Maryland: Pepco disconnects electricity to family refusing to pay opt-out fees despite heat wave

Posted on August 18, 2016 by admin

The newspaper uses the key phrase “lack of any conclusive evidence”. This and similar phrases are repeatedly used by utility companies and regulatory agencies to confuse and deny. 

Who is responsible for “concluding?” With the rampant conflicts of interest throughout governmental agencies, so-called regulatory associations such as ICNIRP, and scientific journals, strong political pressure insures no “conclusion” will ever be reached to interfere with corporate profit.

When a term such as “no conclusive evidence” is used, the public is being frauded. The appropriate, science-backed response is, “There is substantial evidence of harm including the federal government’s own NTP results showing this radiation causes cancer. Are you willing to repeat another disaster like the tobacco, asbestos, and DDT cover-ups? How much evidence are you willing to ignore before you do your job?”

Pepco cannot even do proper record-keeping. I have seen the Pascalev’s payment record, and Pepco appears grossly incompetent in its bookkeeping. Whether this is intentional and retaliatory against the Pascalevs would be known only if there is an investigation. If other Pepco customers experience routine anomalies in their bills and improper crediting of payments, contact the Attorney General’s office
https://www.oag.state.md.us/consumer/

From the Bethesda Magazine

Bethesda Family Lives without Power While Refusing To Pay Pepco Fees
Pascalev family has been without electricity for 13 days during the hottest period of the summer

By Aaron Kraut
8-16-16

Tuesday is day 13 without power for the Pascalev family of Bethesda.

Pepco disconnected electricity service to the home on Sleaford Road after almost two years of husband Mario Pascalev and wife Assya Pascalev refusing to pay the utility’s $14-a-month fee for customers who opt out of its smart meter program.

Despite sweating through record heat over the weekend and more high temperatures Monday, the Pascalevs said they will continue their protest against smart meters, the opt-out fee requirement and what they claim is a series of inaccurate billing statements from Pepco. The couple has copies of checks sent to Pepco through certified mail showing they paid for their electricity use, but not the smart meter opt-out fee.

“There is the notion of unjust laws and civil disobedience against unjust laws,” Mario Pascalev said Friday while sitting in a downtown Bethesda Starbucks. “It is wrong and [Pepco] should not be able to force it on you.”

The family, which includes two teenage children age 13 and 18, have coped with the lack of air conditioning in the house by hanging out in Bethesda coffee shops and bookstores.

Chevy Chase resident Deborah Vollmer, whose power has remained on as she goes through a formal review process over her own refusal to pay Pepco’s smart meter opt-out fees, helped pay for part of the Pascalev family’s stay over the weekend in a downtown Bethesda hotel.

From 2011 to 2013, Pepco began replacing old electricity-reading meters on homes with digital smart meters—technology the utility and state regulators say provides more detailed information on energy use and can save customers money.

Maryland’s Public Service Commission, which regulates the utility industry, issued an order in February 2014 that established a $75 upfront charge and $14-per-month fee for Pepco customers who don’t get a smart meter. The regulators ruled utility companies around the state should be allowed to recover “incurred costs created by opt-out customers” still using the older meter technology.

Like Vollmer, the Pascalevs object to the smart meters by claiming they could emit harmful radiation, are a fire hazard and are a privacy concern because they could help Pepco track exactly when electricity is being used in the house.

When asked about the lack of any conclusive evidence linking the smart meters to harmful radiation, Assya Pascalev said the family would “rather err on the side of safety.”

“Until there is clarity one way or another, we’d rather take a precautionary approach,” said Assya Pascalev, a philosophy professor at Howard University. “I realize that under this current arrangement, we owe them the fees, but I disagree with the arrangement. I disagree with the principal by which this is being allowed to happen.”

The Pascalevs also disagree with how much Pepco says they owe in overdue payments. Pepco’s notice in May that electricity would soon be disconnected said the family owed $855.35 in overdue fees, an amount the Pascalevs said exceeded the opt-out fees they haven’t paid plus any additional late fees.

Confusing matters further is the fact the Pascalevs said they unknowingly paid the initial $75 upfront charge through three $25 payments in July, August and September 2014 because they had set up auto-pay for their Pepco bills and spent part of that summer on a vacation.

Assya Pascalev showed a reporter Pepco bills from October and November 2014 that contained two more $25 fees for the smart meter opt-out fee upfront payment. She also showed a reporter a copy of one payment the family sent Pepco in January 2015 that wasn’t deposited until earlier this month.

In a statement provided by Pepco after Bethesda Beat forwarded the Pascalev family’s complaints about billing inconsistencies, the company said “Pepco works with all of our customers to address any billing concerns.”

“Monthly opt-out fees are authorized by the Maryland Public Service Commission to cover the additional costs to maintain the legacy metering system, including paying for meter reading, for customers that refuse a smart meter,” the statement from Pepco read. “We have the right to disconnect service as a last resort if a customer refuses to pay their bill in entirety.”

Pepco spokesperson Marcus Beal said there are 1,489 customers in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties who have opted out of the smart meter program, about 0.3 percent of the company’s total customer base in those two counties.

The Pascalevs have asked for help from the Public Service Commission and elected officials such as Rep. Chris Van Hollen. They said their goal is to get Pepco to turn the power back on as they sort through the billing issues, but they acknowledged they can only last so long without power.

The first day of school is Aug. 29. “You can’t do school work in a Starbucks,” Mario Pascalev said.

