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Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2011 | 4:04 p.m.
Related stories
- Utilities Commission preps for investigation of smart meters (10-12-2011)
- NV Energy plans switch to smart meters (10-9-2009)
After hearing several complaints about possible health hazards and invasion of privacy, the state Public Utilities Commission has opened an investigation into smart meters installed in more than 500,000 homes in Las Vegas.
Commissioner Rebecca Wagner said there was misinformation or a lack of information when the commission approved NV Energy’s application to begin the project.
She said she wants to look into allowing customers to refuse the installation of the meters and the implications. And she says the investigation should address the health issues and the privacy and security fears.
This should be started now, she said, before “it unravels further.”
Although the vote was unanimous, Commissioner David Noble said many of the concerns were addressed in a prior hearing and he did not want to duplicate what had been covered. He said he did not “want to open up a free-for-all” on this case.
Angel De Fazio, founder of NV Energy Stop Smart Meters, said the units transmit electromagnetic radiation and are harmful to people with physical impairments.
De Fazio told the PUC it had a duty “to protect the disabled.” This is not a federal mandate, she said and homeowners should have the right to “opt out” in having a meter.
She also said the meters are a health hazard to dogs.
Mike Hazard told the commission a lot of people don’t like the smart meters. A federal grant of $138 million helped finance the installation of the meters and he suggested that money could have been used to build a new power plant in Southern Nevada.
NV Energy and its sister Sierra Pacific Power Company hope to have all the customers hooked up by December 2012. Installation should start in December in Northern Nevada.
The units will allow the customer to view next-day energy use information and the time of day the power is used. NV Energy maintains studies show the smart meters are safe.
The radio frequency exposure signal goes out 48 times a day and is within the guidelines of the Federal Communications Commission. “By comparison, cellphones transmit constantly and at very close range,” the utility said.
The only one at the Tuesday hearing who spoke in favor of the unit was a man named Todd who said, “I love it.” He said he has been able to lower his power use during the day hours. “My problem is with (NV Energy) bringing truckloads of armed guards to read the meter,” said the individual who did not sign in at the meeting in Las Vegas.
But several speakers opposed the meters and some said they would be willing to pay more if they could return to the prior system.
Anne Haley complained this should be a “freedom of choice” and NV Energy has been able to keep complaints from being publicized.
The public just doesn't like NV Energy the new meter are just find, your microwave emits more radiation than the meter and most people stand right in front of their microwaves. The transmission of signs is not an evasion of privacy because because it only sends information regarding electricity use. These meter are more accurate and allow user to get daily electricity usage. The commission approved the meter and residence need to know what a good thing the meter are and worry more about their own life.
It doesn't put out alot of radiation. Just who do they think they are that they can give a dose of ANY radiation. I don't use a microwave but if I did it would be my choice.
Don't want the eeeevvvviiiilll electromagnetic radiation to enter your skull and transmit your thoughts to NV Energy? Buy some tin foil. If you put it on your head, I hear that stops THEM from listening in.
If they are worried about health hazards, start with eliminating processed meat.
Cars are health hazards to dogs and cats, particularly when they cross paths. The cars emit carbon monoxide in various concentrations which makes some people sleepy in traffic, yet there are no complaints about cars.
Radiation? The sun emits several kinds of electromagnetic and particle radiation. The ultra-violet spectrum can and will cause skin cancer, yet no one is talking about closing the pools along the Strip. Radios and computers emit electromagnetic radiation all the time.
This is the biggest load of rubbish I have heard in a very long time.
We already have the smart meter and love it. I can go on line each day and check my electric bill and know how to watch my costs. As others have posted, we have been able to lower our usage by knowing the hourly usage.
We have more privacy and security then we had with the old meter. There is no meter reader entering my back yard each month reading the meter. No one looking over the fences to read meters.
T.V.'s, microwaves, cordless and cell phones and wireless Internet all put out the same signals and no one has ever told me that is harmful to my DOG! (when you said that you lost any support I could even start to gather for you.)
They also changed my water meter a few years back to they don't have to read it. Do you think my water meter is hurting my dog also?
People jump on things when they don't have facts. Only BS collected off the Internet.
I think NV Energy should be able to collect all costs of this nonsense if these people can not prove their claims are true. These costs are passed on to us RATE PAYERS.
Put up or shut up. Lets see the proof of your claims. (wacko web sites are not proof)
Smart Meters - something to be afraid of? http://www.squidoo.com/beware-of-smart-m...
