Bioinitiative website provides searchable research database

Posted on February 19, 2017 by admin

From the CTIA (formerly known as the Cellular Telephone Industry Association) website:

From time to time, some researchers report that a study shows a possible connection between radio frequency fields and a health problem. These reports are sometimes the subject of dramatic stories in the broadcast media and sensational material on some websites. Of course, responsible expert authorities do not base their conclusions on just the latest study — they evaluate all of the relevant studies.

From Collaborative on Health and the Environment (CHE)
February 15, 2017

A Case Study: Tapping the Bioinitiative Website

Bioinitiative logo

By Cindy Sage, MA
Owner of Sage Associates, Full Member of the Bioelectromagnetics Society, Co-author of the Bioinitiative Report and CHE Partner

This post will introduce our readers to the BioInitiative website, which makes publications on electromagnetic fields (EMF) and radiofrequency radiation (RF) on health topics accessible. The information is set up to allow users to integrate the EMF and RF information on health into their own practices. I hope other CHE groups will begin to consider how EMF and RF studies, along with other important environmental contaminants, can shape our views on the etiologies of breast cancer, brain cancers, heart disease, neurological diseases, cognitive and neurodevelopmental problems like autism and ADHD, and the fundamental mechanisms involved.

The Bioinitiative provides broad information the science and public health consequences of EMF and wireless technologies. This website offers an opportunity for CHE members to access many hundreds of scientific abstracts on EMF and RF. The Research Summaries can be downloaded and word-searched by topic or keyword (“hippocampus”, for example). The ability to quickly access scientific publications reporting effects (or no effects) is a vital part of research and education. This collection offers rapid access to decision-makers and the public on the state of the evidence for EMF and RF effects on human health. It can help researchers identify common pathways, mechanisms and biomarkers that may overlap with chemical and ionizing radiation, and studies of various disease endpoints (cancers, neurological diseases, neurodevelopmental problems and more).

A CHE ScienceServ that I follow recently included a post regarding a new study of hippocampal activation, increased amyloid accumulation and cognitive decline.1 I was able to search the Bioinitiative website for studies on effects of radiofrequency and microwave radiation on the hippocampus and found 44 studies reporting effects on the hippocampus from exposure to radiofrequency radiation, primarily in the cell phone and Wi-Fi frequency ranges. RF/microwave exposures are clearly biologically active in the hippocampus at exposure levels below current safety limits. Such exposures are reported to cause changes in development, structure and function of the hippocampus.

The studies I located provide readers a sense of the scope of information available on the Bioinitiative website:

