Citizens in Fairfax, CA – a leader in the growing movement of local jurisdictions who are pushing back against Pacific Gas & Electric’s dangerous, anti-democratic wireless ‘SmartMeter’ build-out with local ordinances – give PG&E representatives an ear-full of educated questions.
The Fairfax Town Council will hear PG&E’s answers to questions about SmartMeters on Sept. 29 from 7pm until 9pm in the Women’s Club, 46 Park Road, Fairfax. EON will cover the session and its sequelae. Stay tuned.
PG&E on hot seat in Fairfax
Utility says folks have their wires crossed over SmartMeter concerns…
by Ronnie Cohen
Fairfax wants to be known as the little town that stood up to the giant utility.
Residents and officials of this environmentally conscious community appear united against Pacific Gas and Electric Co.’s plans to save energy by replacing analog gas and electric meters with digital so-called SmartMeters. After the Town Council called for a one-year moratorium on the installation of the wireless meters in Fairfax, citizens and council members spent two hours last week voicing questions and concerns about how the devices could invade their privacy and harm their health….
Cartoon by Brian Narelle
…Sarah Reilly, a 40-year-old nutritionist, could be the poster child for a growing chorus of people who report electrical hypersensitivity and are leading the charge against SmartMeters. She said she began to suffer from headaches and could feel herself burning after sleeping with her head next to an electrical meter and near a transformer in her parents’ home in a Las Vegas neighborhood [R1]awash in cell-phone towers. Two years ago, Reilly said she chose to move to Fairfax in large part because of its designation as a pesticide-free and cell-phone-tower-free zone.
And, like the estimated 45 people who turned out for last week’s meeting, she intends to keep SmartMeters and the electromagnetic radiation they emit out of her town of 7,500.
“This community is not saturated in electro-smog,” said Reilly, a healthy-looking woman who feels sick if she as much as watches television or listens to a radio.
“Stop installing the meters until a proper health report is performed,” she told two PG&E representatives. The two men sat alone at a table facing a podium from which citizens shot questions and a steady stream of complaints and anger. “These signals may be invisible, but they have impact.”
…
Mary Beth Brangan called the installation of SmartMeters a “toxic trespass,” predicted PG&E would sell the information it gathers from the devices to third parties and government agencies and wondered if residents could opt out of allowing their personal information to be sold.
Councilmember Larry Bragman, a lawyer, said PG&E would have “unprecedented” access to mine data it gleaned from SmartMeters. “What about our rights to privacy?” he asked.
“What’s going to happen with all the data that’s collected? Every time it’s been collected, it’s been abused,” Bragman said, and the audience applauded.
The Public Utilities Commission has given PG&E permission to install SmartMeters throughout the state. The utility touts the wireless meters—which eliminate the need for human meter readers—as the first step in creating a smart and energy-efficient grid. The new meters allow individuals and businesses to measure their own energy consumption in real time, potentially leading to reduced usage during peak hours.
But Fairfax residents and officials questioned whether installing the wireless devices at a ratepayer-funded cost of $2.2 billion would prove economical from an energy or financial perspective.
“I haven’t seen any evidence of reduced electric use,” Councilmember Pam Hartwell-Herrero said. “Let’s look at how much bang for your buck you’re getting. My understanding is you get a heck of a lot more bang for your buck with insulation.”
The Fairfax Town Council will hear PG&E’s answers to questions about SmartMeters on Sept. 29 from 7pm until 9pm in the Women’s Club, 46 Park Road, Fairfax.
Contact Ronnie Cohen at ronniecohen@comcast.net [R1]
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FCC FREES UP VACANT TV AIRWAVES FOR “SUPER WI-FI” TECHNOLOGIES For full report and statements
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: NEWS MEDIA CONTACT:
September 23, 2010 Bruce Romano, 202-418-2124
Bruce.Romano@fcc.gov
Washington, D.C. — The Federal Communications Commission today took steps to free up vacant airwaves between TV channels — called “white spaces” — to unleash a host of new technologies, such as “super Wi-Fi,” and myriad other diverse applications. This is the first significant block of spectrum made available for unlicensed use in more than 20 years.
