly heated by up to 100° C while the brain as a whole is heated by only 1° C.[5]

I don’t get a headache from my cell phone. Can it be that bad?

Because brain tissue has no pain receptors, we don’t feel the injury. Even a headache doesn’t tell you what’s happening inside your head. Neurosurgen Leif Salford and his colleagues in Sweden found that a single two-hour exposure to a cell phone permanently destroys up to two percent of a rat’s brain cells.[6] Superficially the rats are fine, but two percent of their brain is gone. The experiments gave similar results even when the exposure level was reduced a hundredfold. And in experiments on the blood-brain barrier, they reduced the exposure level ten thousandfold and found that damage to the blood-brain barrier was worse when the exposure level was reduced.[7]

That means that holding the phone away from your head does not protect you. It means that if you use a Bluetooth headset, which emits only 2.5 milliwatts, you are doing more damage to yourself than if you hold the phone to your head. The blood-brain barrier keeps bacteria, virusus, and toxic chemicals out of your brain and maintains the brain at constant pressure. Too much intracranial pressure can lead to a stroke.

How fast does the damage to the blood-brain barrier happen?

Leakage of the blood-brain barrier is detectable within two minutes of exposure and probably begins within seconds.

What do the stroke statistics tell us?

Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Cell phones — questions and answers

California releases cell phone safety guidance: comparison of 2017 version vs. 2009 draft

Posted on January 21, 2018 by admin

From SaferEMR.com

January 4, 2018 (updated January 17, 2018)

In June, 2009, the Division of Environmental and Occupational Disease Control in the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) prepared a draft cell phone safety guidance document. Although the document reflected the consensus of the division, it was not released until May, 2017 pursuant to a court order–the outcome of a lawsuit filed under the California Public Records Act.

In December, 2017, the CDPH finally published their cellphone safety guidance document.

A side-by-side comparison of the contents of the original 2009 draft with the 2017 published version of the document appears below. The side-by-side can be downloaded at http://bit.ly/CDPHsidebyside.

For more information:

Cell Phone Safety Guidance from the California Public Health Department California’s Cell Phone Safety Guidance: Media Coverage

http://www.saferemr.com/2018/01/CDPHsidebyside.html

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Comments Off on California releases cell phone safety guidance: comparison of 2017 version vs. 2009 draft

Why don’t Prime Minister Trudeau and Premier Horgan care about Smart Meter fires? The Goddard Report with Sharon Noble – January 11, 2018

Posted on January 21, 2018 by admin

From the Goddard Report, Talk Digital Network.com

Why Don’t Trudeau and Horgan Care About Smart Meter Fires? Sharon Noble – January 11, 2018
24:43

What BC Hydro didn’t want you to know about Smart Meters

Guest’s website: http://www.stopsmartmetersbc.com/

Also:

(podcast 24:30) January 11, 2018 | Why Don’t Trudeau and Horgan Care About Smart Meter Fires? – The Goddard Report with Jim Goddard – HoweStreet.com – January 11, 2018:
https://www.howestreet.com/2018/01/11/why-dont-trudeau-and-horgan-care-about-smart-meter-fires/

– – – – – – – –

BCUC & Smart Meter Fires Report (July 2017):
http://www.stopsmartmetersbc.com/bcuc-smart-meter-fires-the-failure-to-protect/)

The Goddard Report Video Archives of Interviews with Sharon Noble, Director, Coalition to Stop Smart Meters re Smart Meters and Health Issues from Wireless Technologies:

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Why don’t Prime Minister Trudeau and Premier Horgan care about Smart Meter fires? The Goddard Report with Sharon Noble – January 11, 2018

British Columbia Utility Commission & Smart Meter Fires: The Failure to Protect — Report

Posted on January 21, 2018 by admin

From the Coalition to Stop BC Smart Meters

9-13-17

The BC Utilities Commission’s prime reason for being, as stated in the BC Utilities Commission Act, is to ensure that the citizens of BC receive service that is safe and secure. Section 25 says:

If the commission, after a hearing held on its own motion or on complaint, finds that the service of a public utility is unreasonable, unsafe, inadequate or unreasonably discriminatory, the commission must

(a) determine what is reasonable, safe, adequate and fair service, and

(b) order the utility to provide it.