  • Lai et al, 1991: An increase in receptor concentration occurred in the hippocampus of rats subjected to ten 45-min sessions of microwave exposure, whereas a decrease in concentration was observed in the frontal cortex and hippocampus of rats exposed to ten 20-min sessions.2
  • Lai et al, 1992: The data showed that all three subtypes of opioid receptors are involved in the microwave-induced decrease in cholinergic activity in the hippocampus.3
  • Grigor’ev et al, 1995: The reaction of hippocampus was displayed as amplification of theta-range in spectrum within of normal functioning.4
  • Lai et al, 1996: These data indicate that mu-opioid receptors in the septum mediate a microwave-induced decrease in cholinergic activity in the hippocampus and support our hypothesis that microwaves at a whole body SAR of 0.6 W/kg can activate endogenous opioids in the brain.5
  • Pu et al, 1997: Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) in the brain and the amounts of succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) in the hypothalamus and hippocampus were reduced significantly in the group irradiated at 3000-MHz microwave 1 h daily for 7 days as compared to the control.6
  • Ding et al, 1998: Decrease of nitric oxide synthase expression in hippocampus relates to the obstruction of learning and memory of the rat after exposure to electromagnetic pulse.7
  • Wu et al, 1999: Electromagnetic pulse exposure results in changes of the content of neurotransmitters in different cerebral areas of rats, lowering their ability of learning.8
  • Cobb et al, 2000: The medial-to-lateral length of the hippocampus was significantly longer in the ultra-wideband electromagnetic fields -exposed pups than in the sham-exposed animals.9
  • Tattersall et al, 2001: Low-intensity RF fields can modulate the excitability of hippocampal tissue in vitro in the absence of gross thermal effects.10
  • Testylier et al, 2002: Neurochemical modification of the hippocampal cholinergic system can be observed during and after an exposure for 1 h during the day to a 2.45 GHz continuous wave radiofrequency field (RF).11
  • Salford et al, 2003: We found highly significant (p<0.002) evidence for neuronal damage in the cortex, hippocampus, and basal ganglia in the brains of rats exposed for 2 hr to Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) mobile phone electromagnetic fields of different strengths.12
  • Paulraj & Behari, 2004: A significant decrease in the calcium-dependent protein kinase C (PKC) enzyme level was observed in the modulated radio frequency (RF) radiation exposed group as compared to the sham exposed group.13
  • Koylu et al, 2006: The levels of lipid peroxidation in the brain cortex and hippocampus increased in the microwave-exposed (MW) group compared with the control group, although the levels in the hippocampus were decreased by MW+melatonin administration.14
  • Lopez-Martin et al, 2006: When rats transformed into an experimental model of seizure-proneness by acute subconvulsive doses of picrotoxin were exposed to 2 h GSM-modulated 900 MHz radiation at an intensity similar to that emitted by mobile phones, they suffered seizures and the levels of the neuronal activity marker c-Fos in neocortex, paleocortex, hippocampus and thalamus increased markedly.15
  • Paulraj & Behari, 2006: Our study reveals a statistically significant decrease in protein kinase C activity in hippocampus in the group exposed to 2.45 GHz radiation for 2 h/day for a period of 35 days as compared to the remaining portion of the whole brain and the control group.16
  • Zhao et al, 2006: Map2 was statistically significantly up-regulated after neurons were exposed to the RF EMF.17
  • Ammari et al, 2008: Our results indicated that chronic exposure to GSM 900 MHz microwaves may induce persistent astroglia activation in the rat brain (sign of a potential gliosis).18
  • Nittby et al, 2008: Gene ontology analysis (using the gene ontology categories biological processes, molecular functions, and cell components) of the differentially expressed genes of the exposed animals versus the control group revealed the following highly significant altered gene categories in both cortex and hippocampus: extracellular region, signal transducer activity, intrinsic to membrane, and integral to membrane.19
  • Odaci et al, 2008: Prenatal EMF exposure caused a decrease in the number of granule cells in the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus rat brain.20
  • Bas et al, 2009: Postnatal EMF exposure caused a significant decrease of the hippocampal pyramidal cell number in the cornu ammonis (CA) of the EMF group. Additionally, cell loss can be seen in the CA region of EMF group even at qualitative observation.21
  • Daniels et al, 2009: We found no significant differences in the spatial memory test, and morphological assessment of the brain also yielded non-significant differences between the groups. However, in some exposed animals there were decreased locomotor activity, increased grooming and a tendency of increased basal corticosterone levels.22
  • Kesari & Behari, 2009: With chronic exposure to these radiations, PKC decreased significantly in whole brain and hippocampus and DNA double-strand break (head and tail length, intensity and tail migration) and showed a significant decrease in glutathione peroxidase and superoxides dismutase activity in brain cells, whereas catalase activity shows significant increase in the exposed group of brain samples as compared with control.23
  • Li et al, 2009: Microwave radiation can increase the expression of AQP4 in rat hippocampus.24
  • Ammari et al, 2010: Sub-chronic exposures to a 900 MHz EMF signal for two months could adversely affect rat brain, including the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus (sign of a potential gliosis).25
  • Maskey et al, 2010: Exposure for 1 month produced almost complete loss of hippocampal pyramidal cells in the CA1 area.26
  • Narayanan et al, 2010: Mobile phone RF-EMR exposure significantly altered the passive avoidance behaviour and hippocampal morphology in rats.27
  • Carballo-Quintás et al, 2011: Ninety minutes after radiation high levels of c-fos expression were recorded in the neocortex and paleocortex along with low hippocampus activation in picrotoxin treated animals. Most brain areas, except the limbic cortical region, showed important increases in neuronal activation 24 h after picrotoxin and radiation.28
  • Dragicevic et al 2011: These results collectively suggest that brain mitochondrial enhancement may be a primary mechanism through which EMF treatment provides cognitive benefit to both transgenic and non-transgenic mice.29
  • Fragopoulou et al, 2012: Comparative proteomics analysis revealed that long-term irradiation from two EMF sources—a typical mobile phone and a wireless DECT base (Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications/Telephone)—altered significantly (p<0.05) the expression of 143 proteins in total (as low as 0.003-fold downregulation up to 114-fold overexpression).30
  • Lu et al, 2012: Our results indicate that glucose administration attenuates the spatial memory deficits induced by chronic low-power-density microwave (MW) exposure, and reduced hippocampal glucose uptake may be associated with cognitive impairment caused by MW exposure.31
  • Yang et al, 2012: Exposure to electromagnetic fields elicits a stress response in the rat hippocampus.32

