EON EMF Digest 9-17-2010 – Free Zone Laws Spread

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

San Anselmo to join Fairfax in ‘smart meter’ ban
San Anselmo will soon become the second town in Marin to ban the installation of Pacific Gas and Electric’s trademarked SmartMeters.
Citing health and privacy concerns, the San Anselmo Town Council voted 3-0 Tuesday to instruct town staff to draft an ordinance that would place a one-year moratorium on installation of the meters. The council also directed its staff to immediately write a letter to PG&E and the California Public Utilities Commission demanding that installation of the meters in San Anselmo halt now.
Smart Meter Free Zone- Photo by Karen Nevis
…
On Tuesday night, the council heard from SmartMeter critics. Mary Beth Brangan, co-director of the Ecological Options Network, spoke about health concerns raised by the meters’ emission of radio-frequency radiation. Fairfax Councilman Larry Bragman talked about privacy issues raised by the meters.
Brangan said that safety standards for exposure to radio-frequency radiation developed by the Federal Communications Commission address only the thermal effects of the radiation and not the risk of cancer due to DNA damage.
“The entire concept of wireless smart meters requires the unlimited use of RF radiation that will be a huge addition to what we are already living in,” Brangan said, “and we’re already living in a lot.”
Cell phones and computers use radio-frequency waves to link to the Internet and send e-mail.
Brangan said overexposure to radio-frequency radiation can cause people to become hypersensitive to it. [Emphasis added]

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.

Did ‘SmartMeters’ Spark San Bruno Blast?
“While investigators are looking at a number of possible causes, a consumer group put forward its own theory on Thursday, arguing that PG&E’s new SmartMeters may have sparked the explosion.
Californians for Renewable Energy reported that it had filed a complaint to the Federal Communications Commission, alleging that the wireless transmissions from the meters, which measure electricity and gas use, could have created an electric current in the pipe, produced a spark and ignited the fuel rushing through line. PG&E insists that the meters, which have embroiled the company in a yearlong controversy over their accuracy, produce signals whose strength is comparable to those from a cell phone.”

F.C.C. Likely to Open New Airwaves to Wireless “Wi-Fi on steroids.”
WASHINGTON — When the Federal Communications Commission first approved the
use of unlicensed bands of the airwaves decades ago, it began a revolution in
consumer electronics — first in television remote controls and garage door
openers, then in baby monitors and cordless phones, and most recently in
wireless computer networks.
This month, the F.C.C. is likely to approve what could be an even bigger
expansion of the unlicensed airwaves, opening the door to supercharged Wi-Fi
networks that will do away with the need to find a wireless hot spot and will
provide the scaffolding for new applications that are not yet imagined.
“We know what the first kind of deployments will be,” Julius Genachowski,
the chairman of the F.C.C., said in an interview, citing wireless broadband
networks that can cover entire university or corporate campuses, for example
— what is referred to in the industry as “Wi-Fi on steroids.”
The stronger, faster networks will extend broadband signals to bypassed rural
areas and allow for smart electric grids, remote health monitoring and, for
consumers, wireless Internet without those annoying dead zones.

EON EMF Digest 9-12-10 – Cyber Security Issues

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

‘SmartMeter’ Security Issues

Sorry, but to understand the issues involved in PG&E’s ‘SmartMeter’ build-out plan, you have to learn a few more acronyms. The generic term is ICSs (Industrial Control Systems), which increasingly envelop us in a metastasizing meshwork of corporate and government command and control technologies. SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition Systems), with which utilities manage energy supply, together with AMI (Automated Metering Infrastructure), and so-called ‘SmartMeters’ or AMRs (Automated Meter Reading systems) constitute a new alphabet soup of systems which in turn potentially constitute a whole new soup of electromagnetic exposure in our environment.

The following three valuable posts on cyber-security and the so-called ‘smartmeters’ come to us thanks to Sandi Maurer, founder of EMRSafetyNetwork.org . One of the main take-away messages is clearly this: Building AMI, utilizing wireless anything to communicate with/manage AMRs, is deliberately introducing new weaknesses and vulnerabilities to the existing power utility SCADA mix — AMI and AMR should not take the short-run-cheap and reliability/durability-low wireless route when there are hardwired infrastructure options.

