Why You Should Say NO to a Smart Meter
The other day I found out that the so-called “smart meters” were coming to our area. I'd already seen the trailer to the Take Back Your Power movie and heard enough about these things to know that we did NOT want one on our house. Now that I've done more digging, I'm even more convinced. More about that in a bit, but first:
You might also want to read the post my friend, Bob, wrote for me — he's not as worried about this issue as I am: Should We REALLY be Concerned and Stop Smart Meter Installation?
But here's more about the way I'm leaning on this one…
The phone call to our power company
I dialed Consumers and here's how it went:
“I'm calling to let you know that we do not want a smart meter on our house.”
Could you tell me why you don't want one?“
“I'd rather not say.” (I didn't care to waste time listening to her practiced response. I'm sure she was trained, “If the customer says _____, then you say _____.“)
Then she told me that it would cost us to opt out: a $70 one-time fee plus $10/month! I asked why in the world we'd have to pay NOT to get a new piece of technology on our house.
Well that fee is just because we'll still have to have an employee come read your meter, and we'll have to pay to keep the old meters in stock in case yours breaks.“
I said, “Whatever we have to do, we don't want it.”
WHY You Should Say NO to a Smart Meter — Even if it Costs You!
This began as a post about the health risks and dangers of smart meters, and WOW, there really are some scary facts to be aware of, but as I looked into this more, the security and privacy issues have me just as freaked out!
I've embedded some videos below to help you learn more about all facets of the issue, but first here are a few excepts:
Clever people called the technology ‘smart', to make it seem intimidating so no one would question it.”
The power company says there is no reason for concern, what do you say to that? “The question to ask them is what is the evidence that smart meters are safe and have no adverse health effects? And the answer is that there is no such evidence, and while no one has actually done human health studies in relation to people living in homes with smart meters, we have evidence from a whole variety of other sources that demonstrates convincingly and consistently that exposure to radio frequency and radiation at elevated levels for long periods of time increases the risk of cancer, increases damage to the nervous system, causes electro-sensitivity, has adverse reproductive effects and a variety of other effects on different organ systems, so there is no justification for the statement that smart meters have no adverse effects.“
“It should be up to each individual to identify whether or not they want to be continuously exposed 24-7 to elevated levels of radio frequency radiation.”
Regarding the privacy issue: “This is a search without a warrant every day.“
“The smart meter is for the benefit of the utility, it saves them money because they don't have to have people go out and read meters. It's at the expense of the consumer who has to live in the house that has this constant exposure, so an informed person should demand that they be allowed to keep their analog meter.”
Want to be part of a big human experiment?
There are many websites and supporters to be found on both sides of this debate, and some say that smart meters emit no more radiation than your cell phone. (They used to say cigarettes were safe too, didn't they? I can think of a few other examples of when “they” said something wasn't dangerous and “they” were wrong, can you?) Others say that smart meter radiation is 160 times the radiation exposure from your cell phone.
Obviously nobody really knows since no studies have been done, and I'd rather not be part of a big human experiment, so I'll err on the side of caution and common sense thankyouverymuch.
Watch these videos and let me know what you think:
I thought the videos at this site were helpful: The EMF Safety Network on Smart Meter Safety. Watch a few of them below (or click over to see the rest) — they are shocking and scary and hopefully you're seeing them in time to opt out, but if not, you can still have your smart meter removed!
Trailer for the DVD, “Take Back Your Power”:
Learn more from the DVD: Take Back Your Power- Are you a ‘thinking mom'?
Related posts:
- See this newer post on the topic: Should We REALLY be Concerned and Stop Smart Meter Installation?
- I’ve always been the type of person who wants to get to the TRUTH on whatever topic is intriguing me at the moment. When it comes to what I’m feeding my family or their health in general, this isn’t an easy task, and what an understatement that is. With the abundance of information available to us today, figuring out who to believe can eat up every waking hour of every day, especially since “they” keep changing their stories through the years on what is, or is not, good for us. SO HOW DO WE FIND THE TRUTH? Click here to read my take on this dilemma!
Chuck Murray says
One more freedom lost.
Kelley Stone Williams says
We don’t have an opt out option in MD. I stopped it twice when they showed up, but then they started threatening turning off our power and I caved.
Elizabeth Anderson Coonce says
We pay extra every month to NOT have a smart meter. My husband was adamant.
Michael-Michelle Plamondon says
I didn’t get a choice. One day the rural electric showed up and put one on.
Jan Wiese says
Same for us
Corinne Spanelewski says
Yep I had a note left on my door that the new smart meter was installed.