…

For full list:  https://www.healthandenvironment.org/engage/blog/a-case-study-tapping-the-bioinitiative-website

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Ohio smart water meter coverup: 72,000 billing complaints, “skyrocketing bills” for Cleveland Water customers; critical meter installation error or other problems?

Posted on February 19, 2017 by admin

Excellent investigative report from News 5 Cleveland by Ron Regan
February 15, 2017

Excerpts:

Cleveland Water uses Elster meters.

Incorrect meter programming leads to billing error, but water officials failed to inform customers with skyrocketing bills

A Cleveland water customer will high bills discovered the programming error. “The water department assured him there was no problem, never mentioned possible programming errors,  and threatened him with disconnection.”

In its report, “Factors for Water Billing Accuracy“, Itron warns that “many errors can occur during installation that can cause an inaccurate meter read”.

“Cleveland Division of Water has repaired or replaced at least 3,469 “smart meters” over the last four years since the program began…Additional records show more than 72,000 water customer billing complaints for the same time period.”

 

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Disabled veteran disputes bill increase, smart meter reading

Posted on February 19, 2017 by admin

On the newscast. the reporters say that they’ve been hearing from other people about high bills, and they give information on the two upcoming Michigan legislature hearings on the Smart Meter bill.

From ABC 12, Michigan

VIDEO on website

By Elisse Ramey |
Feb 17, 2017

GRAND BLANC TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WJRT) – (2/17/17) – A disabled veteran is locked in a dispute over his utility bill – and fears he could ultimately lose his house. We’ve been hearing people talk about fluctuations in their bills since smart meters have been installed.

Edward Vernier and his wife, Tammy, say their energy bills aren’t t adding up.

“Me being a hundred percent disabled vet, living on a fixed income, they’re just starving us to death. There’s no way we could be using that much energy,” he said.

He says their bill is on average $270.00. On a budget plan, they pay about $150.00 a month, but now he says their bill is around $470.00.

Energy Insights provided by the company show their usage to be highest from 12-am to 12-noon when they are sleep or not using appliances. Even more to the point — the couple spends 3 weeks out of the month away from their Grand Blanc Township home during camping season.

A technician visited the house Tuesday to, and said the couple is being energy efficient. The only answer Edward has for the increase is the installation of a smart meter. He says that was told to him by a Consumers Energy employee.

“She says that the newer meters are catching up from appliances that weren’t recording properly.”

Consumers Energy says Edward’s meter is showing an accurate reading. They say Edward has been enrolled in a shutoff protection plan for over a year, and his bill increased in November to address a past-due balance. He owes a few thousand dollars, and now this vet is running out of options. He’s already taken out a VA loan to help with the mortgage.

“It’s going to drive us out of our house, you know, with the amount of money that we’re spending. That’s killing us on the mortgage payment,” he said.

Edward says the technician told him he wasn’t the only one with a smart meter who has experienced an increase in usage and cost, but he was told the increase he’s experienced is the highest.