Why SCADA Security Matters–And What You Should Know About It
September 2, 2010 By Diana Kelley
SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) systems run critical infrastructure and manufacturing processes. SCADA is what the local power company uses to manage usage on the grid and ensure customers have energy during times of high use.
…
Jonathan Pollet, founder of Red Tiger Security, a consulting and testing company that specializes in SCADA and critical infrastructure, notes: “SCADA Engineers and System Integrators know how to design, commission, and maintain real-time control systems, but typically do not have the right skill sets and training to embed security into those systems. They typically do not understand how to properly harden the servers, operator workstations, and network infrastructure, and in most cases, these systems are commissioned with default passwords and administrator accounts with no passwords.”
Despite the lack of awareness about SCADA security among most security professionals, the risks associated with SCADA exploits and vulnerabilities are significant. Very worst case scenarios of distributed SCADA attacks include bringing down the power grid to a major metropolitan city (or cities) and tampering with the temperature monitoring at a nuclear power plant causing a meltdown.

Electricity for Free?
The Dirty Underbelly of SCADA and Smart Meters
Jonathan Pollet, CISSP, CAP, PCIP July 2010
SCADA Systems control the generation, transmission, and distribution of electric power, and Smart Meters are now being installed to measure and report on the usage of power. While these systems have in the past been mostly isolated systems, with little if no connectivity to external networks, there are many business and consumer issuing driving both of these technologies to being opened to external networks and the Internet.
Over the past 10 years, we have performed over 100 security assessments on SCADA
(Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition Systems), EMS (Energy Management Systems), DCS (Distributed Control Systems), AMI (Automated Metering Infrastructure), and Smart Grid systems. We have compiled very interesting statistics regarding where the vulnerabilities in these systems are typically found, and how these vulnerabilities can be exploited.
and
DoE, National SCADA Test Bed NSTB Assessments
Summary Report: Common Industrial Control System Cyber Security Weaknesses
ICS software mostly suffers from the lack of secure software design and coding practices. ICS network protocols and associated server applications are prone to MitM data viewing and alteration, as well as compromise through invalid input. This lack of security culture contributes to poor code quality, network protocol implementations that rely on weak authentication and allow information disclosure, and vulnerable custom ICS Web services.
ICS software generally uses third-party applications such as common Web servers, remote access services, and encryption services. Many out-of-date and vulnerable third-party software applications and services have been identified on new ICS version; all indications show that the ICS vendor is not supporting third-party patch management for their products.
Vendor support is needed to remediate the unnecessary exposure and vulnerabilities caused by
excessive services and unpatched systems. ICS software has not been designed for security….

EON EMF Digest 9-11-2010: A look at PG&E

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Some PG&E Background – A Rap Sheet

PG&E, Owner of Pipeline, Also Runs Major Political Operation
Energy giant PG&E, which owns and manages a natural gas pipeline that Thursday night ignited a massive inferno in San Bruno, Calif., is one of the nation’s most notable political players, routinely spending millions of dollars each year on government lobbying and campaign donations, a Center for Responsive Politics analysis finds.…

Cartoon by Brian Narelle

…Since 2000, PG&E Corp., the parent company of PG&E Co., has spent more than $112 million on federally reportable lobbying efforts, according to the Center’s analysis. Its roster of lobbyists includes an elite force of ex-government officials, and at least one of the lobbyists the company has deployed this year is a former member of Congress, Rep. Vic Fazio (D-Ca.).
And the explosion in San Bruno comes at a time when PG&E Corp. is reaching new heights in lobbying efforts.
During the first six months of the year, PG&E put unprecedented capital into lobbying efforts, reporting to the federal government that it’s so far spent nearly$44 million. Such a figure represents a more than 600 percent increase from the total it spent during all of 2009, and marks an industry-wide record for electric and utilities companies.
Much of the lobbying money it’s spent this year has gone toward efforts to influence a California budget proposal that would make it difficult for counties in the state to start their own electric utility companies.