Heidi says
Thanks for the post, Kelly. As of now, Consumer’s is allowing us to keep our analog meters but this could (and probably will) change at any time. I have a family member who works for them, and it is “inevitable” that they will switch all of us over eventually (probably by increasing the monthly fees associated with the opt out). I ordered one of the smart meter guards, so they cannot remove my analog meter without seriously damaging the siding/walls of my house. I also am mailing in separate checks to Consumer’s every month: one check for the electric costs, and one check for the “opt out fee”. I print “paid under duress/paid under protest” on the latter check. I send it certified mail, so I can prove they received my money, and cannot legally turn my power off. We need to keep bringing awareness to this issue! It reminds me of the wind turbine controversy.
Lisa says
Thanks Heidi! We will be sending separate checks, now. I think you should still get a smart meter guard a.s.a.p. in case they come by when you’re not home, like in Carrie’s case above (she was home) and our case (we weren’t and now we have a digital opt out meter that is very questionnable).
Let’s keep up this fight!
Heidi says
My husband is installing my meter guard tomorrow!! The welder who made it said that he’s sold 500+ of them, and only two were forcibly removed (both by DT Energy on the east side of the state — and they are being sued by both of the owners.) They only cost $60 with shipping, or could easily be made by someone with the skill/access to materials.
Lisa says
Thanks again, for this Kelly. I had the honor of testifying on Tuesday at the Michigan House on the issues of smart meters. I was shocked and saddened at the number of people who are sick, without power (because out of desperation they removed their meters and the utility company shut off their power), even homeless because of this “smart” technology. I personally brought an 86 year old woman and her burned up smart meter. The home she was born in experienced a fire last year and the fire department’s official conclusion was it started at the meter.
Anyone who gets their electricity from a utility company needs to contact their representative about Rep. Tom McMillin’s bill 4315 introduced in 2013.
Only in large numbers will we be able to fight this.
KitchenKop says
GO LISA! You ROCK!
OK I’m emailing you to get more info so I can post on this again and people know exactly who to call and what to say.
THANK YOU!
Kel
Gordon Replogle says
Yet people still insist cell phones are safe, smart electronics in cars are safe, in TVs, Blu-Ray players. It’s all the same technology, either it is safe or not, the type of device does not have a bearing on that. Safe in terms of information, those that want that information have already hacked the antiquated SCADA defenses of most utility organizations. Do not want one out of principal, I understand that, but stop making silly excuses.
Carrie says
We got the letter about a month ago. I called to Opt Out & agreed to the fees. Two weeks ago we got the confirmation letter in the mail that we are opting out. Last Wednesday, the Consumers Power guy came walking up the driveway while I was outside. “Hi. I’m here to exchange out your meter for a smart meter. It’ll just take a few minutes.” HELLO! I called 2 weeks ago to OPT OUT. I even got the confirmation letter in the mail. Good thing I was home!!! He had no idea. They would’ve gone ahead and changed it out anyways. If they haven’t already gone through your neighborhood, I suggest putting a big wide piece of bright duct tape across your meter that says “OPT OUT. DO NOT REMOVE THIS METER.”
Deborah says
Another thing to note is that the Take Back Your Power website has a source for old-style analog meters, if one needs to have a Smart Meter removed. It is necessary to have the utility say in writing that if they remove the Smart Meter they will replace it with an analog meter. But I wouldn’t trust that, I’d get one from the Take Back Your Power guy.
Deborah says
Hi Kelly;
We have Smart Meters here in Northern California. I opted out from the get-go. Our county was supposed to have a moratorium against installation, but the Sheriff refused to enforce it, so they were sneaking around and installing them when people didn’t suspect. Also, many people didn’t know the dangers of these and let them be installed. We had a sign up near/on the meter so they wouldn’t remove our old meter and then got on the opt out list.
When the utility started to charge the opt-out fees we were able to leave this out of our payments for a while, due to the way they were writing up the bill. Then they started saying people had to pay. However, thanks to the help of The EMF Safety Network, https://emfsafetynetwork.org/, I wrote a letter stating that I was not going to pay the fees, due to medical necessity and some other legal facts, one being that the State utility commission (CPUC) had not made a final decision on the fees.
So, I have been paying my utility bills on time every month except for the Smart Meter opt-out fee portion. They started to send late notices and then started to send 15 day disconnect notices. When we called and explained the situation we were told that our power would not be turned off as long as we were paying the gas/electric fees on time. The CPUC still has not made a decision about the fees, and has been delaying this matter for over one year. Hmm. We still get the late notices, but not the disconnect warnings.
All of our neighbors have Smart Meters and I wish I had time to help them get those replaced with the analog meters. Hopefully soon I can start this project, but in the meantime we have fairly low EMF/RF readings in our house. I am grateful that the houses on either side of us have the smart meters on non-adjacent walls to our house.