The company says Edward may qualify for the CARE program which is supposed to help customers with past due bills. They reached out to him after we called, but he hasn’t officially been enrolled, yet.

http://www.abc12.com/content/news/Disabled-veteran-disputes-bill-increase-smart-meter-reading-414130523.html

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Michigan: Bipartisan support for legislation; HB 4220 bans opt-out fees; utilities would be forced to remove unwanted Smart Meters

Posted on February 19, 2017 by admin

House Bill #4220

Click to access 2017-HIB-4220.pdf

From WZZM ABC 13

by April Stevens
February 17, 2017

LANSING, MICH. – Michigan homeowners may be able to reject ‘smart meters’ at no charge under a bipartisan legislation introduced by Rep. Gary Glenn, R-Midland.

The bill will be the subject of a public hearing this Tuesday in the House Energy Policy Committee, which Glenn chairs, and again on March 7.

“Republicans and Democrats alike agree it’s all about individual freedom of choice and homeowners’ private property rights,” Glenn said. Among the 17 co-sponsors are four Democrats, including Rep. Rose Mary Robinson of Detroit.

“Homeowners should have the ultimate authority to decide what technology is installed in their homes – not utilities whose government-protected monopoly prevents homeowners from choosing a competing electricity provider,” Glenn continued.

The bill would support Attorney General Bill Schuette’s court brief stating utility officials have no authority to charge fees to customers who wish to opt out of advanced metering technology such as the smart meters. The fees were allowed by the Michigan Public Service Commission.

Consumers Energy and DTE Energy charge residents nearly $70 initially and nearly $10 a month afterwards to opt out of programs involving advanced electricity meters installed outside of residential homes. The new meters are replacing older analog models.

Some reject the new technology, with reasons varying from cost to privacy concerns to property rights. Other concerns included the potential to track energy usage patterns to determine when homes are empty or how many people live at a particular address through data transmitted by smart meters.

“It’s a cyber-security concern,” Glenn said. “We live in a wired world. We need to safeguard homeowners’ privacy and private property rights so people have the option to limit these intrusions and threats to exposure of their private information.”

Glenn’s bill would ban utilities from charging homeowners fees if they don’t want smart meters as well as allowing customers to keep the older meters to self-read and report their energy usage to utilities on their own. That would reduce the need for utilities to send meter readers to homes or charge for those services.

Under the bill, customers who keep their old meters but decide not to self-read could be charged a monthly fee of no more than $5 and utilities would be forced to remove the technology from any home in which it has already been installed against the homeowner’s wishes.

“Homeowners didn’t have a say in this smart meter program, and under utility officials’ government-granted monopoly, homeowners aren’t free to shop around for a competing electricity provider that doesn’t require smart meters,” Glenn said.

“We hope to correct that situation and provide freedom of choice through this bipartisan legislation.”

April Stevens is a multi-platform producer at WZZM 13. Have a news tip? Email news@wzzm13.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter.

(© 2017 WZZM)

http://www.wzzm13.com/money/consumer/rep-glenn-homeowners-could-reject-smart-meters-at-no-charge/409317178

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Maine: Bill eliminating opt-out fees gets state hearing February 14

Posted on February 13, 2017 by admin

Maine Legislature
February 14, 2017
Hearing:  Energy, Utilities, & Technology Committee
1 PM EST

Hearing on SP 75 / LD 229 (introduced by Maine Senator Dave Miramant)

Audio Broadcast Page: http://legislature.maine.gov/committee/#Audio/211

SP 75/LD 229

An Act To Prohibit an Electric Utility from Charging a Customer for Using an Electromechanical Meter

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:

Sec. 1. 35-A MRSA §3104, sub-§2, as enacted by PL 2003, c. 412, §1, is amended to read:

  1. Requirement.  Except as provided in this section, an investor-owned transmission and distribution utility shall adopt and ordinarily follow as a general operating policy a schedule of reading customer meters on a monthly basis. Any investor-owned transmission and distribution utility that plans to adopt a different policy, such as bimonthly meter readings or meter readings in accordance with subsection 3, must receive prior approval of the commission.