PG&E – A review of a shameful history
PG&E isn’t your average utility company. Up until the mid 1990’s it had been the largest privately owned electric utility company in the U.S. with over 4 million customers, covering 2/3rds of California. The company has played a major role in shaping California and its political climate during the 20th century.
…
One hundred years ago, at the dawn of the electrical revolution, the Southern Pacific Railroad company’s big four, Charles Crocker, Mark Hopkins, Leland Stanford and Colis Huntington had a complete monopoly on the politics and economy of California. They owned the banks, judges, politicians and transportation system of the state. They also held deeds to 1/5 of its arable land.
The Southern Pacific Crowd joined forces with J.P. Morgan and European financiers who were using vast amounts of royalist money to build up and take financial control of America’s corporations. This unholy alliance of royalist influence over command and control of corporate structure was also behind the creation of PG&E and its primary roll model, the english controlled General Electric company, which is the largest company in the world today.
This gigantic company hitched its values and vision to the monopolistic agenda…

How PG&E hid $4 billion – diagramming the corporation’s global ‘evil empire’
Investigative reporter Don Ray
PG&E: The evil empire
While San Francisco’s electricity infrastructure crumbles from a lack of investment, PG&E has sucked your money out of town and used it to build and expand a global empire
Pacific Gas and Electric Corp. – Holding company formed in 1997 in part to protect Pacific Gas and Electric Co. money from possible problems during deregulation
California
Pacific Gas and Electric Co. – Local utility, which sends ratepayer money to PG&E Corp. – but gets none back [ the list goes on…]
…
If the attorneys from the city of San Francisco and the state attorney general’s office are correct, some of the money a San Francisco customer paid for an electric bill might have taken a path such as this:
PG&E Co., which sells electric power to most of northern California, cashes the check. Some of the money then goes to its parent company, PG&E Corp.
Some or all of that money could then go to PG&E National Energy Group LLC, a Delaware limited liability company based in Bethesda, Md., which was formed for the purpose of holding stock in another Bethesda-based Delaware corporation called PG&E National Energy Group Inc.
Then PG&E National Energy Group Inc. might receive the money from it’s parent limited liability corporation. Next, the cash might trickle down to PG&E Enterprises, a California corporation based in Bethesda.
Then it could drip down another level to PG&E National Energy Group Holdings Corp., a California corporation based in Bethesda that is a holding company for PG&E National Energy Group generation and energy trading subsidiaries.
It could easily pass from there to PG&E Energy Trading Holdings LLC, a Delaware limited liability company also based in Bethesda. It was formed for the purpose of holding stock in PG&E Trading Holdings Corp.
As you might guess, the next stream leads to PG&E Energy Trading Holdings Corp., a California corporation based in Bethesda. It’s a holding company for energy trading and overseas entities.
Next stop: PG&E International Inc., a California corporation based in Bethesda that is a holding company for overseas project companies.
Now the money could flow down the East Coast to PG&E Overseas Holdings I Ltd., a Cayman Islands company. It is the owner of PG&E Overseas Holdings II Ltd, based in Labuan, Malaysia. The company is the owner of PG&E Corp. Australian Holdings Ltd., who could be the next recipient.
Australian holdings is based in Brisbane and is the holding company for Australian entities.
It might pass some of that electric bill money to PG&E Energy Trading Australia Ltd., an Australian corporation based in Brisbane that markets energy.
If the theory holds up, San Franciscans – who face blackouts due to inadequate investment in PG&E’s local system – may very well have been paying to keep the lights on in Queensland, down under.

Who Trusts the CPUC?

CPUC can’t be trusted to investigate PG&E explosion in San Bruno
By Dennis Wyatt – Managing Editor – Manteca Bulletin
The California Public Utilities Commission should not investigate PG&E for the killing of four people, maiming countless others and destroying 37 homes in San Bruno.
They can’t be trusted.…
The CPUC also routinely approves massive rate increases for PG&E that are often based on the San Francisco-based utility’s claim they will use the money to do routine maintenance and then siphon the funds collected from ratepayers for other purposes. One recent rate increase application the CPUC approved included money to replace 40,000 aging power poles. An audit done several years later showed that PG&E only replaced 4,000 poles. How it came up was PG&E had the gal to ask for another rate increase to replace the poles that weren’t replaced with the first rate increase.
Is there a pattern here?