“This makes it really hard because it’s not just the two of us,” Assya Pascalev said. “We have two children and we have a dog in the house. And we are responsible for them and although they are patiently supportive, the thing is it’s a lot of extra work. Just physically, it wears you down.”

http://www.bethesdamagazine.com/Bethesda-Beat/Web-2016/Bethesda-Family-Lives-without-Power-While-Refusing-To-Pay-Pepco-Fees/

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“The cloud never forgets”: Every move you make, every click you take, every appliance you use, they’ll be watching you

Posted on August 12, 2016 by admin

“[I]t’s already built a profile on every American adult, including young people who wouldn’t be swept up in conventional databases…”

Smart Meters and the Home Area Network provide the equivalent of a video feed of daily life inside homes and businesses, coupled with the actual data from computer cameras and security cameras. All archived.

Not just adults. Children and teenagers are the most lucrative market. Marketing firms and the government may not admit it, but databases on children are actively being compiled. Google is used by many school districts for district email. Data companies are hired by school districts to collect, organize, and create “individualized” learning plans. Where does that data go, along with Facebook, Twitter, online gaming, and all the online activity and school work of  children and teenagers? It is treasure archive for stalkers, marketers, and blackmail. The title “No Child Left Behind” was no mistake. It’s a dragnet.

Online buying means everything is tracked, versus in-person cash purchases. “Convenience” and “ease” replace safety and privacy.

Reminder: StartPage — http://www.startpage.com — is one of several internet search engines that allows you to search the internet anonymously.

From Bloomberg

August 5, 2016
By David Gauvey Herbert

Every move you make. Every click you take. Every game you play. Every place you stay. They’ll be watching you.

Forget telephoto lenses and fake mustaches: The most important tools for America’s 35,000 private investigators are database subscription services.

For more than a decade, professional snoops have been able to search troves of public and nonpublic records-known addresses, DMV records, photographs of a person’s car-and condense them into comprehensive reports costing as little as $10. Now they can combine that information with the kinds of things marketers know about you, such as which politicians you donate to, what you spend on groceries, and whether it’s weird that you ate in last night, to create a portrait of your life and predict your behavior.

IDI, a year-old company in the so-called data-fusion business, is the first to centralize and weaponize all that information for its customers. The Boca Raton, Fla., company’s database service, idiCORE, combines public records with purchasing, demographic, and behavioral data. Chief Executive Officer Derek Dubner says the system isn’t waiting for requests from clients-it’s already built a profile on every American adult, including young people who wouldn’t be swept up in conventional databases, which only index transactions. “We have data on that 21-year-old who’s living at home with mom and dad,” he says.

Dubner declined to provide a demo of idiCORE or furnish the company’s report on me. But he says these personal profiles include all known addresses, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses; every piece of property ever bought or sold, plus related mortgages; past and present vehicles owned; criminal citations, from speeding tickets on up; voter registration; hunting permits; and names and phone numbers of neighbors. The reports also include photos of cars taken by private companies using automated license plate readers-billions of snapshots tagged with GPS coordinates and time stamps to help PIs surveil people or bust alibis.

IDI also runs two coupon websites, allamericansavings.com and samplesandsavings.com, that collect purchasing and behavioral data. When I signed up for the latter, I was asked for my e-mail address, birthday, and home address, information that could easily link me with my idiCORE profile.

The site also asked if I suffered from arthritis, asthma, diabetes, or depression, ostensibly to help tailor its discounts. Users and industry analysts say the addition of purchasing and behavioral data to conventional data fusion outmatches rival systems in terms of capabilities-and creepiness. “The cloud never forgets, and imperfect pictures of you composed from your data profile are carefully filled in over time,” says Roger Kay, president of Endpoint Technologies Associates, a consulting firm. “We’re like bugs in amber, completely trapped in the web of our own data.”

When logging in to IDI and similar databases, a PI must select a permissible use for a search under U.S. privacy laws. The Federal Trade Commission oversees the industry, but PI companies are largely expected to police themselves, because a midsize outfit may run thousands of searches a month.

Dubner says most Americans have little to fear. As examples, he cites idiCORE uses such as locating a missing person and nabbing a fraud or terrorism suspect.

IDI, like much of the data-fusion industry, traces its lineage to Hank Asher, a former cocaine smuggler and self-taught programmer who began fusing sets of public data from state and federal governments in the early 1990s.

After Sept. 11, law enforcement’s interest in commercial databases grew, and more money and data began raining down, says Julia Angwin, a reporter who wrote about the industry in her 2014 book, Dragnet Nation.

Asher died suddenly in 2013, leaving behind his company, the Last One (TLO), which credit bureau TransUnion bought in bankruptcy for $154 million.

Asher’s disciples, including Dubner, left TLO and eventually teamed up with Michael Brauser, a former business partner of Asher’s, and billionaire health-care investor Phillip Frost. In May 2015, after a flurry of purchases and mergers, the group rebranded its database venture as IDI.

Besides pitching its databases to big-name PIs (Kroll, Control Risks), law firms, debt collectors, and government agencies, IDI says it’s also targeting consumer marketers. The 200-employee company had revenue of about $40 million in its most recent quarter and says 2,800 users signed up for idiCORE in the first month after its May release. It declined to provide more recent figures. The company’s data sets are growing, too. In December, Frost helped underwrite IDI’s $100 million acquisition of marketing profiler Fluent, which says it has 120 million profiles of U.S. consumers. In June, IDI bought ad platform Q Interactive for a reported $21 million in stock.