Sec. 2.  35-A MRSA §3104, sub-§3  is enacted to read:

  1. 3.  Meter reading and billing option. An investor-owned transmission and distribution utility may, with the prior approval of the commission, adopt in accordance with this subsection a meter reading and billing policy for customers using electromechanical meters, as defined in section 3106, that involves reading customer meters as infrequently as once every 12 months. The policy may not involve reading meters less frequently than once every 12 months. The policy may include a monthly billing method that bases charges on an average of the customer’s previous actual electricity consumption over a period of up to 18 months. The policy may provide for meter readings by a customer between readings by the utility if the utility provides guidance to the customer on how to read a meter and a method that does not impose a cost on the customer for the customer to provide the readings to the utility. The policy must establish a process by which the utility provides a refund to a customer if a billing based on average usage results in an overpayment by a customer and an appropriate rebilling of a customer if such a billing results in an underpayment by the customer. The commission may adopt routine technical rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A to implement this subsection.

Sec. 3.  35-A MRSA §3106  is enacted to read:

  • 3106. Smart meter opt-out fees and charges prohibited
  1. 1.  As used in this section, the following terms have the following meanings.
  1. A.  “Electromechanical meter” means a meter used to measure electricity consumption that is not a wireless smart meter.
  1. B.  “Wireless smart meter” means an electronic metering device to measure electricity consumption that reports that consumption by wireless, radio frequency communication.
  1. 2.  A transmission and distribution utility may not charge a customer a fee, monthly charge or higher rate for declining the installation of a wireless smart meter or for the removal of a wireless smart meter. A transmission and distribution utility may not charge a customer for costs associated with that customer’s choosing an electromechanical meter.

All costs incurred by a transmission and distribution utility as a result of a customer’s choosing an electromechanical meter are just and reasonable for rate-making purposes.

SUMMARY

This bill prohibits a transmission and distribution utility from charging a customer a fee, monthly charge or higher rate for declining the installation of a wireless smart meter or for the removal of a wireless smart meter. A transmission and distribution utility is prohibited from including any costs associated with a customer’s choosing an electromechanical meter in rates charged to that customer.

With approval by the Public Utilities Commission, an investor-owned transmission and distribution utility may decrease the number of times an electromechanical meter is read for a customer that declines the installation of a wireless smart meter but may not read the meter less frequently than once every 12 months and may establish a rate collection method that is based upon the average electricity consumption of the customer. If a transmission and distribution utility prefers a more frequent electromechanical meter reading, the utility may establish a method for a customer to provide the utility with a more frequent electromechanical meter reading, as long as the method does not impose a cost on the customer. This bill requires the utility to establish a process by which the utility provides a refund to a customer if a billing based on average usage results in an overpayment by a customer and an appropriate rebilling of a customer if such a billing results in an underpayment by the customer.

http://legislature.maine.gov/legis/bills/getPDF.asp?paper=SP0075&item=1&snum=128

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Are ‘smart’ meters dangerous? Pennsylvania man wins round in fight with electric company

Posted on February 12, 2017 by admin

From Penn Live

By Matt Miller
February 10, 2017

At least for now, a Philadelphia man has won a round in his fight with the electric company.

It came this week when a Commonwealth Court panel ordered the Public Utility Commission to give Antonio Romeo a chance to prove his claim that a “smart” electric meter PECO wants to install at his home isn’t safe.

This is something of a David and Goliath story, since Romeo doesn’t even have a lawyer.

Romeo began loading his slingshot by refusing to allow PECO workers onto his property to install a smart meter required as part of a state program to reduce energy consumption. He claims such meters are dangerous because they can catch fire.

PECO fought back and won rulings from an administrative law judge and the PUC requiring Romeo to give in. Then came the Commonwealth Court opinion by Judge P. Kevin Brobson.

Brobson agreed with the PUC in tossing out Romeo’s claim that federal law allows him to fend off PECO’s meter installation.

However, Brobson concluded that the PUC dismissed Romeo’s safety argument a bit too quickly. The commission rejected Romeo’s contention about meter fires on grounds that he didn’t personally provide any proof to back it up.

Romeo did provide links to two news articles about the supposed safety issue, the state judge noted. Brobson ordered the PUC to hold another hearing focusing just on the danger claim to give Romeo the opportunity to substantiate his concerns.

http://www.pennlive.com/news/2017/02/are_smart_meters_dangerous_man.html

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UK: Residents slam Thames Water’s smart water meter installations

Posted on February 12, 2017 by admin

From Hamstead & Highgate

February 9, 2017
by Nathalie Raffray

Residents in Fortis Green are campaigning against smart water meters in or near their homes

Residents in Fortis Green are campaigning against smart water meters in or near their homes

Campaigners in Fortis Green have slammed Thames Water for installing controversial “smart” water meters without consulting residents.