‘SmartGrid’ Security Threatened by Hackable Wireless

Security Pros Question Deployment of Smart Meters
[from March, 2010, but still relevant – Eds]
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…
Smart grids use digital meters and control mechanisms that allow utility companies to better control the flow of electricity remotely and promise to save energy and reduce utility costs. Smart meters installed in homes and businesses allow utility companies to remotely communicate with the devices to read usage levels and control the delivery of services.
But security research on the systems is lagging behind the deployment of smart meters, which has already occurred in some places in the United States. PG&E is in the lead with 5 million gas and electric smart meters deployed since 2006, which represents about half of its customer base. PG&E expects to deploy an additional 5 million smart meters by 2012.
Among the concerns Carpenter expressed was one related to vulnerabilities that could arise in the encryption schemes used in smart-grid systems, given that the systems are expected to have a lifespan of 15 to 20 years. Advances in encryption cracking that are likely to occur over that time period would make the encryption obsolete, he said.
He also discussed a need to examine the aggregation points that receive communication from the meters and have “an immense amount of control” in some cases.
“In some circumstances they’re simply going to give you a denial-of-service if you tamper with them because the crypto is done appropriately from the head-end control system down to the meters and the aggregation point really can’t tinker much with it,” Carpenter said. “But in other [cases] there’s a great deal of control that that aggregation point has, and they’re sitting on the top of a [utility] pole — not in a brick building [with] guard dogs and razor wire … and [they have] an ethernet cable.”
An attacker could sniff traffic going to the aggregation point or possibly send commands to the meters or inject code into the backend control system.

Feds’ Smart Grid Race Leaves Cybersecurity in the Dust
[from March, 2010, but still relevant – Eds]
Amid the government-funded rush to upgrade America’s aging electric system to a smart grid comes a strange confluence of press releases this week by the White House and the University of Illinois.
Tuesday morning, President Obama, speaking at Florida Power and Light (FPL) facilities, announced $3.4 billion in grants to utility companies, municipal districts and manufacturers to spur a nationwide transition to smart-grid technologies and fund other energy-saving initiatives as part of the economic stimulus package.
…
Strange, then, that another press release distributed Monday by the Information Trust Institute at the University of Illinois announces a grant of $18.8 million to four academic institutions to fund a five-year research project into securing the power grid. The project is supposed to make certain that the smart meters and other devices implemented by power companies can resist hackers and other attackers.
…
“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. [emphasis added – Ed.]

Some History

White House Announces ‘SmartGrid’ Grants
Oct. 2009 [There is NO federal ‘mandate’ for wireless ‘smartmeters,’ and PG&E even failed to qualify for the grant!]
ARCADIA, FLORIDA – Speaking at Florida Power and Light’s (FPL) DeSoto Next Generation Solar Energy Center, President Barack Obama today announced the largest single energy grid modernization investment in U.S. history, funding a broad range of technologies that will spur the nation’s transition to a smarter, stronger, more efficient and reliable electric system. The end result will promote energy-saving choices for consumers, increase efficiency, and foster the growth of renewable energy sources like wind and solar.

The $3.4 billion in Smart Grid Investment Grant awards are part of the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, and will be matched by industry funding for a total public-private investment worth over $8 billion. Applicants state that the projects will create tens of thousands of jobs, and consumers in 49 states will benefit from these investments in a stronger, more reliable grid. Full listings of the grant awards by category and state are available HERE and HERE. A map of the awards is available HERE.

SmartGrid Security Research Launched
[Will not be completed until AFTER deployment – Ed.]
The term “Smart Grid” refers to the integration of the existing physical infrastructure of the power grid with an advanced communication and control cyber infrastructure, with the ultimate goal of making energy transmission and distribution more efficient— and therefore cheaper for consumers and less wasteful of resources.
However, Smart Grid technologies may themselves introduce new problems, such as increasing the vulnerability to cyber attack as power grid resources become increasingly linked to the Internet. For example, experts recently warned that some types of “smart” automated meters could be hacked by attackers with minimal equipment and knowledge, and that an attacker who succeeded in gaining access might be able to cause blackouts. Those blackouts could have serious economic and human consequences if they are widespread or affect critical systems, such as airports or city traffic light systems.
“Ultimately, the extent to which the Smart Grid vision is achieved is going to depend on how functional and robust the cyber infrastructure is,” explained Ilesanmi Adesida, dean of the College of Engineering at Illinois.