IDI may need Frost’s deep pockets for a while. The PI industry’s three favorite databases are owned by TransUnion and media giants Reed Elsevier and Thomson Reuters. “There’s no shortage,” says Chuck McLaughlin, chairman of the board of the World Association of Detectives, which has about 1,000 members. “The longer you’re in business, the more data you have, the better results.” He uses TLO and Tracers Information Specialists.

Steve Rambam, a PI who hosts Nowhere to Hide on the Investigation Discovery channel, says marketing data remains a niche monitoring tool compared with social media, but its power can be unparalleled. “You may not know what you do on a regular basis, but I know,” Rambam says. “I know it’s Thursday, you haven’t eaten Chinese food in two weeks, and I know you’re due.”

—With Olga Kharif

The bottom line: IDI’s marketing databases may help PIs predict people’s moves or digitally peek into their cars or medicine cabinets.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-08-05/this-company-has-built-a-profile-on-every-american-adult

©2016 Bloomberg L.P. All Rights Reserved

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$16,000 water bill stuns homeowners — “the only explanation” is the Smart Meter

Posted on August 10, 2016 by admin

California American Water Company refuses to tell the public that Smart Meters can cause these outrageous bills, most likely due to RF interference with the meter.

How many incorrect but not so outrageous bills do people get and pay rather than fight?

This water company has dealt with these high bills for several years now, not just in California. They are covering up for the meter industry and for the Smart Meter program. And who’s paying?

From the Carmel Pine Cone
August 5-11 edition
by Mary Schley

The water bill for this Camino Real vacation home went way beyond what was usual – and far beyond what anyone could anticipate – but no one is sure what happened to the more than 144,000 gallons that were supposedly used.

When Kellie Meyers received a postcard from California American Water warning her that too much water was being used at the home on Camino Real she and her husband own, she knew there was a problem What Meyers wasn’t prepared for was the $16,668.90 water bill she got – including a $14,181.24 fee for May 7 to June 7, and $2,487.66 for June9 to July 8.

“My husband got the bill and almost had a heart attack,” Meyers said.

They’d already been working with the water company to reduce water use and check for leaks at the house following a few bills earlier in the year that exceeded $1,000. They had also repaired a leak that caused a spike – but nothing In the nature of a five-digit figure.

“I sent an urgent message to my gardener to shut off the water and let the garden die, because it would be cheaper to replace it all than to have the water on,” Meyers said. “And I told my cleaning lady to make sure there were no toilets running, or anything like that.”

The bill for the period of May 7 to June 7 showed a total of 144,663 gallons of water used, or an average of 4 ,521 gallons per day, at a time when nobody was living there.

And it was 1,154 gallons per day from June 8 to July 7, when the house was also unoccupied. Average water use in the Monterey Peninsula is about 50 gallons per day per person.

Won’t be on the hook

The huge bills obviously resulted from a leak or some other malfunction, Cal Am spokeswoman Catherine Stedman said. The home’s water meter electronically transmits the flow rate to the utility hourly, and an examination of account records shows that starting at 7:49 pm on May 2, the meter reported a rate of more than 180 gallons per hour, 24 hours a day, until June 13, when it slowed to 105 gallons at 6:49 pm, and dropped to zero at 7:49 pm.

“I don’t know what the cause was,” she said. “It would appear like an irrigation leak.” Since then, water use on the property has returned to normal, with zero most days, and numbers consistent with garden maintenance, household use and cleaning on the other days.

The charges were so high not only because of the water used, but because state regulations require Cal Am to set its prices to penalize customers who exceed their allotted use, with prices ranging from nine-tenths of a cent per gallon In the lowest tier, all the way up to 13 cents per gallon in the highest billing tier.

“The purpose of the rates is to drive down consumption so that we can stay in compliance.” with regulatory requirements that strictly limit how much water Monterey Peninsula residents can sue, Stedman said.

She also said the couple won’t have to pay the huge bills, since they’re cooperating with an audit of their property to help identify any problems – the same process they undertook to fix the leak a couple of years ago.

‘Historic use’

“We’ll go through their house and look at their fixtures, and see how much they could save,” Stedman explained. “We’ll go and make recommendations, check for leaks, and then outdoors, we check the irrigation system and make sure there are no broken sprinkler heads that could be contributing to water loss.”

The analyst also ensures any timers are set correctly.

The service is free and available to all Cal Am customers, and in this case, it’s the key to getting Meyers’ water bill reduced to what it would normally be, based on historic use, according to Stedman. That no cause was identified doesn’t matter.

“Either way, they’re not going to have to pay the bill,” she said. “There are some cases where no one can figure out what happened, and we’ll still adjust the bill.”

Stedman also said the water company has joined a pilot program that allows some customers to go online and look at their hourly usage and see what’s typical for a similar customer.

“So for example, you could set your online account up so that if your water use is double than average on any particular day, you would get a text or an email – your preference – letting you know you may have a leak.” Stedman said.

“That way, you don’t have to wait 30 days until we read the meter to find out there’s a problem.”

It’s been successful, and the company is applying to the California Public Utilities Commission to make the program available to all its customers.

Meyers said she’s relieved to hear she won’t have to pay the $16,668.90 bill, but she’s frustrated by the lack of an explanation. since we have no floods in the yard or water damage in the house, where in the heck did all that supposed water go? Even if we had a toilet running while we were gone, it wouldn’t fill up 180 gallons per hour,” she said.

The water could have leaked underground and disappeared into the soil, of course. But since no leak was found, Meyers wondered if the meter itself was faulty.