TV white space spectrum is considered prime real estate because its signals travel well, making it ideally suited for mobile wireless devices. Unlocking this valuable spectrum will open the doors for new industries to arise, create American jobs, and fuel new investment and innovation. The National Broadband Plan noted the importance of unlicensed spectrum in creating opportunities for new technologies to blossom and recommended that the Commission complete the TV white spaces proceeding as expeditiously as possible.
The Second Memorandum Opinion and Order (Second MO&O) adopted today resolves numerous legal and technical issues. Notably, the Order eliminates the requirement that TV bands devices that incorporate geo-location and database access must also include sensing technology to detect the signals of TV stations and low-power auxiliary service stations (wireless microphones). It also requires wireless microphone users who seek to register in the TV bands databases to certify that they will use all available channels from 7 through 51 prior to requesting registration. Requests to register in the database will be public, thus allowing interested parties to weigh in on any given request.
The Commission is also taking steps to ensure that incumbent services are protected from interference from the use of white spaces in various ways. In particular, today’s Order reserves two vacant UHF channels for wireless microphones and other low power auxiliary service devices in all areas of the country. It also maintains a reasonable separation distance between TV White Space device and wireless microphone usage permitted to be registered in the database
Action by the Commission September 23, 2010, by Second Memorandum Opinion and Order (FCC 10-174). Chairman Genachowski, Commissioners Copps, McDowell, Clyburn, and Baker. Separate Statements issued by Chairman Genachowski, and Commissioners Copps, McDowell, Clyburn and Baker.
For further information, contact Hugh L. Van Tuyl (202-418-7506; Hugh.VanTuyl@fcc.gov), or Alan Stillwell (202-418-2470; Alan.Stillwell@fcc.gov).
Is White Space Super Wifi Dangerous?
Magda Havas
Sept 24. If you think the electrosmog from cell towers is bad in some cities, you should be very concerned about White Spaces. In this article, I will try to give you a heads up to what is about to happen to our airwaves and it causes me extreme concern.
When the FCC and the CRTC decided to licence the radio spectrum frequencies for cell phone transmission towers, large telecom providers such as Sprint, Bell and Rogers paid billions of dollars to these licensing organizations so they could put up cell phone towers just about anywhere in the country.
On September 23, a day that I predict will go down in infamy, the FCC agreed to open up a large band of now unused TV spectrum for digital data communications for Super WiFi. It’s called White Space TV BAND spectrum, it’s free and mostly unregulated. Many years ago the FCC forced the TV broadcasters to simultaneously transmit digital TV signals over the air and discontinue the use of their traditional analogue broadcast frequencies and towers. (Channels 2-69). The TV broadcasters fought to keep control of this analogue spectrum so they could continue to broadcast to people that had TV aerials and older TVs not capable of receiving digital TV signals. They worried about interference from future White Space devices.
Currently the available “White Spaces “ frequencies are widely scattered in the radio spectrum because they’re located in the empty space between existing digital television channels. Adding to the complexity, white space devices such as Super WiFI transmission towers won’t be allowed to interfere with television broadcasts or other licensed uses. The result could be that such Super WiFI devices are limited by their geography.
…
Why should we be worried?
Instead of analogue frequencies that are used for television in the 54-698 MHz range, these White Spaces will now use PULSED DIGITAL waveforms which are extremely biologically active to the human body. WiFi currently uses the higher 2.4 gigahertz frequencies that cannot penetrate thick concrete at long distances and thus you get a slow speed connection resembling dial up. By using the lower TV frequency spectrum (54-698) MHz as a carrier wave, the PULSED DIGITAL WiFi signal will now be able to penetrate obstructions such as buildings over great distances and deliver high speed broadband data rates. Lower frequencies can penetrate better and travel further but they are much more dangerous to the human body.