EON EMF Digest 9-10-2010

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Neighborhood in California Is Set Ablaze by Explosion
(PG&E negligence at fault?)
Pacific Gas and Electric Co., the utility company that serves the area, said one of its gas lines had ruptured.
Residents of the neighborhood said PG&E investigated a pungent gas leak over the previous week but did not take action, according to The Bay Citizen.
“They already knew about the leak and they didn’t do anything,” said Alex Monroy, who lives on Claremont Drive, not far from where the broken gas main burst into flames.
San Mateo Assemblyman Jerry Hill told The Bay Citizen he was “outraged” to learn that some residents had complained to PG&E about gas leaks in the neighborhood “for up to three weeks” before the explosion.
Mr. Hill said the pipe that ruptured was installed in 1948.
“I will be working closely with the Public Utilities Commission to ensure that a thorough investigation is conducted into the cause of this fire,” Mr. Hill said in a statement.
The explosion erupted on a hillside near Interstates 280 and 380, in a residential area about two miles west of San Francisco International Airport.

Residents Reported Leak Days Before Explosion
PG&E investigated and left, one man says; assemblyman `outraged’
Residents of the San Bruno neighborhood devastated by Thursday’s explosion said PG&E investigated a pungent gas leak over the previous week but did not take action.
“They already knew about the leak and they didn’t do anything,” said Alex Monroy, who lives on Claremont Drive, not far from where a broken gas main burst into flames early Thursday evening, scorching everything around it.
PG&E has confirmed that one of its high-pressure natural gas transmission lines ruptured, causing the blaze that destroyed 38 homes, damaged 120 and killed at least three people.

Radiation fears stymie SmartMeter installation
‘SmartMeters’ have been getting a lot of media attention lately, and PG&E, the company behind the wireless devices, has been ramping up its public relations campaign. A lot.
COMMERCIAL: California is on the cutting edge of the new green economy and SmartMeters are part of that edge. We’ve been in the dark far too long, and I feel enlightened because it provides the opportunity to conserve energy.
Well, PG&E’s paying a fair penny for the woman featured in the commercial to feel enlightened. She’s part of an ad campaign you can find on network TV along with the websites of the San Francisco Chronicle and Oakland Tribune. And while it’s certainly possible the customers who are paying PG&E may feel enlightened by SmartMeters too, some would prefer to turn out the lights on the new technology.
KALW’s Brian Pelletier has the story.


Concerns Raised over Use of Computer RFID Chips to Track Preschool Children
Privacy advocates [ but no health protection advocates] are raising concerns over the use of RFID chips to help track students at a public preschool in California. The technology is being tested on 240 preschool students in the Head Start Program in Richmond. Preschool students have been outfitted with jerseys carrying tiny computer chips that have a radio antenna that can be tracked from a distance. We host a debate. [includes rush transcript]

Wi-Fi Concerns in Schools
Some Ontario Parents are concerned that Wi-Fi in schools is making their children sick, the CBC’s Loanna Roumeliotis reports. Magda Havas featured.

High-Tech Utility Meters Spark a Fight
WSJ
A new, high-tech utility meter is inflaming passions around the Bay Area. Now PG&E Corp. is trying to tamp down growing regional opposition to its $2.2 billion meter upgrade—but is failing to mollify many local critics.

Smart metering: what potential for householder engagement?
The argument for the implementation of ‘smart’ metering, which is an elastic term, varies according to circumstance and place. In some countries, the business case for establishing an advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) relies in part on improving consumption feedback to customers and assisting in the transition to lower-impact energy systems. There is an expectation that AMI will lead to reductions in both the demand and the cost to serve customers through improved communication, but little evidence exists to show overall demand reduction.