“It seems the only explanation,” she said.

http://www.pineconearchive.com/downloads160805.html

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EMF damages chitin – the missing link to bee deaths and monarch butterfly declines? Will the Smart Grid, 5G, and Project Loon finish the bees?

Posted on August 8, 2016 by admin

Steep recent declines in bee and butterfly populations have alarmed biologists and the public. Parasites have caused recent devastating impacts to bees.

Why is chitin important?

Chitin, the second most important natural polymer in the world,…

Chitin, the second most abundant natural polymer in the world, functions as a natural structural polysaccharide [A major component of the carapaces, crusts and shells of crustaceans such as shrimps, crabs and lobsters, it is also an ingredient of cell walls in fungi and yeast..

Chitin is isolated from the exoskeletons of crustaceans, molluscs, insects and certain fungi. [i]

Bees’ and other insects’ bodies are covered by an exoskeleton of small, movable plates of chitin. The ‘veins’ in insect wings are chitin. Chitin is part of the cell walls. .[ii] This is a critically important material.

…many “critters” on the low end of the food chain rely upon “chitin” a particularly amazing organic chain molecule with structural, optical properties, and even the ability to as a sensory device for various electro-magnetic energies.

But what is most interesting to me, is that chitin is a particularly effective bio-concentrator for man made radiation and heavy metals.

Chitin is particularly strong with its chemical bonds, most acids cannot destroy chitin. But radiation is also particularly good at destroying the chitin bonds, thus destroying the chitin.

So radiation is destroying the basis of the ocean food chain.

Curiously enough, bees and butterflies also use chitin in their structures and functional features. Damage to chitin exoskeleton makes it easier for parasites to get in, and that is a main cause of bee deaths…[iii]

If you damage or destroy the chitin, these insects and sea creatures are defenseless or dead. Reproduction will stop. Extinction is probable.

The article from Nuke Professional below[iv] outlines the impact to chitin from ionizing radiation. Radioactive contamination of air and ocean especially from Fukushima, as well as from nuclear plants’ regular emissions, and nuclear waste worldwide, is having devastating impacts. This includes the effects to ocean creatures which have chitin.

Can the EMF from cell phones, cell towers, Wi-Fi, Smart Meters and wireless devices also damage chitin?

This research was published recently, posted by Dr. Joel Moskowitz of UC Berkeley.[v]

On a Possible Mechanism of the Effect of Microwave Radiation on Biological Macromolecules[vi]

Nikiforov VN, Ivanov AV, Ivanova EK, Tamarov KP, Oksengendler BL. [On a Possible Mechanism of the Effect of Microwave Radiation on Biological Macromolecules].  Biofizika. 2016 Mar-Apr;61(2):255-8. [Article in Russian]

Abstract

A model describing the process of dissociation of hydrogen bonding in water clusters when irradiated by electromagnetic field in the microwave range is suggested. The model is also applicable for the case of rupture of the covalent bond of the water molecule cluster. If the energy absorption occurs at the interface of water and polymer clusters (e.g., DNA, chitosan), degradation of the polymer chain is possible.

From the beginning of Smart Meter deployments, people have witnessed odd bee behavior, bee disappearance, and bee deaths. Impacts to bees from EMF and RF were the subject of “Bees, Birds and Mankind: Destroying Nature by Electrosmog” translated to English in 2007
http://www.hese-project.org/hese-uk/en/papers/warnke_bbm.pdf

FCC proposes 5G with even higher frequencies which are closer to ionizing radiation and have more power to break chemical bonds. Space-based Wi-Fi plans such as Project Loon will completely blanket the earth in these frequencies.

Humans can’t survive without bees and other pollinators.

Some experts warn that the ongoing Fukushima disaster will cause an extinction level event (ELE).

Will the Internet of Things and 5G cause a double ELE?

—————————

http://nukeprofessional.blogspot.com/2016/02/a-scientific-basis-for-destruction-of.html
From Nuke Professional [if the graphics won’t load here, go to his website]

A scientific basis for destruction of ocean food chain via radiation

February 11, 2016 by Stock

I think this is really big folks.   If you like this stuff, sign up as a follower, drop a comment, and tweet this out and post it on Facebook—

A quick background for those who aren’t following things. The oceans have become particularly DEADLY to plants and animals, fish, and mammals in the last 5 years.   Large scale die-offs are almost a daily occurence.   Even the top of the food chain, Whales, have been affected and are seeing NOAA certified “UMEs” Unusual Mortality Events, aka mass die offs.   Seals are starving and the rescue centers can’t keep up.

Fishing seasons have been halted because of very low populations.   Bird species have died by the hundreds of thousands, all found starving, nothing in their stomach.   Seriously.   Some people are calling it the “Death of the Pacific”.   Google it, get this on your radar.

stock here  I believe that I may have discovered the smoking gun describing how radiation can be killing off so many important parts of the food chain, and decay chain on land and in water

Chitin is a polysaccharide biological structural polymer found in exoskeletons, like krill, insects, crabs, beaks of squid etc, and combined with calcium carbonate to form shells of crustaceans. It absorbs radioactive fallout.

Chitin, is an extremely important building block of many types of organisms.

Radiation 

  1. blows up the skeletons of important sea life at the bottom of the food chains like krill, 
  2. destroys fungis, 
  3. damages mushrooms, 
  4. and it destroys the structural veins of insects wings.    

Continue reading →

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Houston news investigated Smart Meter fires in 2011

Posted on August 6, 2016 by admin

This news investigation was in CenterPoint Energy’s territory. CenterPoint uses Itron Centron Openway Smart Meters.