And remember – this is a two way street. Unlike television you are just receiving the signal from a distance source. If you are mobile, using a Super WiFi USB stick, the radio transmitter will be right beside you pumping PULSED DIGIAL into and through your body. The current USB “Rocket Mobile” sticks use traditional cell phone frequencies that are licensed. Some “Rocket Sticks” can be highly dangerous when transmitting data and have been recalled by Industry Canada for broadcasting over Safety Code 6! And Safety Code 6 is not considered to be safe by many doctors, scientists and health officials.
smart-meter plan halted
Westerville Mayor Kathy Cocuzzi knew something was wrong when residents went up to her and whispered, “I support the meters,” as though afraid to say it in public.
Residents have been divided over a proposal to upgrade the city’s utility meters and, last night, a City Council meeting was packed with people waiting to speak about the issue.
In response, the council decided to kill the proposal to upgrade and, instead, slowly figure out a compromise.
It means that Westerville essentially has turned down a $4.32 million federal grant toward a $7 million project to update utility meters. The council said the city eventually will have to upgrade the meters anyway, but now will pay the entire bill.
Smart meters have technology to remotely monitor and control utility usage, and they’ve been catching on across the country as a way for cities and individuals to reduce energy and water consumption.
Wifi in Schools and the Dangers of non-ionizing radiation
The fact that scientists remain opposed to a scientific consensus is not a reason to distrust the consensus – if this were true, the presence of a single reputable climate denier in the peer reviewed literature would be a reason to refrain from belief in global warming. However, there are two reasons why the wifi case is different from climate denial. First: the precautionary principle runs in the opposite direction – whereas a slight doubt that human Co2 output will threaten the survival of the species is not a good reason to take action to stop Co2 emissions, a significant doubt that wifi causes health problems in children is not a good reason to take cheap and easy action to limit children’s exposure to wifi. Second, there is a structural bias behind Health Canada’s appraisal of the research into the effects of small levels of microwave radiation. This surprising claim comes from a study by Leo P. Inglis,surveyed here by Magda Havas, surveying the literature on microwave radiation’s health effects:
“In the U.S., the thermal effects are generally believed to be the only ones of significance; other contentions are usually dismissed as lacking a provable basis. In the USSR, non-thermal effects are considered the most significant and are overwhelmingly the ones most studied.”
This indicates a structural difference between scientific assumptions in US and USSR have swayed the directions of research, determined which studies got funding, what students took interest in, etc… This claim undercuts Health Canada’s statements which concern only the thermal effects of microwave radiation – if non thermal effects exist, Health Canada is not even looking for them.
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Please distribute and share Dr. Horst Eger and Dr. Manfred Jahn’s English-language translation of their peer-reviewed study, “Spezifische Symptome und Mobilfunkstrahlung in Selbitz (Bayern) – Evidenz für eine Dosiswirkungsbeziehung,” originally published in umwelt·medizin·gesellschaft, Feb. 2010: 130-139.
The study shows a significantly increased health risk in the vicinity of cell phone base stations and underscores the inadequacy of the currently accepted exposure limits. Discussion includes references to several past studies since the 1960s that supports their findings.
“Specific Health Symptoms and Cell Phone Radiation in Selbitz (Bavaria, Germany)—Evidence of a Dose-Response Relationship” is now available to view/download here.
Thanks to this new English translation, this study can reach an even wider audience.
Special thanks to: Dr. Horst Eger and Dr. Manfred Jahn and the publisher for making this English translation possible; Ms. Katharina Gustavs for her English translation; Nancy Evans for recommending Katharina Gustavs translate this important study. The publishers affirm that this study has been peer-reviewed by their scientific board.
Ms. Kiku Lani Iwata
Burbank ACTION, California
CBC The National – Cell Phones and Insurance Companies
Wendy Mesley reports about how many insurance companies are not covering cell phone manufacturers and wireless carriers – 60% refuse to insure purveyors against future health damage suits. Devra Davis interviewed.
Proven Harmful Effects of EMF Exposure
Dr. Henry Lai, the first researcher to show double-strand breaks in DNA caused by exposure to electro-magnetic radiation (EMR), talks about the many peer-reviewed studies showing harmful health effects from long-term exposure to low levels of EMR.
