SmartMeter forum encourages citizen action

SEBASTOPOL — About 40 people attended an informational forum at
the social hall of Burbank Heights & Orchards last Friday to
discuss issues surrounding the installation of PG&E’s
SmartMeters.
The forum was led by Mayor Sarah Gurney, Sandi Maurer of the EMF
Safety Network, who has led the surge against SmartMeters and Wi-Fi
in Sebastopol, and Deanne Thompson, a Sebastopol resident who has
also come out in strong opposition to the new meters.
Gurney updated the gathering on the city’s actions on the issue,
which dates back to a contentious City Council forum that took
place on Feb. 2.
According to Gurney, the city had received several requests from
citizens requesting the forum on the SmartMeter issue, and City
Manager Jack Griffin contacted PG&E to arrange it.
“I received a list of questions in advance, and talked to the
PG&E rep for an hour” in the lead up to the forum, she said.
“People asking questions in the audience were dissatisfied with the
answers.”
Participants at the meeting voiced frustration with the council
for allowing PG&E to give a presentation that was a
“commercial” for SmartMeters.
Two weeks later, Gurney drafted a letter to council, which was
sent to 5th District Supervisor Efren Carrillo.
The letter was also forwarded to all the mayors in Sonoma
County, and enumerated concerns voiced by Maurer and others
including billing accuracy, the added power PG&E will gain to
shut off service to individuals, interference with appliances or
equipment, the potential invasion of privacy, and the effects of
Electromagnetic Fields (EMF) on public health.
“It was a good start to putting it out to the public,” Gurney
said, adding that since Feb. 17, there has been no action by city
council, although in mid-April Carrillo arranged a forum in
Sebastopol with PG&E and PUC representatives.
PG&E pulled out of the forum by sending a text message to
Carrillo about an hour before it was supposed to begin, adding to
the feeling that PG&E was deaf to the concerns of the
community.
Maurer has been leading the local charge against PG&E, and
has established the EMF Safety Network, an information
clearinghouse “dedicated to educating the public and working with
public officials to reduce the amount of EMFs.”
“I’ve been doing research for the past 3 and ½ years,” Maurer
said. “I restored my health by reducing exposure to EMFs.”
She said that information about the ill-effects of EMF has been
around for decades and the state knows it very well, and are
emitted by many devices including electrical infrastructure,
television, Wi-Fi, baby monitors, and cell phones.
But beyond health issues, Maurer sees many other problems with
the SmartMeteres, not the least of which are billing problems that
have been cited since widespread installation has taken place.
In May, PG&E was ordered to release its records on
SmartMeters and it was reported that there have been more than
43,000 complaints about the accuracy of the meters.
“One Walnut Creek resident went from $168 per month to more than
$1,000,” Maurer said.
On the privacy issue, Maurer thinks SmartMeters will open the
door for PG&E to make demands on its customers and make it
easier for the utility to affect peoples’ lives remotely.
To illustrate, she cited a story about a Fairfield family that
had their electricity remotely cut off, and subsequently burned
down their house when a candle started a fire. Four children were
killed in the April blaze.
Additional issues cited were job losses of meter readers and the
waste of getting rid of good meters.
Sebastopol resident Alan Horn, another vocal opponent of the
meters voiced concern over levels of radiation emitted by the
devices.
“Ask PG&E how much radiation is being emitted,” he said.
“Until we know, we have to assume they’re violating federal
standards.”
Many of the people on hand were in favor of a moratorium, and
advocate joining forces with other municipalities trying to stop
their installation, such as San Francisco. Gurney suggested that
citizens send letters if they want the city to take such
action.
Until there is a chance for the moratorium, Maurer and Thompson
suggested placing signs on their meters telling PG&E not to
install them, although it’s not clear if PG&E will honor
them.
PG&E spokesman Paul Moreno was cryptic when asked whether
the signs would have any effect on SmartMeter installation, saying
that if customers have questions or concerns to call PG&E. The
SmartMeter hotline number is 1-866-743-0263.
“When we talk to them about what the program entails and what it
doesn’t entail, they’re alright with it,” he said.
As to the health effects, Moreno said that the devices fall well
within FCC guidelines.
But SmartMeter installation has already begun in the West
County, and will likely continue unabated.
According to the PG&E website, as of April, there have been
more than 76 million SmartMeters installed worldwide, with about 10
million in the U.S.
California so far has more than 7 million, with more than 6
million of those in the northern part of the state.
The SmartMeter system is expected to be complete by
mid-2012.
For more information on the EMF Safety Network or to download
signs go to emfsafetynetwork.org.
For PG&E information, go to www.pge.com.