CenterPoint employees told IBEW union officer Bobby Reed that these meters have thinner blades, causing a poor connection. This causes arcing and a fire hazard.

NLRB Decision and Order, July 29, 2016, p. 12

On dates uncertain prior to October, Childers of Local 66 and Reed had a number of conversations about problems with smart meters. Childers testified that he believed the first occurred in 2012; however, an April 14, 2011 email, discussed below, indicates that it occurred prior to that date.

In that conversation, Reed asked if Local 66 was having any issues with installation of smart meters at CenterPoint. Childers said yes, that they had some issues with them melting or burning up meters cans, burning up customers’ equipment, and sparking (creating electrical arcs). He told Reed that he would go out to the shops and talk with the meter technicians who repaired damaged meters. Within a few days, Childers called Reed back and said that he had spoken with meter testers, who reported they were seeing a lot of issues with  communication between the meters and remote site control, as well as seeing many issues with meters melting or burning up. As to the latter, Childers told Reed that the meter techs believed it was because of loose connections due, in part, to the blades on the smart meters being a little thinner; this loose connection created heat and an arc that could burn up the meter. [1]

From KPRC 2, Houston

Local 2 Investigates Smart Meter Fires

By Amy Davis – Reporter/Consumer Expert
Posted: 9:39 AM, March 08, 2011

hournews@click2houston.com

HOUSTON – Local 2 investigates fires sparked by new smart meters being installed in every home and business across Houston.

It’s a danger homeowners called about when they were stuck with no electricity and major damage to their homes.

KPRC Local 2 investigator Amy Davis has the story you’ll want to read before installers come to your home.

Charles Phillips saw smoke coming from the transformer in his back yard one morning last November. When he went out to inspect the damage, he says he saw a CenterPoint Energy contractor at his meter box with a fire extinguisher.

“He told me it had caught on fire,” Phillips said. “He had talked to his boss. Evidently, he told him to put it out, which is what he did.”

But that was just the beginning. Inside Phillips’ home, two TVs were fried,  his air-conditioner and garage door opener stopped working and all of the wires and cables hooked up to his electronics were melted from the jolt his electronics took when the smart meter on his home sparked a fire.

Phillips was left with a total of about $2,500 in damages.

“I felt that they should have some type of liability,” said Phillips of CenterPoint Energy.

But both CenterPoint and the subcontractor installing the smart meters across Houston say the damage is not their fault or their responsibility.

“People generally don’t think about that equipment being owned by them, but it’s the same with the water piping inside your home, the gas piping inside your home; it’s customer-owned equipment,” said CenterPoint Energy spokesman Floyd LeBlanc.

“I just don’t feel like that’s fair for someone to have to pay for something when the installation causes a fire,” Brian Dafferner told Davis.

Dafferner had to call an electrician when a smart meter installation at one of his rental properties sparked a fire and melted all of the wiring coming from the meter box. In his case, the installer didn’t even stick around or leave a note to let him know about the damage.

“For me, this isn’t about money,” said Dafferner.  “It’s about safety and the utilities doing the right thing.”

LeBlanc says the problem is mostly in older homes where wiring is not up to code or something has caused a strain on the wires running into the meter box.

“They didn’t know about it,” explained LeBlanc. “They couldn’t have known about it.”

Many times, LeBlanc says, installers don’t even know there will be a problem until it happens.

“My problem is you took a working system and made it inoperable, and now I’m paying the price for it,” said Phillips.

Homeowners who have had these fires not only end up with big repair bills, they also have no electricity until they can afford to make repairs.

“And a lot of people just don’t have that money,” Phillips said. “It’s as simple as that.”

So how often is it happening?

“I’ve seen five instances myself,” general contractor Angelo Giokas said.

Giokas says he’s been called to make repairs at five homes after smart meter fires.

LeBlanc says  CenterPoint has had less than 100 reports of electrical fires caused during more than 1 million smart meter installations, but the power company doesn’t like to use the word “fire” to describe the problem.

“When we talk about fires, we’re talking about structures on fire,” said LeBlanc, explaining that there have been no houses that have burned in Houston, only electrical wiring, equipment and appliances.

“If it’s charred and arching, that’s a fire,” said Giokas.  “It could ultimately burn the house down.”

Just north of Houston, in Arlington, it almost did. Two homes caught fire there last summer during smart meter installations. It’s exactly what Dafferner is trying to prevent.

“My concern is being able to fix the situation before someone gets hurt,” he said.

So what can you do? CenterPoint said just be aware that you may have some problems. If you live in an older home and you haven’t had an electrician inspect the wiring to your meter box, you might do that before your smart meter is installed.

As for Dafferner, he’s taking CenterPoint and the subcontractor to small claims court to try and recoup the cost of his repairs. We’ll let you know what happens.

If you have a news tip or question for KPRC Local 2 Investigates, drop them an e-mail or call their tipline at (713) 223-TIPS (8477). Copyright 2011 by Click2Houston.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

http://www.click2houston.com/news/local-2-investigates-smart-meter-fires

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[1] http://apps.nlrb.gov/link/document.aspx/09031d4582177a1a

 

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Health experts criticize North Carolina Smart Meter report

Posted on August 5, 2016 by admin

PDF of this letter

August 2, 2016

Edward S. Finley, Jr., Chair
North Carolina Utilities Commission

Subject: Docket Number E-7 Sub 1115 – Smart Meter Opt-Out Fees

Dear Chairman Finley:

We, the undersigned, are a group of scientists and health professionals who together have coauthored many peer-reviewed studies on the health effects of radiofrequency radiation (RFR). We are aware that the North Carolina Utilities Commission (NCUC) is considering a proposed smart meter opt-out fee from Duke Energy, which was submitted on July 29, 2016. Smart meters, along with other wireless devices, have created significant public health problems caused by the RFR they produce, and awareness and reported problems continue to grow. With Duke Energy being America’s largest utility provider and, consequently, having the largest potential smart meter implementation reach, it is imperative that the NCUC be fully aware of the harm that RFR can cause and allow utility customers to opt out of smart meter installation with no penalty.