Suppressing the Science on Cell Phone Risks
Leading Austrian medical researcher Prof. Franz Adlkofer coordinated the REFLEX study of EMR bioeffects funded by the European Commission. The study’s conclusion: High frequency electro-magnetic fields damage genes and gene function. He tells how telecom interests attempted (unsuccessfully) to discredit the study and destroy the careers of its authors and publishers.
Mapping Health Risks in a Wireless World
Dr. Om Gandhi, a pioneer researcher in the bioeffects of EMF exposure, explains why the recent explosion of wireless devices has made existing US EMF exposure ‘guidelines’ dangerously outdated.
San Anselmo votes to ban smart meters in town
In a surprising turn of events, the San Anselmo Town Council voted last night to “demand” a moratorium on the installation of PG&E’s Smart Meters in town. The town also voted to begin drafting an ordinance that would place a temporary moratorium on the meters for one year.
[Citizens cheer as the San Anselmo City Council
takes a stand on ‘SmartMeters’ after presentations by
EON’s Mary Beth Brangan
and Fairfax Councilman Larry Bragman.]
Sebastopol urged to ban SmartMeters
More than a dozen people urged the Sebastopol City Council Tuesday to ban SmartMeters, which they contend may be unsafe, even if there are doubts of what jurisdiction the city has.
Data proves smart meter scheme costing everyone more
Queen’s Park – Andrea Horwath, Leader of Ontario’s New Democrats, says data from Toronto Hydro confirms that Dalton McGuinty’s so-called smart meters have raised rates for 80 per cent of consumers and aren’t producing any conservation gains for Ontario.
…“Dalton McGuinty’s so-called smart meters make eHealth look like a bargain. For a billion and half dollars we have a scheme that leaves 80 per cent of people paying higher rates without shifting usage patterns,” said Horwath. “There’s nothing smart about Dalton McGuinty’s smart meters when it’s hiking people’s hydro bills.”
A Toronto Hydro study looked at ten thousand households in Toronto that have been billed using so-called smart meters since 2009. The study confirmed that after a year of operation:
• On average 80 percent of households have been paying higher rates than before smart meters were installed and there has been little if any shift in household energy consumption.
• In one billing period – from June to September, 2009 – ninety-two per cent of households paid more.
• On average, households seeing an increase were paying anywhere from 2 to 7 per cent more.
• These increases are separate from the added cost to households for the cost of the smart meter itself. Across Ontario, consumers will be paying $1.25 – $4.45 a month for decades to recover these costs.
“The McGuinty Liberals have spent billions on a scheme that leaves people paying more and leaves Ontario falling behind in our conservation goals,” said Horwath.
Feds’ Smart Grid Race Leaves Cybersecurity in the Dust
By Kim Zetter
… “It reflects a strong consensus that cybersecurity and resilience will be critical to the realization of a modernized, reliable, and efficient power grid, so that it will be able to guarantee delivery of electricity to consumers and maintain critical operations, even when malicious cyber attacks occur,” reads the press release.
The only problem is, by the time the research project is completed, most of the nation will have already adopted untested and unsecured technologies.
How do we know they’re insecure?
Disconnect: The Truth about Cell Phone Radiation, What the Industry Has Done to Hide It, and How to Protect Your Family
by Devra Davis
Publisher Comments:
The much-anticipated, explosive expose of how cell phone use damages brain cells, especially in children, by one of the world’s foremost scientific experts in the field.
Devra Davis presents an array of recent and long suppressed research in this timely bombshell. Cell phone radiation is a national emergency. Stunningly, the most popular gadget of our age has now been shown to damage DNA, break down the brain’s defenses, and reduce sperm count while increasing memory loss, the risk of Alzheimer’s disease, and even cancer. The growing brains of children make them especially vulnerable. And half of the world’s four billion cell phone used by people under twenty.
