Re: Former premier joins Hydro conspiracy club, B.C. Views., Nov 4, 2011.
Once again Tom Fletcher is spouting inaccurate and fabricated statements meant purely to mislead some readers and completely outrage the rest who understand the reality of wireless smart meters.
Fletcher states smart meters will detect power outages. However, customers have done this same job themselves without having to spend a billion dollars, and no matter what, outages will still require real BC Hydro employees to do the job and does not change with a smart meter. The very expensive “smart grid” will not speed up the human factor.
Fletcher advises that customers can realize savings by voluntarily shifting their time of usage. However, other that turning off all lights when not in use, customers have very little room to adjust power usage.
Families have to cook dinner and run baths at the same time everyday; most businesses operate during working business hours and have little choice to shift usage patterns.
Customers across B.C. should know “time of use” billing is around the corner as so stated right in BC Hydro’s business plan; smart meters are simply another way to charge people more for using power when they need it most.
No place where smart meters have been in use (e.g. Ontario, Australia, California) has energy usage been reduced, yet the associated monthly bills have increased because people need to use power during the day. Why should the program have different results here?
Independent testing of smart meter emissions shows that the millisecond bursts of RF radiation from signalling is constant. BC Hydro has not provided testing from an active, fully operational system that includes exposure from collector stations, combined wireless devices in the home, or the multitude of smart meters in neighbourhoods.
The true costs of rolling out the full wireless smart grid program, along with support systems, data collection, analysis and handling, plus regular security testing and upgrades, have not been presented to the public.
A sustainable system needs to protect people and environment, not increase risks.
Forcing actions on people against their will with the potential of penalties for non-conformance is unsustainable in the long term.
Tammy Jeske
Langford