Members of the Muswell Hill and Fortis Green Association are accusing the water giant of bullying residents with false information as they “sweep through” the borough digging up pavements to fit them.

The group have been actively giving “Stop – Do Not Fit A Smart Water Meter” posters to residents to put in their windows and raise awareness.

Smart meters are replacing wired analogue meters which wirelessly monitor, measure and communicate customer’s water usage data to utility providers.

John Adrioni, from Stop Smart Meters Haringey, said: “The only consultation that occurred that we know of was with three streets in Tottenham last August. Since then there have been no consultation in the borough.

“Thames Water are counting on people’s ignorance. There is no law that mandates the installation of this product and it requires exposure of material facts to customers. Smart meters are a data collection device which does more than measure the water. There are safer alternatives like analogue meters which are tried, tested and work.”

He said the risks associated with smart water meter use include higher bills for some households, privacy violations through the collection of customer data and “Big Brother” monitoring and security risks, with the smart grid being vulnerable to hacking.

Cathy Stastny, of Alexandra Park, said: “The bullying is particularly unpleasant. They come knocking on your door saying it’s compulsory and saying if you don’t comply you face fines.”

Sarah Purdy, who lives in Ringwood Avenue added: “They are telling people it’s mandatory and people are believing it. Thames Water started this in Tottenham and have been working through the borough, next they’ll be sweeping through Barnet and Hampstead and people are not aware of the risks.

“Want our stop signs respected and we want a choice as there are safer alternatives.”

A spokesman for Thames Water said a 16 week public consultation was held in 2008. “Talking to our customers about our what we’re doing and why is very important to us, and we’ve found face-to-face conversations to be most effective. In Haringey, we’ve so far managed to speak to 70 per cent of customers in this way, and we’ll keep trying to reach the rest.”

He said all consumption data collected from a customer’s meter will be transferred using “robust encryption” and held on a secure database.

He added: “Installing smart water meters is a big part of our long-term plan to address the water supply and demand gap forecasted for London. The biggest benefit to customers will be that it puts them more in control of their water-use, and we will help them to adjust over the next two years. It also means we can detect more leaks, which we fix for free, to also save water.”

Karen Gibbs, senior policy manager at the Consumer Council for Water, said: “We expect Thames Water, and the other water companies in the region who are undertaking metering, to deal with customers’ concerns sensitively. Customers who feel the company has failed to do this should get in touch with us.”

A spokesman for the department of environment, food and rural affairs, said: “The type of water meter is a matter for the water company – so no laws there.”

http://www.hamhigh.co.uk/news/environment/residents_in_fortis_green_slam_thames_water_s_smart_water_meter_installations_1_4882603#

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Is PG&E overbilling opt-out customers with “estimated” utility bills?

Posted on February 9, 2017 by admin

From EMF Safety Network

February 9, 2017

If you are a smart meter opt-out customer, you might want to call PG&E to find out if they’ve correctly billed you.

People are getting higher bills because PG&E is reading meters every other month. PG&E estimates one month’s bill “supposedly” based on your previous usage.  The next month they read your meter and true up the cost. If PG&E underestimated the previous month your usage will be substantially higher for the 2nd month.  This could be placing you in a higher tier, rather than spreading usage over the 2 months, and billing you in a lower tier.

I called PG&E (1-866-743-0335) and found out they underestimated our December bill by a third, so we were billed in a higher, more expensive tier in January.  The Supervisor asked me to read the meters and told me how to do it. Then she re-calculated our bill.  PG&E gave us a refund of about $90.

I asked if we could self read so we have more accurate bills in the future and was told no, the only recourse is to call PG&E every other month to have the bill recalculated!

Another PG&E customer said she called PG&E and found out her December bill was estimated from the summer months usage which caused a huge January bill.  PG&E told her they would submit a request for correction, but didn’t follow up. She writes, “PG&E has found a way to punish us opt-out customers by playing this little game and then making us call in, be on hold forever, make this request and then make sure they follow up.” 