Davis, the founding director of the toxicology and environmental studies board at the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, takes readers through the dark side of this trillion-dollar industry. Health experts have long been frozen out of policy-making decisions about cell phones; federal regulatory standards are set by the cell phone industry itself. Cell phone manufacturers have borrowed the playbook of the tobacco industry. One secret memo reveals their war plan against reports of cell phone dangers.
Among a host of fascinating characters, Davis introduces Om P. Gandhi, a world expert on how cell phone radiation penetrates the human brain. Once a consultant to major cell phone companies, Gandhi now refuses to work with them. Franz Adlkofer led the multi-lab study that showed once and for all that brain cell DNA is unraveled by cell phone microwave radiation-and, as Davis dramatically portrays, it nearly cost him his career.
As this eye-opening call to action shows, we can make safer cell phones now. Why would we put our children at risk of a devastating epidemic of brain illness in the years to come?
For video testimony and expert interviews with Devra Davis, Cindy Sage, David Carpenter, Martin Blank, Lloyd Morgan and Brazil’s Alvaro deSalles and others on this subject please see our two YouTube playlists: ElectroMagnetic Health Protection and SmartMeters, Dumb Idea . There are more posts on the way.
Could Wireless be the Next Asbestos?
Gloria Vogel
Could radio frequency-producing antennas that are essential for the wireless world be the next asbestos for the insurance industry? They could, writes Gloria Vogel, managing director of New York-based Vogel Capital Management. The insurance industry must reassess its risk management tools and beef up loss control operations—especially its application of risk management to worker safety within the wireless ecosystem to avoid potentially huge claims in the future, she says.
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Could wireless antennas be the next asbestos?
Throughout the years, insurers have been concerned that an issue similar to asbestos would create a new round of endless losses for the industry. Lead paint, toxic mold, silica and other harmful substances have caught the interest of the plaintiffs bar, but nothing has come close to asbestos.
However, an issue that mimics asbestos and is being ignored by insurers could soon hit their pocketbooks. Simply stated, everyone’s favorite form of wireless communication and commerce depends on radio frequency-producing base station antennas, which emit radio waves and microwaves that can harm humans.
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Based upon data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and U.S. Census Bureau, it is estimated that as many as 250,000 workers a year are compelled to work in close proximity and in front of RF transmitting antennas. When combined with the 15 years this issue has been in existence, the pool of potential claimants could be staggering.
Wi-Fi in Schools Debate Heats Up
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“Because Our School Board’s safety standards are going by thermal effect only, with no regard for the many biological effects that Health Canada confirms can occur from lower levels than allowed by Safety Code 6, I am keeping my daughter home from school and teaching her here until the wifi is turned off and the internet is reconnected via existing wires,” says Klein who is also C0-Chair of the Parent Council at SVE.
Parents Concerned re School Wi-Fi
There is new evidence that suggests the Wi-Fi in our schools may cause serious short and/or long term health problems, and this has some Meaford parents concerned.
What is Wi-Fi? Wi-Fi is a microwave transmitter that is used to connect to the internet without wires. Some concerned parents are beginning to feel that wi-fi might be convenient but not necessary as every school has all of the wiring required still available to plug back into the internet in every room.
Wi-Fi comes with a long list of potential health risks. Wi-Fi or wireless router signals are microwaves just like cell phones. There is growing concern that Wi-Fi is potentially harmful, especially to children. Microwave exposure is associated with infertility, neurological disorders, Leukaemia and Cancer, especially in children.
Each school has a large main antenna in the centre of the school and multiple smaller ones placed in classrooms further away to boost the signal strength as it starts to weaken. It sends signals all day/night and never gets turned off.
Is Wi-Fi safe? According to hundreds of Doctors and Researchers (including Trent University’s Dr. Magda Havas), Canada’s safety guidelines are outdated. Wi-Fi is new technology, while the safety studies are old and based on thermal effects only, meaning that if the internal organs of an adult are not HEATED in less than 6 minutes they consider it to be within the guidelines. There has never been a study done on children’s long term exposure to low level microwave radiation (Wi-Fi) and the biological effects.
Now children starting as early as three years old are exposed to this low level microwave radiation for 6-8 hours each day at school. They will be exposed five days each week for the next 14-20 years.