The majority of the scientific literature related to RFR stems from cell phone studies. There is strong evidence that people who use a cell phone held directly to their ear for more than ten years are at significantly increased risk of developing gliomas of the brain and acoustic neuromas of the auditory nerve. There is also evidence that the risk of developing these cancers is greater in younger than older people. The May 2016 report from the US National Toxicology Program showing that rats exposed to cell phone radiation for nine hours per day over their life-span develop gliomas of the brain and Schwannoma of the heart (the same kind of cancer as acoustic neuroma) adds proof to the conclusions from the human health studies that radiofrequency radiation increases risk of cancer.

Smart meters and cell phones occupy similar frequency bands of the electromagnetic spectrum, meaning that cell phone research can apply to smart meter RFR. Smart meter RFR consists of frequent, very intense but very brief pulses throughout the day. Because smart meter exposure over a 24 hour period can be very prolonged (pulses can average 9,600 times a day), and because there is building evidence that the sharp, high intensity pulses are particularly harmful, the cell phone study findings are applicable when discussing adverse health impacts from smart meters.

While the strongest evidence for hazards coming from RFR is for cancer, there is a growing body of evidence that some people develop a condition called electrohypersensitivity (EHS). These individuals respond to being in the presence of RFR with a variety of symptoms, including headache, fatigue, memory loss, ringing in the ears, “brain fog” and burning, tingling and itchy skin. Some reports indicate that up to three percent of the population may develop these symptoms, and that exposure to smart meters is a trigger for development of EHS.

In short:

  • Smart meters operate with much more frequent pulses than do cell phones, increasing the potential for adverse health impacts.
  • Smart meter pulses can average 9,600 times a day, and up to 190,000 signals a day. Cell phones only pulse when they are on.
  • Cell phone RFR is concentrated, affecting the head or the area where the phone stored, whereas smart meter RFR affects the entire body.
  • An individual can choose whether or not to use a cell phone and for what period of time. When smart meters are placed on a home the occupants have no option but to be continuously exposed to RFR.

We are aware that the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) drafted an August 2015 report, “Health Impacts of Advanced Metering Systems (Smart Meters),” and we strongly disagree with the DHHS’s Executive Summary conclusion that “There is insufficient evidence to link RF exposures to adverse health outcomes.” The research findings by independent scientists point to a clearer relationship between RFR and health effects than industry-funded studies.

We read with great concern Laura Combs’ and Andrew McAfee’s May 5, 2016, review of public records related to the August 24, 2015, DHHS smart meter health impact report. As researchers highly involved in educating others about the many serious adverse health impacts of RFR, we strenuously object to the poor source material chosen by DHHS staff. With a leading DHHS staff member admitting that he is not qualified to review the literature, and the fact that he relied on industry representatives for assistance, the DHHS conclusion is not surprising. Further, the unscientific, medically unsupported characterization by another DHHS staff member that people who experience electromagnetic hypersensitivity are mentally ill (this staff member also stated that he is advocating for Duke Energy in relation to smart meter opt-out) reveals a public health agency that is not only incapable of producing an adequate report, but one that is not working to ensure fair treatment of and protection of the public.

The adverse health impacts of low intensity RFR are real, significant and for some people debilitating. We want to stress three fundamentals as your agency proceeds to consider a smart meter opt-out:

  • The Federal Communication Commission’s safety standards do not apply to low intensity RFR.
  • There is no safe level of exposure established for RFR.
  • People around the world are suffering from low intensity RFR exposure, being at increased risk of developing both cancer and EHS.

Citizens rely on their government agencies for protection from harm. Accordingly, we urge the NCUC to reject any fees or tariffs associated with smart meter opt-out and allow citizens to opt out without penalty.

Thank you for your attention and consideration. What you do in this instance affects the lives of many in North Carolina and beyond.

Yours sincerely,

David Carpenter, MD
Director, Institute for Health and the Environment
University at Albany

Dr. Lennart Hardell, MD, PhD
Professor
Department of Oncology, University Hospital
Orebro, Sweden

Dr. Magda Havas, BSc, PhD
Environmental & Resource Studies, Trent University
Canada

Dr. Martha Herbert, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School
Pediatric Neurologist and Neuroscientist at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston

Dr. Sam Milham, MD, MPH
Former chief epidemiologist, Washington State Department of Health

cc: Edward Finley, Chair, NCUC
Kim Jones, Research Analyst, NCUC
Tim Dodge, Public Staff Attorney, NCUC
Dr. Megan Davies, DHHS

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Physician asks North Carolina, Will you ignore EMF/RF health risks as you did with tobacco?