Another customer has called PG&E about this for a year and she just received a $268 refund. She writes,

“How much money has PG&E taken and kept by their slick accounting methods?”

The Utility Reform Network (TURN) states, “TURN is hearing from consumers that high PG&E rates combined with cold temperatures are freezing them out.  Customers say their gas bills have doubled or tripled this winter!” 

In 2012 about a third of all smart meters were still being read by meter readers. PG&E stopped filing public reports on how their smart meter program is working so I can only guess there are still many smart meters being read by meter readers. Are they read bi-monthly too and therefore getting estimated bills?

People have paid for the right to keep the safer analog meter, and now they are at risk for higher bills because the California Public Utility Commission ordered the bi-monthly meter reading and PG&E has a faulty estimated and tiered billing system.

Here’s what you can do if you think you’ve been overcharged:

1. Call PG&E 1-866-743-0335 and ask them about your bill and what the previous month’s estimate was based on. Ask for a supervisor to re-calculate your bill for you.

2. You can also send a complaint to the CPUC: public.advisor@cpuc.ca.gov

Are PG&E’s estimated utility bills costing you more?

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The Internet of Things sees all: Ohio authorities indict man through data from his pacemaker

Posted on February 7, 2017 by admin

From Engadget

The way to a man’s heart is actually through WiFi
Turns out the heart is deceitful above all things after all.

By Violet Blue
February 3, 2017

They say you can’t hide what’s in your heart, but the saying is doubly true for an Ohio man whose pacemaker data has been used to indict him on felony charges of aggravated arson and insurance fraud.

Police investigating a fire at Ross Compton’s house said he gave statements that were “inconsistent” with the evidence. Compton didn’t reckon on authorities obtaining a search warrant for all electronic data stored in his cardiac pacing device, and now he’s going up the river for burning his own house down.

According to court documents obtained by press, the data from Compton’s pacemaker, examined by investigators, included his heart rate, pacer demand and cardiac rhythms prior to, during and after the September 2016 fire.

A cardiologist who reviewed that data concluded it was “improbable Mr. Compton would have been able to collect, pack and remove the number of items from the house, exit his bedroom window and carry numerous large and heavy items to the front of his residence during the short period of time he has indicated, due to his medical conditions.”

Meaning, they looked at the time window of the fire and his tale of escape along with his heart rate, and decided that his story didn’t add up. That’s as far as we know, anyway. If we learned anything from the St. Jude stock debacle, it’s that implantable medical devices and their home monitorsprobably carry (and probably leak) data that could pin a person down more than a few heated beats at the wrong time. Like transmitting activity records, heart rate logs, and sensitive patient information.

Last September short-selling firm Muddy Waters and its business partner, security company MedSec Holdings, released a scathing and now-contested company report saying that pacemakers and heart devices made by St. Jude Medical had critical security flaws.

Effectively, it’s only thanks to hackers that the general public has learned that pacemakers have built-in functionality for wireless communication. This means a lot can be learned about our activities by what networks they connect to, and when. The interface is largely for remote monitoring purposes, where a device connects to a server at the vendor to transmit device logs and patient information.

This is the medical Internet of Things. And now it’s a tool for authorities and insurance investigators.

His heart wasn’t in it

Mr. Compton had originally told officers that when he realized there was a fire he packed a suitcase and some bags, then broke his bedroom window and threw everything out of the house before packing up his car. He claimed to have escaped with his belongings and his life. A neighbor told press that when he saw Compton carrying a computer tower, Mr. Compton asked him for help putting it into his car.

According to a search warrant obtained by media, fire investigators said there were multiple points of origin of the fire from the outside of the residence. Compton’s statements to 911 also conflicted with what he told police, and he was arrested just two days after the fire. It’s likely he never thought that in a million years his pacemaker would rat him out. And why would he?

It was just a matter of time until we started to find out if medical device data is protected by the Fifth Amendment’s safeguards for self-incrimination. Those following the fingerprint-password debates know that a Virginia Circuit Court judge ruled in October 2014 that giving biometric data is not the same as divulging knowledge.