 

In July 2015 I lodged an official complaint with BCUC, charging that ITRON smart meters are not safe, have never been certified to be safe, and I provided 8 examples of fires and failures in BC that had put lives and property at risk. I asked for a formal investigation of this device and, if it was found to be unsafe, that a formal recall be made, with ITRON refunding all monies paid and charges incurred.

6 months later BCUC responded in a draft form, asking for me to respond, which I did. Included with my response were statements by Electrical Engineers who had inspected the smart meters and found them to have serious design flaws which cause them to be fire hazards. In addition I provided more evidence of fires in BC and elsewhere.

BCUC’s response was that my evidence was not “persuasive”, stating that they had been told, and were convinced, that the meters were safe based upon a report that had been commissioned and paid for by BC Hydro, a report that Len Garis wrote using one source only – the annual Fire Commissioner’s report. Nothing else. BCUC did not seek expert input from Electrical Engineers. Neither did they ask me for more information. Rather, they put the onus on me to prove them and Len Garis wrong.

This report does this, in spades. I now charge that BCUC has failed to do its job by ordering BC Hydro and FortisBC to provide “reasonable, safe, adequate and fair service” after having received a complaint with evidence that the public’s safety is being jeopardized.

I hope you will read the report and consider the following:

1)   No agency is tracking fires;

2)   Regulations and laws are being broken with impunity, e.g. meters are being removed from the fire scene, electrical inspections are not being done;

3)   Reporting is haphazard at best;

4)   The meter is combustible, poorly designed, and not certified by any agency to be safe;

5)   BC Hydro did not perform its due diligence by having an independent Electrical Engineer inspect the meter prior to signing the contract. Rather, it accepted ITRON’s assurances;

6)   Smart meters have burned, melted and caused homes to burn. BC Hydro and BCUC both deny this is happening.

None of these factors were taken into consideration by either Len Garis in his “report” or by BCUC in their rejection of my complaint.

Consumer Affairs recalls defective devices, e.g. cars, electrical appliances. But because a utility owns the smart meters, they are not considered consumer goods and Consumer Affairs has no jurisdiction. Who is watching out for us, ensuring that these devices that are being put on our homes without our permission, mandated by law, are safe?  No one. This is in our hands and this report provides the means by which we can and must demand a recall.

The files are all large, so please be patient when downloading them – it will take time.

1) http://tinyurl.com/SMFireReport

2) http://tinyurl.com/AppendixWSpreadsheet

3) http://tinyurl.com/SuperReportDataVol-I – Supporting Documentation (A-M)

4) http://tinyurl.com/SuperReportDataVol-II – Supporting Documentation (cont’d)  (N-W)

5) Addenda 

http://www.stopsmartmetersbc.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Letter-to-Premier-John-Horgan-Smart-Meters-A-Fire-Hazard-by-Sharon-Noble-September-01-2017.pdf

http://www.stopsmartmetersbc.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Letter-to-David-M.-Morton-CEO-BCUC-Smart-Meters-A-Fire-Hazard-by-Sharon-Noble-September-01-2017.pdf

http://www.stopsmartmetersbc.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Letter-to-Energy-Minister-M.-Mungall-BCUC-and-Smart-Meter-Fires-The-Failure-to-Protect-by-Sharon-Noble-September-02-2017.pdf

http://www.stopsmartmetersbc.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Letter-to-Transportation-Minister-C.-Trevena-BCUC-and-Smart-Meter-Fires-The-Failure-to-Protect-by-Sharon-Noble-September-02-2017.pdf

http://www.stopsmartmetersbc.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Letter-to-MLA-Sonia-Furstenau-BCUC-and-Smart-Meter-Fires-The-Failure-to-Protect-by-Sharon-Noble-September-02-2017.pdf

__________________________________________________________________________

Press Release – http://www.stopsmartmetersbc.com/press-release-bcuc-smart-meter-fires-september-21-2017/