Local doctor shares his views on dangers from electromagnetic field radiation
by Lillian Cox
Dr. Dan Harper, M.D., was among the first to arrive at the Encinitas City Council meeting the evening of July 21. Carrying a 12-inch stack of medical journal articles about the health risks of electromagnetic field, or EMF, radiation, he was there to speak on behalf of his patient, Michael Schwaebe.
Schwaebe was appealing the placement of WiMAX towers on the site of the former Cabo Grill at Coast Highway 101 and La Costa Avenue. WiMAX is often referred to as “a cell tower on steroids.”
Harper directed his initial remarks to the Sprint Clearwire representatives in attendance when he quoted author Upton Sinclair: “It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon him not understanding.”
Harper said he was frustrated, but not surprised, that he was unable to complete his presentation.
It would have been illegal.
Dr. Dan Harper offers a few tips on how to protect yourself from EMFs:

EON EMF Digest 9-8-2010

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

EMF Health Protection and SmartMeters
Watsonville Bans Smart Meters
AN EMERGENCY INTERIM ORDINANCE OF THE ClTY COUNCIL OF THE ClTY OF WATSONVILLE ESTABLISHING A MORATORIUM OF
TWELVE (12) MONTHS ON THE INSTALLATION OF SMARTMETERS AND RELATED EQUIPMENT WITHIN THE ClTY OF WATSONVILLE
OR IN, ALONG, ACROSS, UPON, UNDER AND OVER THE PUBLIC STREETS AND PLACES WITHIN THE ClTY OF WATSONVILLE, AND DELCARING THE URGENCY THEREOF…

Cartoon by Brian Narelle

Section 4. This City Council finds and determines that: (a) there is a current and immediate threat to the public health, safety and welfare; (b) the moratorium must be imposed in order to protect and preserve the public interest, health, safety, comfort and convenience and to preserve the public welfare; and (c) it is necessary to preserve the public health and safety of all residents or landowners adjacent to such uses as are affected by this interim ordinance as well as to protect all of the citizens of Watsonville by preserving and improving the aesthetic and economic conditions of the City.

A Cell Phone Nation is a Captive Nation
Federal court: 4th Amendment standard does not always apply to mobile phone location data
Law enforcement can still be required to obtain a search warrant for access to citizens’ mobile phone location data, but police need not uphold the traditional Fourth Amendment standard of “probable cause” in the process of such an investigation, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday.
While civil liberties groups which argued in favor of stronger privacy protections largely called the ruling favorable, it still leaves room for law enforcement to continue large-scale mobile spying operations.

SmartMeters interfere with baby monitors, other household gadgets
You’ve read about problems with PG&E’s SmartMeter, especially the folks who claim it’s causing huge increases in their electrical bills. But that’s not the only issue with the vaunted high-tech device.
As Pacific Gas & Electric’s SmartMeter installation has rolled across Northern California, dozens of readers have contacted Action Line complaining about newly found erratic behavior with their household electronic gadgets. A conflict occurs, apparently, when the SmartMeter electronically transmits information back to the utility.

Mill Valley council asks for SmartMeter opt-out provision, health study
The Mill Valley City Council will ask state energy regulators to let some customers opt out of using SmartMeters, the devices Pacific Gas and Electric Co. is deploying throughout Northern California.
The council on Tuesday also joined Assemblyman Jared Huffman’s call for a study of the health risks of the meters, which use wireless signals to transmit data on energy use.
Mill Valley joins a number of local governments that have voiced concerns in recent weeks over the meters’ privacy, accuracy and safety. On Tuesday, the council voted to express its concerns in letters to the California Public Utilities Commission, which regulates PG&E, and the California Council on Science and Technology, which advises the state on science and technology issues.

Smart meters alone may not save much energy -study
LONDON, Sept 8 (Reuters Life!) – Smart meters to boost energy efficiency in homes do not automatically achieve a significant reduction in energy demand, research showed on Wednesday.
Smart meters record energy or water consumption and send the readings back to the utility for monitoring and billing.
It is hoped that consumers will save energy through increased awareness of how much they use and that estimated bills will be eliminated.
Previous studies have shown that smart meters encourage homeowners to cut their energy use by 3 to 15 percent, but researchers said consumers also need educating about energy use.
Two scientific papers published in the September issue of the publication Building Research and Information showed the technology alone is not enough to deliver significant domestic energy savings.
In her paper, Sarah Darby at the Environmental Change Institute at the University of Oxford examined how householders used feedback on their energy consumption with and without smart meters. She found that a reduction in energy demand “did not flow naturally from improved billing information”.