Compton’s heart condition was well known by investigators from the get-go: He was briefly hospitalized after the fire with a related medical issue. So it’s not too much of a leap for someone to wonder if there was a way to track his movements after a fashion with the constant record being created by his pacemaker.

Sounds like a pretty damning avenue for investigation, using pacemakers to catch criminals with an ironclad dataset for prosecution. Except as one hacker found out when she had to be kitted out with a heart device, these internal trackers don’t always give off the correct data.

Infosec professional Marie Moe got her pacemaker in an emergency procedure to save her life, but it wasn’t long before she realized the pitfalls of these deeply personal IOT devices. Soon, she was debugging her own heart, which sounds almost romantic, except it’s not. Because she was younger than the typical pacemaker user, hers required a lot of adjusting.

Moe experienced months of trial-and-error tweaking from doctors who couldn’t quite get her heart’s tuning right. She said: “This was complicated by a software bug in the programming device that they used to adjust the settings of the pacemaker. The bug caused the actual settings of my device to differ from the those displayed on the screen at the hospital that the pacemaker technician was seeing.”

The impact of this was significant, as Moe explained. “The consequence of this greatly affected my well being. If I tried to run after the bus or climb up stairs I would suddenly get out of breath. The pacemaker was detecting my pulse to be outside the upper heart rate limit, which was erroneously configured to 160 beats per minute. When I reached this heart rate, the pacemaker would suddenly cut my pulse in half to 80 beats per minute due to a safety mechanism.”

Not only could the device be performing improperly and sending incorrect information “home” to its servers, Moe discovered that she wasn’t allowed to access her own data. Along with other pacemaker users, she started fighting for her rights to get access to the data that their devices are collecting.

It feels very ominous and Big Brother-y, that authorities can just grab data from devices inside your body without your consent.

Of course, it’s not just implanted medical devices that monitor people’s heart rates, transmit device logs and bodily information — and snitch out anyone with something to hide. Fitness trackers like Fitbit, Garmin, and Jawbone are increasingly being used as admissible evidence in court cases. The difference here is, that you can’t just leave a pacemaker on the bedside table when you want.

If we were all living in a dystopian fiction novel, Mr. Compton’s crime getting foiled by Big Brother’s access to the actual inner workings of his heart would be somewhat chilling in its implications.

Good thing our current climate doesn’t feel dystopian or unreal at all right now.

https://www.engadget.com/2017/02/03/digitial-hearts-betray-you/

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UK: Police officers sue force over ‘radio injuries’

Posted on February 7, 2017 by admin

From the Telegraph

By Nigel Bunyan
January 1, 2017

Police officers are preparing to sue their own force over a series of illnesses they claim were caused by the radio system they use while out on patrol.

The Lancashire Constabulary was the first in Britain to try out the Airwave network, designed specifically to hive longer range and more capacity to the emergency services and the military.

Nine years after its introduction scores of officers are claiming that radiation emissions from the system have caused them to suffer such ailments as nausea, headaches, stomach pains and skin rashes.

The local branch of the Police Federation has logged 176 individual complaints, and now senior officials at the police authority are seeking legal advice on how to deal with them.

They have already made budget changes to allow for “a contingent liability in respect of Airwave liability claims”.

Critics of the system say its suppliers – Motorola, who provide the handsets, and those who control the network – have made changes to prevent “audio anomalies”.

However, the Health and Safety Executive has investigated the controversy and declared that there is no link between the radio technology and the reported ailments.

Lancashire officers began to pilot the system in 2001. Since then the Government has spent £2.9 billion on introducing the system to all 53 forces in England, Scotland and Wales.

John O’Reilly, chairman of the Lancashire Police Federation, said: “When we first got it there were all sorts of problems, including breakdowns in communication and certain parts of the county being unreachable.

“But then most or all of the problems were ironed out over a period of time by improved technology.”

A spokesman for Lancashire Police Authority said: “We have received a number of liability claims for injury allegedly resulting from the use of the Constabulary’s mobile communications equipment.

“This is an ongoing matter and the outcomes from the claims are not yet known.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/news/6920973/Police-officers-sue-force-over-radio-injuries.html

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