And the cool thing is they can actually control my usage and cause brownouts or blackouts with no problem. Even to specific parts of the city like say an individual house. Notice no one comes out to turn or turn off or transfer service. Hmmmmmmmm
Across the U.S., people are being injured by the radiation emissions from "smart" digital utility meters.
By investigating the dangers of radiation emissions from "smart" digital utility meters, the Nevada State Public Service Commission is fulfilling their obligation to protect the people of their state.
Sadly, this is not true of any other State Public Service Commission in the U.S.
I think this is misinformation put out by the makers of the other electromechanical meters that have to be read manually. Think about it they are the only ones that stand to gain substantially with this claim. Does it not sound a lot like fear mongering. These companies that are doing this have fallen behind in technology. So they either stifle or stall it until they can catch up then it will be OK to use now.
I have one of the new meters and I have no issue with it.
So out of how many total meters installed there are how many complaints that are based on, you know, reality?
Could anyone please tell me what exactly a smart meter does. When I lived in Florida, allowing the power company to do rolling power outages to the heatpump / air conditioner qualified me for a reduced electric rate. The power Co was able to turn off power for 15 minutes an hour, saving them enough energy that new generation equipment did not have to be built or power bought from distant generation facilities. This savings was passed along to the homeowner in the form of a lowered kwh rate. Other areas have variable kwh rates. Usage during peak hours was billed higher than off peak usage. This was done with smart meters. Is Nevada power going to charge a lower rate during off peak hours. If so,how much lower than current kwh rates? If so, what are the defined peak and off peak hours?
If there will be no concessions granted for allowing smart meters, what is the point other than eliminating meter readers?
I first heard about it January 22, 2011. I subscribe to Eagle Forum PodCast. http://feeds.feedburner.com/EagleForumRa...
Deborah Tavares -- The Dangers Of Smart Meters (part 1)
Posted: Sat, 22 Jan 2011 18:30:19 GMT
www.smartmeterdangers.org
www.electrosmogprevention.org
www.refusesmartmeter.com
www.w4ar.com/Smart-Meters.html
www.sagereports.com
www.Stopsmartmeters.org
http://www.youtube.com/user/thisirradiat...
http://nosmartmeters.org/images/justsayn...
http://ppjg.wordpress.com/category/smart...
American Coalition Against Smart Meters on Facebook
1) WHO International Agency for Research on Cancer classifies RF-EMF as a 2B (Possible) Carcinogen (May 31, 2011 in Lyon, France)
http://www.iarc.fr/en/media-centre/pr/20...
This is the same kind of RF-EMF as smart meters produce and at equivalent levels to those on which the IARC finding was made.
2) Excessive Billing (monthly electric bills doubling or tripling every month, with no increase in energy usage)
3) Excessive Cost to Ratepayers to install additional power transmitters and home LAN (wireless devices) at later date
4) No Evidence of Energy Savings for Ratepayers (not a green, energy-saving program as promoted)
5) Incompatibility with Solar (at present, wireless smart meters = no solar = an energy conservation disincentive)
6) Threat to Privacy of Personal and Financial Information (utilities have no experience and no competence to protect wireless information)
7) Threat to the National Electric Grid (from hacking and terrorism (well-documented by the Department of Homeland Security, the National Security Agency, and the CNN program CyberAttack (2010) on risks from electronic hacking of electric, banking and transportation systems at national level. http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/
latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-cyber-war-20110328,0,6416856.story
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...
8) Threat to Personal Safety (wireless systems including security systems, wireless locks, baby monitors are hackable and may be disabled: and home use patterns, including your vacation schedule, may be visualized by wireless hacking from the street).
9) Violation of FCC Public Safety Standards http://sagereports.com
10) EMF technology was developed as a weapon of warfare and can and is used to kill human beings. http://www.scribd.com/document_collectio... http://www.scribd.com/document_collectio...
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011...
11) Health Effects of Low-Intensity Radiofrequency and "Dirty Electricity" Effects on Health and Well-being (on healthy populations and on those with chronic diseases, those being treated for cancer or neurological diseases, those with sleep disorders, and on the developing fetus and on children whose central nervous systems continue to develop into their late teens).
11) Threat to People with Medical Implants (The Department of Justice Americans With Disabilities Act is taking testimony now).
12) Threat to Use of Electronic and Wireless Devices (already in use in homes and businesses -- think wireless security systems).