Posted on August 5, 2016 by admin

From News & Observer

Comment on  “Duke Energy proposes $150 opt-out fee to customers who don’t want a smart meter “, August 3, 2016

By Dr. Larry Burk, MD

As a radiologist specializing in MRI, I have made my living for 30 years reading scans produced by the non-thermal effects of short-term exposure of the human body to RF and EMF. These dramatic pictures are generated from resonant interactions with the hydrogen protons at the cellular level below the thermal threshold. As a member of the National Safety Committee for MRI from 1987 to 1994, I began investigating potential health effects of these fields and determined that there is little evidence for hazard related to short-term exposures such as those experienced by patients in MRI.

However, I subsequently joined the Bioelectromagnetic Society and discovered there was an entire academic discipline devoted to studying the effects of long-term exposure to these fields which was largely unknown to most physicians and electrical engineers. These scientists, many of whom now participate in the IARC, found rigorous and repeatable evidence for non-thermal physiological effects and hazards including potential carcinogenicity. The initial data were limited to power lines and radar, but have now expanded exponentially to include cellphones, Wi-Fi, and smart meters.

The situation with smart meters reminds me of the early days of radiation safety when the short-term clinical use of X-rays for patients seemed to have no downside. It wasn’t until the 1930s, 40 years after Roentgen’s discovery, that radiologists started to report the long-term effects of chronic exposure. These early radiologists, feeling falsely reassured by the lack of apparent effects on patients, would focus the beam by putting their own hands in it. When enough radiologists lost fingers due to radiation damage and developed leukemia and other blood diseases, radiation protection policies were implemented.

*I’m afraid we are in serious danger of making a similar mistake with regard to RF/EMF long-term exposure safety issues.* This analogy is particularly pertinent now that actual DNA damage has been documented by Dr. Henry Lai in the Bioinitiative 2012 report. For that reason the systematic review below by Anke Huss et al. in 2007 showing that the studies funded by industry were far less likely to find evidence of hazard that those funded by public agencies or charities is particularly important.

North Carolina is no stranger to the concept of industry influence and bias with regard to research results, as the denial of tobacco health hazards is still a shameful legacy. It was made very clear that tobacco executives were quite aware of potential lethal risks due to their products and actively covered them up, and I think there is reason to believe that the same holds true for this industry. Let’s make a more responsible choice here in our state this time and prevent Duke Energy from charging a fee to people who refuse smart meter installation or who wish to replace their smart meter with an analog meter.

Larry Burk, MD, CEHP
http://www.larryburkmd.com
<http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.larryburkmd.com%2F&h=GAQE7pkhL&gt;

President, Healing Imager, PC
Durham, NC

Anke Huss, et al., “Source of Funding and Results of Studies of Health Effects of Mobile Phone Use: Systematic Review of Experimental Studies,” Environmental Health Perspectives 115 (2006): 1-4.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1797826/

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/business/article93551722.html

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New Yorkers pressure utility industry for smart meter alternative, citing health and safety issues

Posted on August 4, 2016 by admin

From Natural News
August 1, 2016
by Daniel Barker

(NaturalNews) Citizens of New York State are demanding that utility companies provide an alternative to “smart meter,” due to increasing concerns over safety and health.

Digital utility (DU) meters, commonly known as smart meters, have been linked to a number of serious health issues, and have also been known to cause fires and electrical problems.

In a letter addressed to the *Daily Freeman*, Michele Hertz and Toby Stover of *Stop Smart Meters NY* expressed their concerns on behalf of citizens regarding the meters, which have been installed throughout the state over the past few years to replace analog utility meters which have been used for decades with few problems.

Hertz and Stover wrote:

“Where DU meters are installed, thousands of people are reporting insomnia, heart palpitations, tinnitus, diarrhea, anxiety, inflammation, headaches, rashes, high blood pressure, strokes, cancer, as well as electrical problems and fires.”

Smart meters made in China were approved without testing or UL certification. The letter also points out the fact that the DU meters being installed were manufactured in China, and were approved by the New York State Public Service Commission (NYSPSC) without any UL certification or testing for “microwave radiation emissions, electrical and fire code compliance or privacy and security risks.”

Hertz and Stover accuse the utility industry – with the complicity of the NYSPSC – of putting the public at risk in pursuit of profits.

“Already, there is sufficient evidence to warrant banning DU meters,  including the so-called digital ‘opt-out’ meter. Yet utilities and the NYSPSC have known about this since 2010 and have done nothing while people suffer.

“Analog meters, used for decades with few complaints, protect our privacy and do not utilize unsafe technology.”

More than 1,000 Woodstock residents have signed a petition demanding a no-fee analog meter option. Several other New York communities have also signed resolutions calling for no-fee analog meter choices.

For the full article: http://www.naturalnews.com/054839_smart_meters_health_effects_New_York.html#ixzz4GHoP8Z4g

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PG&E’s new more powerful Smart Meters

Posted on August 4, 2016 by admin

PG&E has posted information on its website about Meter-Connectors, a much more powerful multi-function Smart Meter

  • When did PG&E start using these 2 watt meters?
  • How much antenna gain is used?
  • How would someone know if they had one?
  • Do they look different?
  • What is the range of the pulses compared to standard Smart Meters?
  • How does the exposure level compare for these pulses?

Standard PG&E Smart Meter (Landis & Gyr and GE)
1 watt
Data sent to PG&E 6 times per day
Pulses are 2-20 milliseconds each.
Pulses per day: 14,000 – 190,000 pulses
Cumulative time of pulses per day: 62 seconds (mean average)

Meter-Connecter
1.25 – 2 watts
Data sent to PG&E 4 times per day.
Cumulative time of pulses per day: 5 minutes or less

This equals 5 times the cumulative time of a standard Smart Meter.