Thanks to Marti Kheel
Huffman Calls for Study on Health Effects of SmartMeters
Requests California Council of Science & Technology Review FCC Standards for Devices
SAN RAFAEL, CA – Assemblymember Jared Huffman issued a request to the California Council on Science and Technology (CCST) to determine whether Federal Communications Commission (FCC) standards for SmartMeters are sufficiently protective of public health—taking into account current exposure levels to radiofrequency and electromagnetic fields, and further to assess whether additional technology specific standards are needed for SmartMeters and other devices that are commonly found in and around homes, to ensure adequate protection from adverse health effects.
The letter is in response to numerous concerns and questions raised by individuals residing in the Assemblymember’s district, as well as the Marin County Board of Supervisors, City of Sebastopol, City of Fairfax, and Marin Association of Realtors, relating to potential negative health effects from SmartMeters, the electronic monitoring devices that Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) is installing statewide to continuously measure the electricity output from each household and business.
In the letter to CCST Chair Karl Pistel dated July 30, 2010, Huffman states, “An independent, science-based study by the California Council on Science and Technology would help policy makers and the general public resolve the debate over whether SmartMeters present a significant risk of adverse health effects.”
Security Pros Question Deployment of Smart Meters
The country’s swift deployment of smart-grid technology has security professionals concerned that utilities and smart-meter vendors are repeating the mistakes made in the rollout of the public internet, when security became a priority only after malicious attacks had reached mass levels.
But when it comes to the power grid, the costs of remote hack attacks are potentially more dramatic.
“The cost factor here is what’s turned on its head. We lose control of our grid, that’s far worse than a botnet taking over my home PC,” said Matthew Carpenter, senior security analyst of InGuardian, speaking at a panel at the RSA Security Conference in San Francisco this week.
The panel included Seth Bromberger, manager of information security at Pacific Gas and Electric, a San Francisco-based utility company that provides natural gas and electrical services to customers in Central and Northern California and is in the forefront of the smart-meter rollout; and Matt Franz, principal security engineer at Science Applications International Corporation.
Carpenter serves on the AMI-SEC Task Force, a group working on developing security guidelines and best practices for smart-meter infrastructure, and has done penetration testing on smart-meter systems to uncover security issues. He said the most common vulnerability he’s seen so far is susceptibility to “cross-site request forgery” on the control systems.
“That took me by surprise,” he said. “That’s not something that I would have imagined to be one of the greatest vulnerabilities found.”
Russia’s Cyber Security Plans
…A report late last year by the computer security company McAfee–a report based on interviews with third party experts–said that Russia, the United States, China, France, and Israel were all developing the capacity to attack and cripple computer networks including those that run critical infrastructure such as power grids….
Darbee’s Folly – ‘SmartMeter’ Update
“Smart meters created ignition source” in San Bruno
[Editors’ note: CARE petition to CPUC on alleging connection between Gas Smart Meters
and electric current which might have ignited San Bruno gas pipeline explosion. ]
This petition for modification of the original Smart meter decision was filed with the CPUC yesterday. (Download PDF here)
Michael Boyd on behalf of CARE addresses the lack of a CEQA, RFR health impacts, FCC standards, interference, etc. He also states, “I allege EMF from PG&E’s Smart meters created the ignition source” (related to San Bruno explosion)
Moratorium Banning SmartMeters In SCC Passed
SANTA CRUZ, Calif. — The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors passed a moratorium against the installation of PG&E’s Smart Meters on Tuesday.
The board voted unanimously on the ordinance that places a moratorium on the meters while more information about the devices is gathered.
The ordinance states that no SmartMeters may be installed in or on any home, apartment, condominium or business in unincorporated areas of Santa Cruz County. Also, no equipment related to SmartMeters can be installed in, on, under or above a public street or public right of way in the county.
PDF: Santa Cruz County SmartMeters Moratorium
Any violations of the moratorium could result in misdemeanor charges, according to the ordinance.