BC Hydro Response & Sharon Noble’s Response Back – http://www.stopsmartmetersbc.com/bc-hydro-response-to-bcuc-request-for-comment-on-ms-nobles-correspondence-re-smart-meter-fires-report-october-20-2017/

Additional important information & links re smart meter fires:

BCUC & Smart Meter Fires: The Failure to Protect

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on British Columbia Utility Commission & Smart Meter Fires: The Failure to Protect — Report

“This is what the ratepayers in South Carolina are up against” – State Senator Fanning makes a roomful of lobbyists stand (VIDEO)

Posted on January 20, 2018 by admin

“[T]he Good Ol’ Boy system is still in force, where the lobbyists run the show.

…It was literally 80 people. It was more than I expected. I knew it was a large crowd, but it was literally 80 of the 110 people in the room.

My response was, this was what ratepayers across South Carolina were up against,” Fanning said.

Video below

From the News and Reporter Online Chester:

By Brian Garner
January 18, 2018

As a former educator, State Senator Mike Fanning (Dist. 17) is used to teaching lessons and has probably even resorted to object lessons that dramatically illustrate a point. He apparently still knows how, because he dramatically illustrated a point to a room full of nuclear lobbyists at the State House during the Senate’s V.C. Summer Nuclear Project Review Committee earlier this week. Sen. Fanning talked with The N&R by phone about the point he was making and why he made his point the way he did.

Fanning provided some background about the potential deal with Dominion Energy, who has offered to buy SCANA, the parent company of SCE&G, for $14.6 billion, but with some major contingencies attached.

“Dominion walked in the door with a gun to our heads. They walked in a little cocky and a little arrogant, which doesn’t surprise me, because the folks in SCANA are the same way, but they walked in as if they were the only game in town, take it or leave it, and giving us the full-court press. They said in effect, ‘If you don’t take this deal, SCANA is going bankrupt and you will need to do something tomorrow,” he said.

At the Gressette Building meeting earlier this week, Sen. Fanning asked the lobbyists or anyone else who was being paid by any of the energy companies to stand and be recognized. Three-quarters of the room stood.

“That,” Fanning said, indicating the army of lobbyists and energy company execs “is what the people of South Carolina, the ratepayers, are up against. Right here.”

There were two things that Fanning wanted to point out during that meeting, he later said in the interview, “You’ve got SCANA, a massive power player, teamed up and said to the ratepayers: ‘You will pay billions of dollars for reactors.’ And they did. Now we’ve got Dominion walking in the door and telling us: ‘You will not stand in the way of us taking over SCANA.’

“And it was just that big corporate bully vs. the average citizen.”

Fanning said when he arrived at the Gressette 105 room, the largest Senate meeting room that holds 100-120 people, the room was packed. When he looked over the crowd, it looked like the vast majority of the people in the room were lobbyists for large energy concerns.

“It bothered me that once again, the full-court press was on where they’re going to dangle $1,000 (which is the rebate Dominion said ratepayers would get back if the deal goes through) and they’re going to put the full-court press on and then hire 18 lobbyists (including former S.C. Governor Jim Hodges).

Why would former Governor Hodges be sitting on the front row unless it was to leverage power to get us to make the deal?

“And I’m not knocking him – he is a person that earns a living, and that’s his job. Having said that, there was a sense of bullying, ‘We are the big dog and you’re going top take our offer or else.”

Fanning said this was what the common man in this entire issue has been up against for the last 10 years.

“Nine straight rate increases, where we don’t have a chance to say ‘Whoa, slow this down’ and after the rate increases, the company walking away, and after the company walks away, our rates are still high, and then Dominion walks in the door and says ‘We’re still going to keep the rates higher than they should be,” he said.

Secondly, Fanning recalled he ran for office because he was opposed to the “Good Ol’ Boy” system in state politics, saying that was what gets in the way of genuine policy reform that could positively represent the regular citizens in the street. The Good Ol’ Boy system was in evidence when he looked across the sea of faces in the meeting, Fanning said, including former legislators and former governors who are now lobbyists for the energy companies.