13) Threat to Electrical Wiring Safeguards (arc-fault interrupters, ground-fault interrupters that are mandated under the NEC) and fires and explosions following installation of wireless smart meters. http://www.click2houston.com/news/281471...
http://www.wfaa.com/news/Fires-Spark-Dur...
"People are reporting symptoms near cell towers and in proximity to other RFR-generating sources including consumer products such as wireless computer routers and Wi-Fi systems that appear to be classic ''microwave sickness syndrome,'' also known as ''radio frequency radiation sickness.'' First identified in the 1950s by Soviet medical researchers, symptoms included headache, fatigue, ocular dysfunction, dizziness, and sleep disorders. In Soviet medicine, clinical manifestations include dermographism, tumors, blood changes, reproductive and cardiovascular abnormalities, depression, irritability, and memory impairment, among others. The Soviet researchers noted that the syndrome is reversible in early stages but is considered lethal over time (Tolgskaya et al. 1973). Biological effects from exposure to electromagnetic radiation emitted by cell tower base stations and other antenna arrays B. Blake Levitt and Henry Lai http://www.scribd.com/doc/59402425/BioEf...
robert2.. You don't use a microwave??? Well, that certainly tells me where you are at. Lasvegaslee..Put up or shut up. I think you meant shut up AND put up.
OMG,OMG,OMG...electromagnetic radiation. worried about? Then you better disconnect from the grid and live in cave. There's electromagnetic radiation emitting from the power cables all around us. Most of the people fighting this need their med dosage increased.
Noble is on the take.
There is no consumer benefit to the smart meter. It only benefits NV Energy. They laid off over 1K ppl w/ the efficiencies of not having to check the meters. You think our bills got smaller? No, they actually want ANOTHER rate hike!
If you say "I can monitor my power usage daily", then you have too much time on your hands. The avg. person understands if the A/C is on it will cost them money, so turn it off. It's not rocket science.
What ever happened to choice? NV Energy actually used the money of the federal gov't, (tax payers) to install these meters. The people who used to check the meters actually paid to put themselves out of a job. The joke is on us.
You may not have a problem with them and they may work just fine until you realize the money used to install them was your own and they aren't saving you any money.
From the article; She also said the meters are a health hazard to dogs.
What about back in the day when dogs were a health hazard to meter readers ?
The real objection to the smart meter is that it allows NV Energy to charge different rates at different times of the day. For a person such as myself who works from home that is horrible. They say they are not doing that yet, but you can bet it is in the works.
My family does a lot to cut our energy use, including keeping the thermostat on our A/C no lower than 80 this summer, and our bill still went up compared to last year.
NV Energy installed a smart meter around the start of this year. If the PUC would prohibit variable-rate billing I wouldn't have much complaints about the new meters.
Who said radio frequency exposure only goes out 48 times a day? No, it's every few seconds!
The energy companies like to say things like, "Your energy usage is reported every 15 minutes" which misleads people into believing that there is a signal only once every 15 minutes. WRONG! Data transmission and reporting are apples and oranges.
These things pulse every few seconds 24/7. And a rep from one smart meter mfg admitted that they are designed to send pulses up to a mile.
Who gave the energy companies permission to put us all into a microwave oven?
$138 million for meters? Good luck Las Vegas.
I would be leery of these smart meters. In some
states, utility companies have the ability to
shut off air conditioning and power down the
electricity (brownouts) passed to your home.
NV Energy is a rate gouger. Anything they do
should be subject to independent analysis and
opinion.
timbo123, you have a talent for understatement!
It would be one thing IF the consumer was given a choice. But as it is, there is NO choice.
Should a consumer want to utilize cogeneration with solar, wind, or geothermal, it appears that it is no longer possible with Smart Meters installed. That discourages green energy useage.
Clark County is held hostage to NV Energy, and the PUC doesn't seem to care about the little guy in this equation. =(
Why is no one addressing the fact that NVE or some employee will be able to shut off my power at any time, rightly so or not. This is not the same as having someone knock on your door first and allow you a chance to correct an error. I have no doubt NV Powerful will minimize this happening.
Another issue is those who are home 24/7, seniors, etc. can not turn the AC way down during peak hours. So who pays more? Those that least can. But NV Energy's savings will insure their bonuses thus allowing them to run their AC.
I have to agree with those comments regarding the indifference to the people by those who are supposed to be protecting us. It is hard not to go on and on.
I guess this time next year I will have a "smart meter". Thank you Public Users Comm. (You thought PUC meant something else.)