Mom, this is the first article I wrote for our local paper. I'll post the next two in the comment section. I love you. :)
Dear Editor, I am writing in response to the article concerning smart meters. This is part one of a two part series concerning smart meters.
After receiving Com Ed's letter in the mail concerning smart meter installation I contacted the company to let them know our family did not want to "opt in" on their smart meter installation. I was then told that we'd be charged $21.53 a month EXTRA on our bill! This extra monthly charge is simply a way to bully people to comply. It is extortion plain and simple. I decided to file a complaint with the ICC which I believe was tossed upon the pile of "who cares". Com Ed's reason for this charge is that they will have to send an individual out to read my meter, something I can accomplish myself. So, I told them that if they didn't trust my meter reading capabilities I could use my cell phone and send them a picture! It sure beats paying them $21.53 a month! Long story short, I was told that the smart meter will be forced upon us in the future whether we like it or not, and that the bill for $21.53 extra will be charged monthly. End of subject. teal and jade wears for bridesmaid
Why you may ask did we refuse this "smart meter"? The main reason is due to health concerns, but there are other considerations to be pointed out before I get to the nitty gritty which will be addressed in part two next week.
I asked Com Ed to send me all their info on the meters, and after reading the packets I would like to share with you my findings.
Com Ed's "time of use" pricing will probably be hitting your pocketbooks because "smart" meters measure energy, they do not save energy. Unlike analog meters the smart meters use power, and not only that, the installation and operating costs for this "smart grid" will be paid for by the customers. When you go online you'll only see your cumulative usage, NOT the itemized cost of each appliance. Our bills already show us the total usage so why would you go online for that? And yes, the smart meter IS designed to capture every trace of power with the ability to identify which appliance is drawing current and when. So what will come of this, well, you can expect higher pricing during the day time hours.
This modernization of our grid gets me thinking about how reliable our analog meter is, and has been. The new smart meters will NOT last as long, and when they start to degrade there may be issues from reading miscalculations. On top of that, who do you think will foot their replacement bill? Make a wild guess. Smart meters already in place in California have already had issues and needed to be replaced. In 2010 alone there were over 43,000 smart meter problems, which prompted a lawsuit against PG&E. Furthermore, this new "Grid system" will require its own upgrades, management, and maintenance, and you know who'll foot that bill...you guessed it. YOU.
The idea that smart meters will help us conserve energy and speed up the fixing of power outages is misleading. There is no reduction of energy usage where the smart meters have already been placed, but there has been an increase in the customers monthly costs. In regards to faster service during power outages, well, you just cannot ignore the fact that we will still need boots on the ground to get the system back up and running and sometimes that takes time. This smart grid will not make much of a difference in getting the job done quicker.
The so called smart meters in this so called smart grid system are an invitation to hackers. Many banks are refusing to use wireless systems, especially when you consider the private information losses from companies such as Lockheed Martin amongst many others. Due to this fact, it will cost money to track, and protect against security breeches. Who do you think will pay for this?
Bottom line, there is NO such risk with the wired, or analog system already in place. The wired, analog meter I kept on my home generates no RF radiation, unlike the smart meter which generates RF radiation 24/7 even when it's not transmitting. The analog meter is not a risk to privacy because it cannot be remotely accessed, thus there is no cyber security issues with an analog meter because it can never be hacked.
Former CIA director James Woolsey made it clear that this new smart grid is, "a really, really stupid grid." So there you have it folks, there's nothing smart about it! Even cyber security expert David Chalk said, "There is not one power meter or device on the grid that is protected from hacking-if not already infected-with some kind of Trojan horse that can cause the grid to be shut down or completely annihilated."
If you scoff that it will never happen, it already has. An article from KOS online states, "A series of hacks perpetrated against so-called “smart meter” installations over the past several years may have cost a single U.S. electric utility hundreds of millions of dollars annually, the FBI said in a cyber intelligence bulletin obtained by KrebsOnSecurity."
The security issues are very serious, especially when you consider that smart meters have been accused of being used as surveillance devices. Many people call them a search without having been served a warrant. California utility companies have already admitted that data acquired from smart meters in California has been provided to the government, as well as third parties. I for one find the forced installation of these smart meters unacceptable, not just because of the costs, or the security issues, but mainly because of the complete disregard to the health hazards of prolonged RF exposure. I'll be working on part two for next week in which I'll explain exactly why our family refused the so called smart meter because of its RF radiation.