“When I looked over the audience and saw that, I wanted to be able to paint a picture of this David vs. Goliath, Regular-Man-Versus-The-Energy-Machine. The only way I could think to do that was to have them stand up,” he said. Then the former educator proceeded to teach the day’s lesson.

“I was very cautious not to tip my hand as to why I was asking them to stand up. I said ‘We have a great crowd today. We want to recognize all that were here and all the folks that were interested in our energy problem. In fact, if any of you are here today and have received any money or are in any way connected with a utility company, an energy company or a power company, (and I named the names) would you please stand and be recognized.’ It was literally 80 people. It was more than I expected. I knew it was a large crowd, but it was literally 80 of the 110 people in the room.

“My response was, this was what ratepayers across South Carolina were up against,” Fanning said.

He said he wasn’t disparaging the people who were doing their jobs, but many times, people say ‘You are government. Make this right.”

“I wanted to call attention that the Good Ol’ Boy system is still in force, where the lobbyists run the show. The reason we are in this mess (and the General Assembly did pass the Base Load Review Act) but it was lobbyists for SCANA and Santee-Cooper that worked with the law firm to draft the BLRA and hand it to legislators (who then didn’t give it the due diligence they should have – I’m not taking the legislature off the hook at all) but it was started by lobbyists for nuclear power industries in South Carolina wanting to get this done,” he said.

“And here we are trying to get out of the deal, and we are once again being pressured by big-time lobbyists wanting to get something done,” he pointed out.

“The other reason you want to paint a picture is because Dominion Energy has been doing a very effective job of painting their picture. We are getting ready to get into House primary elections, where every member of the House is up for reelection and right before people file, Dominion unveils a deal that says ‘We will cut a $1,000 check to every single constituent in your district. Please feel free to oppose the deal and tell your people you’re going to keep them from getting a $1,000 check.’

“It was brilliant, and it is hard for us to explain why taking a $1,000 is bad. My point was (Dominion) had painted a vivid picture of themselves as the cowboy with the white hat on the white horse coming to save the day, with a $1,000 check for everybody there. That visual imagery was what we were trying to hold back to keep folks focused on what was really good for themselves and the state, long-term. I needed to paint a picture of who is really in the white hat and on that white horse. Are these folks doing this because they woke up one morning and said ‘We want to sacrifice our lives for the betterment of South Carolina?’ Or were they there because they see profit value?” Fanning asked.

That question has yet to be answered.

http://www.onlinechester.com/content/what-ratepayers-sc-are-against

Posted under Fair Use Rules

Comment on Twitter below the post from “Brandon Smithwood”

“man, oh, man, his PAC is going to be hurting this cycle.”

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on “This is what the ratepayers in South Carolina are up against” – State Senator Fanning makes a roomful of lobbyists stand (VIDEO)

Testimony in Michigan: “They treated me as if I was a criminal…terrorized me…they cut me off” – what Consumers Energy did to one disabled customer with five doctors’ letters who asked to keep her analog meter (VIDEO)

Posted on January 19, 2018 by admin

Jaime Chimner testimony to Michigan House Energy Policy Committee
January 16, 2018

 

Excerpts:

Jaime Chimner: I was cut off on September 11 of 2015 because I had 5 doctors’ letters saying that a Smart Meter or digital meter would severely harm me healthwise…And it’s still shut off. ..They cut me off because I couldn’t, for my life, have a Smart Meter or a digital meter. I was given 13 hours notice that they were going to cut our power because I couldn’t, I would not accept a digital or Smart Meter.

…What gives them the right to do that? Where do we live in a world where this Smart Meter program was supposed to be voluntary when it first started, we were supposed to volunteer to get it? We didn’t have to get it. Well, now I’m proof that you have to get it, or they’ll cut your power.

It doesn’t matter what you have, what reasons, they just smile at you and terrorize you. And he terrorized me that day when he came to shut of our power. I begged him , I begged this man not to shut my power off. I have machines I have to use to live…

…they treated me as if I was a criminal….

…Please do the right thing and pass the Meter Choice bill or I’m not going to have a choice and I won’t be here much longer if that goes on my house. Thank you very much….