If pulses are the same length of 2-20 milliseconds:
Pulses per day = 150,000 – 1,500,000

Three issues with the Meter-Connecter:

  1. Higher wattage — greater power and farther transmissions
  2. More frequent pulses — 5 x a standard Smart Meter
  3. More detailed energy data extracted — “5 to 15 second increments”

Additional note: Landis & Gyr and GE standard Smart Meters are already 5 x the power of Itron Smart Meters.

From PG&E’s website: Customer Service, Smart Meter Facts:

What is a Meter-Connector and what does it do?

A Meter-Connector is a type of SmartMeter™ that has built-in cellular technology to enable meters to communicate usage data in areas with poor network coverage. The technology allows for two way communication, extending the smart grid network’s reach and providing a stronger connection (especially during storms). In some areas, network connectivity is low or there is interference preventing standard SmartMeters from consistently maintaining a connection with the network (i.e. foliage, trees, buildings, construction, terrain etc.). Meter-Connectors are able to send usage data for surrounding meters.

What is the difference between a Meter-Connector and a standard SmartMeter™?

A standard electric SmartMeter™ periodically transmits meter reads via a dedicated radio frequency (RF) network back to PG&E. Each SmartMeter™ for electric service is equipped with a network radio, which transmits meter data to an electric network access point. The system uses RF mesh technology, which allows meters and other sensing devices to securely route data via nearby meters and relay devices, creating a “mesh” of network coverage. The system supports two-way communication between the meter and PG&E.

A Meter-Connector is a type of SmartMeter™ that has built-in cellular technology. If a standard SmartMeter™ is unable to connect to PG&E’s dedicated radio frequency (RF), a Meter-Connector is installed to act as both a SmartMeter™ and a cellular electric network access point (so it can collect information from neighboring non-communicating meters). It is able to transmit meter data for itself and other nearby meters back to PG&E.

What is the amount of Radio Frequency emissions from this new type of cellular meter and how does it compare to a standard SmartMeter™?

The Meter-Connector either transmits 1.25 watts or 2 watts depending on the speed of the cellular network in your area, compared to a standard SmartMeter that transmits 1 watt. Meter Connectors transmit usage data back to PG&E approximately four times a day. Total transmission time will vary slightly, but will typically be 5 minutes or less per day. Standard SmartMeters communicate intermittently, with each RF-signal typically lasting from 2 to 20 milliseconds. These intermittent signals total, on average, 45 seconds per day. For more information, see the Understanding Radio Frequency page.

Is the Meter-Connector secure?

Protecting our customers’ energy usage information is a top priority. PG&E applies the same privacy protection standards to all data collected by the company from customers including the usage data collected by the SmartMeter™ system. We treat each customer’s personal information and data as confidential, consistent with all regulatory requirements, including those established by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC).

What is the benefit of having a Meter-Connector?

  • This technology allows us to become active energy participants where we all can benefit from more reliable power, reduced carbon footprint and cleaner energy development.
  • Login at pge.com to see your energy use by month, by day, by the hour.
  • Sign up at pge.com to get notified by email, text message or phone when your electric use is moving toward a higher-cost tier.
  • See your electricity use in 5 to 15 second increments on your HAN device.

Do I have the option to say no, I don’t want to have a new meter installed?

We support individual choice for residential customers when it comes to meter selection at your home. The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) authorizes residential customers to opt-out for any reason, regardless of whether they have a SmartMeter™ or an analog meter in place. The CPUC did not approve a SmartMeter Opt-Out Program for commercial customer.

For additional information on the meter specs : https://smartmeterharm.org/2014/07/13/how-many-rf-pulses-per-day-from-a-smart-meter/

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EUROPAEM EMF: Guideline 2016 for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of EMF-related health problems and illnesses

Posted on August 4, 2016 by admin

This EMF Guideline gives an overview of the current knowledge regarding EMF-related health risks and provides recommendations for the diagnosis, treatment and accessibility measures of EHS to improve and restore individual health outcomes as well as for the development of strategies for prevention.

Free download:
https://www.degruyter.com/view/j/reveh.2016.31.issue-3/reveh-2016-0011/reveh-2016-0011.xml

EUROPAEM EMF Guideline 2016 for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of EMF-related health problems and illnesses

Igor Belyaev12 / Amy Dean3 / Horst Eger4 / Gerhard Hubmann5 / Reinhold Jandrisovits6 / Markus Kern7 / Michael Kundi8 / Hanns Moshammer8 / Piero Lercher9 / Kurt Müller10 / Gerd Oberfeld11 / Peter Ohnsorge12 / Peter Pelzmann13 / Claus Scheingraber14 / Roby Thill15

European Academy for Environmental Medicine (EUROPAEM) – EMF working group:
Citation Information: Reviews on Environmental Health. ISSN (Online) 2191-0308, ISSN (Print) 0048-7554, DOI: 10.1515/reveh-2016-0011, July 2016

Abstract

Chronic diseases and illnesses associated with non-specific symptoms are on the rise. In addition to chronic stress in social and work environments, physical and chemical exposures at home, at work, and during leisure activities are causal or contributing environmental stressors that deserve attention by the general practitioner as well as by all other members of the health care community.

It seems necessary now to take “new exposures” like electromagnetic fields (EMF) into account. Physicians are increasingly confronted with health problems from unidentified causes. Studies, empirical observations, and patient reports clearly indicate interactions between EMF exposure and health problems. Individual susceptibility and environmental factors are frequently neglected.

Continue reading →

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