Magda says
We opted out of ours. I believe a letter went around letting us know these would be installed but I didn’t know one way or the other then. After I did my research, I called back and had them remove the smart meter (no charge, I believe). I do have to pay a $20 monthly charge, though. Really? $20 to come read ONE meter??? I’m in GA, by the way.
Lisa says
Magda, did they give you back an analog?
Lisa says
Thanks so much for doing this post, Kel. 18 months ago Consumers came and put on a smart meter without us knowing. I immediately called to ask them to remove it. Consumers came out right away and took that one off but did not put our analog back on. They put on another digital which I have found is basically an inactivated smart meter.
Since that time, we have had to replace 3 major appliances, had our alarm system suffer from “an unknown electrical anomaly” and had to replace the electrical board in our washer.
Insomnia is an issue in the house, but of course there are many factors that contribute to that. Being a health practitioner, I know a lot about sleep and seriously think the meter IS affecting it.
We have tried REPEATEDLY to get the analog put back on, to no avail.
So…thanks again. People need to heed your warning before their meters get changed out.
KitchenKop says
Well Lisa, we know they can’t claim they don’t have the old kind anymore, because that was one of their reasons for the charges, to keep the old ones in stock!!!
Kel
Beth says
For months after moving into my mom’s house our daughter couldn’t sleep. I finally thought I should see if she had a smart meter and sure enough… down along the same wall as the bedrooms but outside the garage. We started using Valor essential oil and the first night she used it on her wrists at bedtime she had a full night’s sleep. She’s gone through several bottles since discovering that! Melrose is suppose to help with EMFs but for her Valor is more helpful.
Thought I’d pass that along in case it helps someone who doesn’t have an option and is affected by it. Not sure, but a Himalayan salt lamp might help also (hers helps a lot with the computer EMFs).
K says
I just called my electric provider and found out that in order to switch back to an analog meter I will have to pay a one-time fee of $191.39 and an additional monthly maintenance charge of $26.69! Seriously, it’s ridiculous how they are manipulating people into having no choice but to do what THEY want. We can’t afford that so I guess we are stuck.
KitchenKop says
This is unbelievable, what a RACKET!
Janice says
I requested that our smart meter be removed not long after they had installed it. It wasn’t a problem but we did have to pay for the removal.
Catherine Estes says
We’ve had one of these for over a year now.
We weren’t told ahead of time an employee just showed up and changed our meter.
We belong to a “co-op” supposedly we are part owners.
But,still had no idea the “smart” meters were coming.
Charlene McCorry Galbraith via Facebook says
We live in Oceanside, HOA I really don’t think we can make those change’s without the Hassles from them
An Organic Wife via Facebook says
In Oklahoma we do not have the option of opting out.
Susan says
Good job, Kel! Do whatever it takes to keep one from be placed on your home.
A couple of years ago when they were coming through my neighborhood, I started my investigation into them and when they knocked on my door, I flat out refused to let him in my yard. The guy was shocked and told me, “Ma’am these are perfectly safe.” I asked him for proof they were safe and he immediately went uhhh, ohhh, ahhh, and then gave me the number of our electric company who pretty much did the same thing.
So many people have told me I’m nuts, or have said it’s no worse than a cell phone, but I don’t care. My research showed my people DO suffer ill-effects and that was reason #1 I didn’t want it. Reason #2? When I read about a man who got the meter and began to realize his bills were just getting bigger and bigger. He had lived in his house for 20 years; he knew the ebb and flow of his usual bills and the new ones could not be explained. So he finally called to protest and the person at the electric company told him his usage was up and he asked how so. They went on to tell him about his 2 refrigerators, how long his oven was on one day and that he had done 5 loads of laundry in one day. He was baffled how they knew that, and what he later learned was that the new appliances he put in after doing a kitchen remodel had chips in them that spoke to the smart meter and therefore told the electric company what he was doing and when he was doing it.
Creepy!! No thanks!
KitchenKop says
Creepy is right, and so wrong.
carolin martens says
Thank you Kelly for this information. We have had smartmeters in our area for about one year now. I did not know there was a way to say no to these things. On top of them not being healthy I find my life revolves around off-peak times, mid-peak, and off-peak. It is not practical to use a slow cooker during the day anymore.Laundry can only be done at night or weekends, etc. Most people who do not watch their times are paying $30.00-$50.00 a month more than usual. For us we have knocked it down quite a bit using items we never had before and pay no electricity for. _–Carolin
Tracy W. says
This is coming to our city for our water supply. We do not have an opt out. We either do it, or the water gets shut off. I’m so pissed. What are we supposed to do?