…

Rep. Lower: …What’s wrong with the digital opt-out meter? What problems does it cause? Or could you have that meter?

Jaime Chimner: No, that was the meter that was on my house actually for 6 years, and I, we didn’t realize it. It affects my health.

Rep. Lower: In what way?

Jaime Chimner: It paralyzed me. After 6 years and finally figuring out what was on our house, when the Smart Meters were coming. I was paralyzed from the waist down most days. I was homebound in a wheelchair by that point and not given a whole lot of time left to live. We couldn’t find what was causing my problem.

NOTE: Jaime Chimner was given disabled accommodation by the Michigan legislature. She is disabled by electromagnetic sensitivities (EMS). The legislature allowed her to testify first so that she could limit her time in the hearing room, which has wireless internet (Wi-Fi).

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Testimony in Michigan: “They treated me as if I was a criminal…terrorized me…they cut me off” – what Consumers Energy did to one disabled customer with five doctors’ letters who asked to keep her analog meter (VIDEO)

Michigan: DTE threatened to shut off electricity to village including water and sewer system for refusing Smart Meters (VIDEO)

Posted on January 19, 2018 by admin

Testimony to the Michigan Energy Policy Committee, January 16, 2018

DTE threatened to shut off the Village of Columbiaville for refusing to allow a Smart Meter to be installed on the office and Department of Public Utilities building. The DPU building contains controls for the village water and sewer systems,

“DTE did not care about the village and our residents and the extent of damage they could have caused by shutting off our power.”

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Michigan: DTE threatened to shut off electricity to village including water and sewer system for refusing Smart Meters (VIDEO)

Michigan House of Representatives hearing on utility companies cutting off electricity to customers refusing Smart Meters, 2nd hearing scheduled Jan. 30 to hear more customer testimony (VIDEO)

Posted on January 18, 2018 by admin

Michigan House Energy Policy Committee hearing January 16, 2018

From WLNS 6

Skubick: Customers come to Capitol to speak out against DTE

By Tim Skubick
January 16, 2018

http://wlns.com/2018/01/16/skubick-customers-come-to-capitol-to-speak-out-against-against-dte/

LANSING, Mich (WLNS) – They were using words such as “bullies, terrorists, and monsters” to describe the conduct of DTE energy regarding the installation of smart meters to measure your energy consumption.

One person described DTE’s conduct as “terrorists” while another said they were “malicious, aggressive, unfair”.

DTE lobbyist Rodney Cole, Jr said he believes the utilities are doing the best job they can right now.

The House Energy Committee took testimony from disgruntled DTE customers regarding the utilities behavior on installing smart meters.

Many consumers don’t want them.

Customer Dan Schulte agreed to the meter and describes what happened then. “I allowed them to put the meter in and then they cut the power and laughed about it.”

Schulte called the utility “monsters”.

Senator Patrick Colbeck accuses the utilities of bullying. “It is. They bring out four trucks and try to intimidate these people. It’s not right.”

State Rep. Gary Glenn said “after the kind of testimony I heard today and I have no reason not to believe them. I don’t understand why DTE and Consumers would continue to allow this to happen.”

“We take customer complaints very seriously,” insisted Rodney Cole, Jr., the DTE lobbyist.

The utility is preparing a report on this issue.

So when this reporter asked if these people are over-reacting, Cole answered, “there’s some additional information that we’ll be able to provide. This is something we’ve tried to educate the public on.”

The committee will consider a measure to give consumers a choice to use the meters or not.

http://wlns.com/2018/01/16/skubick-customers-come-to-capitol-to-speak-out-against-against-dte/

Posted under Fair Use Rules.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Michigan House of Representatives hearing on utility companies cutting off electricity to customers refusing Smart Meters, 2nd hearing scheduled Jan. 30 to hear more customer testimony (VIDEO)

Kentucky utilities try again to get approval for Smart Meter roll-out; Attorney General calls proposal “premature”

Posted on January 18, 2018 by admin

Last March, [Attorney General Andy] Beshear successfully fought to get smart meters cleaved from a plan to increases rates as too expensive. “After careful review of the filings in this case, we find little support that smart meter deployment will benefit the ratepayers in any way,”  Beshear said at the time.

