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Bennie Palmore, a journeyman metering electrician, conducts communication tests on smart meters at the NV Energy meter shop Tuesday, March 6, 2012. NV Energy plans to install 1.3 million smart meters as part of an electrical grid modernization.
Thursday, March 8, 2012 | 2 a.m.
NV Energy’s smart meters have been installed at 750,000 residences over the past 18 months, and the utility says it has another 150,000 to go. The devices, which can be read remotely, are supposed to save money, allow customers to better monitor their energy usage and allow the utility to spot outages before customers call. What’s not to love? Well, some conspiracy-minded Nevadans see a threat to health and privacy.
Here’s what you need to know.
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What is a smart meter, and why do we have them?
Smart meters are digital devices that measure electricity usage in homes and business and wirelessly transmit that information to the utility for billing.
About 50 million smart meters have been installed in the United States over the past decade, but they’ve only recently arrived in Nevada.
As part of President Barack Obama’s push to update the country’s electricity grid, NV Energy got a matching grant of $139 million through the federal stimulus. The utility began installing them in September 2010, after the Nevada Public Utilities Commission deemed them safe, secure, private and accurate.
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Will this wireless beaming make me sick?
No. The radio frequencies emitted by the smart meters are 15,000 times lower than the limit set by the Federal Communications Commission, said Gary Smith, NV Energy’s director of the smart meter program.
The intensity of the radio frequency is 5,000 times less than a cellphone, 3,200 less than a cordless phone in a home and 26 times less than a wireless router in your home.
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Are they accurate?
The meters are tested by the manufacturer, by NV Energy and the UNR, through a contract with the utility. Through 2011, when 500,000 meters were installed, there were 60 requests to have meters tested. NV Energy determined all 60 had been accurate, Smith said.
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Is my information safe?
No Social Security information, driver’s license numbers, addresses, birth dates or other identifying information is transmitted from the smart meter. Instead, an encrypted code is used to identify the house and its usage, Smith said.
Users can then log in to the secure web portal, where they use a password they create.
The PUC also said NV Energy would use an encrypted radio frequency and “best-in-industry” technology.
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Can NV Energy shut off my air conditioner via the smart meter??
No. Smith said the company can’t determine individual appliance usage, only overall household usage.
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What will it cost me?
That’s yet to be determined. The feds helped with the $139 million grant, matched by $139 million from the company. Those costs are likely to be passed onto ratepayers at the company’s next general rate case in the next few years.
But the savings should be passed on, as well. NV Energy expects there to be an annual savings of $35 million, since it won’t need to have meter readers walking around to houses every month.
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What if I still don’t want a smart meter on my house?
Faced with vehement opposition, the Nevada Public Utilities Commission decided to allow customers to opt out of the smart meter program. Those customers will be able to switch to a digital meter that is read by an NV Energy worker. But it will cost those who want to stay off the grid. How much is still to be determined. The company will bring back estimated costs within 60 days.
Yes it is a Conspiracy, in this case between the LV Sun and NV Energy to ram these meters down the throats of Nevada residents.
People have no choice. They are charged for them and told if you object you are a tinfoil nut.
The scheme here is very simple. It is the same plan Enron was pushing, peak usage pricing. A plan based on nothing but the ignorance of the public. It does not cost a penny more to provide power at 2pm or 2am over existing infrastructure. NV Energy like Enron did, will claim otherwise.
Well Nevada get ready to be sick. Get ready to have power surges blow-out breakers and appliances in your home. Get ready to be monitored every 8 seconds and charge more for it.
The LV Sun is not engage in responsible Journalism here. All they are doing is republishing the lies NV Energy has already laid.
This story is extremely biased in favor of the utility company. The Las Vegas Sun needs to do some research. The American Academy of Environmental Medicine recently released their position statement calling for a moratorium on smart meters due to the health risks. "Chronic exposure to wireless radiofrequency radiation is a preventable environmental hazard that is sufficiently well documented to warrant immediate preventative public health action."
SMART METERS REJECTED
Palo Alto, The Center and Brain of California's Silicon Valley, Rejects Smart Meters.
After evaluating smart meters for three years, Palo Alto determined that Smart Meter benefits are overstated and Smart Meter COSTS are greater than benefits.
So installing smart meters is NOT more energy efficient and the financial burden is forced onto customers to pay utility company investments and expenses for decades.
http://paloalto.patch.com/articles/no-sm...
...but of course the LV Sun knows better.
SMART METER PRIVACY VIOLATIONS
Must-See 4-minute youtube video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pla...
SKYROCKETING UTILITY BILLS AFTER SMART METER INSTALLATION
TV News Video (3 minutes)
http://www.bakersfieldnow.com/news/63581...
CIA DIRECTOR JAMES WOOLSEY CALLS SMART GRID "STUPID" Due To National Security Problems Caused By So-Called Smart Meters.
News Video (1 minute)
http://www.energynow.com/video/2011/08/1...
...but of course the LV Sun knows better.
SMART METER INFORMATION DOES NOT ASSIST CUSTOMERS, DOES NOT CONSERVE ENERGY
The information available to the customer living in the home shows up on the utility company website 18-24 hours later WITH ALL ELECTRICAL DEVICES GROUPED TOGETHER in a TOTAL, so no individual electrical device can be isolated for the customer.
Without knowing how much EACH electrical device uses, the customer CANNOT use the smart meter information to improve or conserve their energy use.