Welcome to the Smart Meters [aka DumbMeters™] Action Wiki, serving (at least) all of California — this is YOUR action center! [Maintained by Soula Culver]
PG&E Spent on Politics, not Pipelines
By Christine Pelosi
…Here’s what we know so far: residents reported smelling odors in the San Bruno community in the days before the blast. They called PG&E but nothing was detected. No one took the customer complaints up the chain of command to the bosses who had a report listing the San Francisco peninsula pipelines as “high risk.” After the deadly blast, there was some denial by PG&E that the pipeline was even theirs; then denial that the pipeline was the one in the survey, but federal investigators (who released PG&E’s survey) said the pipeline was PG&E’s.
We know the utility had the money — our money — to fix the pipelines because public filings show that just last spring, PG&E chose to spend $45 million in ratepayer dollars in a failed bid to block public power. These are funds that could have been used to repair what the utility’s own survey said was a high risk pipeline on the SF peninsula. So why make the decision for politics not pipelines? If the spending decisions were not related, why not? At the very least, PG&E should have a moratorium on political spending until they compensate the San Bruno victims and fix the pipelines.
Data proves smart meter scheme costing everyone more
Queen’s Park – Andrea Horwath, Leader of Ontario’s New Democrats, says data from Toronto Hydro confirms that Dalton McGuinty’s so-called smart meters have raised rates for 80 per cent of consumers and aren’t producing any conservation gains for Ontario.
“Dalton McGuinty’s so-called smart meters make eHealth look like a bargain. For a billion and half dollars we have a scheme that leaves 80 per cent of people paying higher rates without shifting usage patterns,” said Horwath. “There’s nothing smart about Dalton McGuinty’s smart meters when it’s hiking people’s hydro bills.”
A Toronto Hydro study looked at ten thousand households in Toronto that have been billed using so-called smart meters since 2009. The study confirmed that after a year of operation:
• On average 80 percent of households have been paying higher rates than before smart meters were installed and there has been little if any shift in household energy consumption.
• In one billing period – from June to September, 2009 – ninety-two per cent of households paid more.
• On average, households seeing an increase were paying anywhere from 2 to 7 per cent more.
• These increases are separate from the added cost to households for the cost of the smart meter itself. Across Ontario, consumers will be paying $1.25 – $4.45 a month for decades to recover these costs.
“The McGuinty Liberals have spent billions on a scheme that leaves people paying more and leaves Ontario falling behind in our conservation goals,” said Horwath.
PG&E Execs On Lavish Junket as San Bruno Exploded
As a massive gas line explosion blew up homes and created a raging cauldron in San Bruno, Pacific Gas & Electric executives were enjoying a lavish dinner in San Luis Obispo after flying there in a company jet earlier that day. PG&E Chief Operating Officer Jack Keenan arranged for the company’s jet to fly execs from their San Francisco offices to San Luis Obispo, where they proceeded to play a round of golf. The off-site meeting included Geisha Williams, PG&E’s Senior Vice President in charge of energy delivery.
As the nation asks hard questions about PG&E’s funding priorities in the wake of the San Bruno pipeline explosion, the controversial corporation has a new question to answer.
Specifically, why did it spend the money to fly execs down for a golfing junket in San Luis Obispo when there was no shortage of Bay Area locations for off-site meetings?
The expensive junket follows PG&E’s spending $50 million in a failed effort to pass Prop 16 on California’s June ballot, which led many to question why these funds were not instead being spent to ensure public safety.
RF Big Brother in Your Trash Can!
CLEVELAND, Ohio — It would be a stretch to say that Big Brother will hang out in Clevelanders’ trash cans [oh, yeah?], but the city plans to sort through curbside trash to make sure residents are recycling — and fine them $100 if they don’t.
The move is part of a high-tech collection system the city will roll out next year with new trash and recycling carts embedded with radio frequency identification chips and bar codes.
The chips will allow city workers to monitor how often residents roll carts to the curb for collection. If a chip show a recyclable cart hasn’t been brought to the curb in weeks, a trash supervisor will sort through the trash…