From Louisville Courier Journal

Rejecting smart utility meters could cost you $260-$540 a year in LG&E and KU rate plan

January 3, 2018
By James Bruggers

For the second time, two big Kentucky utilities have asked regulators for permission to install 1.3 million smart meters on their customers’ homes and businesses.

This time, Louisville Gas and Electric and Kentucky Utilities are offering to let customers who reject the new technology to opt out but at a substantial cost.

Chris Whelan, the spokeswoman for both, broke it down like this:

  • For KU customers, the proposed opt-out charge would consist of a one-time fee of $72.71 and $32.45 per month.
  • For LG&E electric customers, a $57.86 fee and $22.70 recurring monthly charge.
  • For LG&E natural gas customers, the proposed costs are $57.86 followed by a $21.80 recurring monthly fee.

The companies say the meters save money and allow them to respond more quickly to restore power during outages, such as big storms.

They had proposed, and pulled, what they call “advanced meters” from a rate increase proposal last year, amid various controversies and concerns about cost. Whelan said that for customers who get the new meters, there would be no immediate change in rates despite the $350 million in installation costs.

In a news release, the company said those costs would be “more than offset by the savings and benefits advanced meters provide over their lifetime and is comparable to the amount other utilities have invested.”

Kentucky Attorney General Andy Beshear isn’t buying it.

“This move is premature, and this office continues to have serious concerns with smart meter applications,” he said in a written statement Wednesday. “In a settlement … just last year, the companies’ agreed to withdraw a similar smart meter application.

“In return, our office agreed to participate in a process to voice our concerns, but not to support a new application less than a year later.”

The Kentucky Public Service Commission will scrutinize the proposed Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity filed by the companies over the next few months, said Andrew Melnykovych, the commission spokesman. The PCS approved a Duke Energy plan for smart meters in Northern Kentucky last year. There, the opt-out fee was $100, plus $25 a month.

Nationally, tens of millions of the advanced meters have been installed, <https://www.courier-journal.com/story/tech/science/watchdog-earth/2016/11/2 3/lge-and-smart-meters-get-tin-foil-hats/94335358/> sometimes controversially with concerns about health effects from radio frequency waves, privacy and security. Duke tells its customers that the radio signals are far below the levels emitted by common household appliances and electronics, including cellphones and microwave ovens, and that their customers’ data is secure.

At least one public interest group opposes the meters, which would replace those that need to be read in person monthly by LG&E personnel.

“Too much is unknown in terms of reward, while cost is very high,” said Cathy Hinko the executive director of the Metropolitan Housing Coalition, which participated in meetings with the utilities and other groups in recent months. “I find the lack of specificity of savings from other areas that have used smart meters to be unnecessarily elusive and, therefore, unreliable.”

Advanced meters will offer customers near-real-time energy-use information through an online dashboard that can help them better manage their power usage and save money, the companies said. Whelan said a current dashboard used in a pilot program would be replaced with one that’s easier to use.

Advanced meters also allow utilities to better determine where outages are occurring, quickly diagnose the cause of the outage and, at times, respond more efficiently, the news release said.

“We’ve learned a great deal about advanced meters through the pilot programs we’ve offered over the years,” said David Huff, director of energy efficiency and emerging technologies for the companies. “Today’s advanced meters are much more sophisticated than those 10 years ago, and we are receiving positive feedback from customers who participate in our current early adopter program.”

Last March, Beshear successfully fought to get smart meters cleaved from a plan to increases rates as too expensive. “After careful review of the filings in this case, we find little support that smart meter deployment will benefit the ratepayers in any way,” <https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/local/2017/03/09/ag-beshear-want s-big-cut-lge-ku-rate-plan/98960212/> Beshear said at the time.

Whelan said the meters would be installed over three years, possibly starting later in 2018, for a program that would be completed in five.

https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/local/2018/01/03/opting-out-smart-meters-would-cost/1000201001/

Posted under Fair Use Rules.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Kentucky utilities try again to get approval for Smart Meter roll-out; Attorney General calls proposal “premature”