Utility companies through deceptive advertising get people to ASSUME that when they get the Smart Meter information it will automatically assist them, but it does NOT.
This shows that the entire purpose advertised for the smart meter program, to conserve energy, is FALSE.
...but of course the LV Sun knows better.
SMART METER HEALTH REPORT
HEALTH DEPARTMENT SANTA CRUZ COUNTY, STATE OF CALIFORNIA JANUARY 2012.
(Statements, not all 11 pages)
- Smart meters expose persons in the home to FULL BODY RADIATION EXPOSURES 50 TO 450 TIMES GREATER RADIATION THAN CELL PHONES depending on proximity in the home to the smart meter attached to outside wall (calculated using the inverse square).
- Smart meters emit radiation almost continuously throughout the day 24/7, 365 days per year.
- Increased permeability of the blood-brain barrier in the head, harmful effects on sperm, double strand breaks in DNA which could lead to cancer genesis, stress gene activation indicating exposure to a toxin, and alterations in brain glucose metabolism.
- Electro Hypersensitivity is a real and sometimes debilitating problem for the affected persons. . Above affects are occurring to all persons, not just those who are hypersensitive (added for clarification).
- FCC guidelines are irrelevant and cannot be used for any claims of Smart Meter safety unless heat damage is involved.
- Smart meter exposure is Involuntary exposure. Governmental agencies for protecting public health and safety should be much more vigilant towards involuntary environmental exposures because governmental agencies are the only defense against such involuntary exposure.
...but of course the LV Sun knows better.
SMART METER HEALTH PROBLEMS AND CANCER.
1. SMART METERS -- 100 TIMES MORE RADIATION THAN CELL PHONES. Video Interview: Nuclear Scientist, Daniel Hirsch, (5 minutes)
http://stopsmartmeters.org/2011/04/20/da...
2. SMART METERS -- CANCER, NERVOUS SYSTEM DAMAGE, ADVERSE REPRODUCTION AFFECTS. Video Interview: Dr. Carpenter, New York Public Health Department, Dean of Public Health, (2 minutes)
http://emfsafetynetwork.org/?p=39461
3. The NATIONAL ACADEMY OF ENVIRONMENTAL MEDICINE Calls for Halt To Smart Meters in Homes and Schools.
http://electromagnetichealth.org/electro...
4. The WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION May 31 2011 placed the Non-ionizing radiation coming from Wireless Smart Meters (& some other wireless devices) on the Class 2-B CARCINOGEN LIST.
http://www.iarc.fr/en/media-centre/pr/20...
5. The NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF HEALTH Feb 2011 found biological changes in the brain after only minutes of exposure to non-ionizing radiation.
http://jama.ama-assn.org/content/305/8/8...
6. THE KAROLINSKA INSTITUTE IN STOCKHOLM (the University that gives the Nobel Prizes) ISSUES GLOBAL HEALTH WARNING AGAINST SMART METERS. 2-page Press Release
http://www.scribd.com/doc/48148346/Karol...
7. LABORATORY SCIENTISTS have observed
(1) Human Cell Damage
(2) DNA Chain Breaks
(3) Breaches in the Blood-Brain Barrier
from levels of non-ionizing radiation lower than emitted by WIRELESS Smart meters.
http://electromagnetichealth.org/electro...
8. INSURANCE COMPANIES won't insure smart meter liability due to biological damage seen by scientists they hired. TV Video (3 minutes)
http://eon3emfblog.net/?p=382
...but of course the LV Sun knows better.
RADIATION ALERT
PG$E, Northern California's Utility Monopoly, recently admitted that each electric smart meter transmits radiation 10's of thousands of times, up to 190,000 times each day.
This corrects previous false statements repeated often by utility companies across the country.
...but of course the LV Sun knows better.
HOWEVER RECOGNITION FOR QUALITY SHOULD GO TO THE LV SUN FOR ALLOWING COMMENTS ON THE TRUTH OF SMART METERS.
Many other media sights and almost all industry sights and ALL Utility sights CENSOR comments identifying the problems with smart meters.
So thanks to LV Sun for allowing these communications to go forward.
Best,
RW
Smart meters are working, smart meters are working, smart meter is working, smart meter is not working, maybe smart meter is working part time; where is my electrician.
Robert, you're too funny. I hope you are not using a wireless router or cell phone to post all these comments.
Big_John, of course I'm not using a wireless router or cell phone to post.
For those people who do use wireless, at least they have control of when they use them, how often and they can turn them off at their discretion.
Smart meters CANNOT be turned off and as indicated above PG$E gave documents to the administrative judge showing smart meter radiation up to 190,000 transmissions per day from each meter. That's more than two per second. Most meters transmit radiation once every few seconds, 24/7 365 days per year.
John, I welcome you to challenge any piece of information that you think is not correct. That would be more constructive than clever comments with no substance, like those often made by shills from the utility company.
I have actual experience with observations from laboratories testing the non-ionizing radiation emitted by smart meters, so go as deep and complex as you like.
Best,
RW
RW send this to NV Energy. I'd like to see thier response.
Chuck,
NVE does not respond. None of the utility companies do.
They have standard sources that they use, even though experts have shown that their sources are NOT relevant to this type of non-ionizing radiation from smart meters.
They use the FCC guidelines developed to protect from acute (immediate) tissue heating damage, even though the damage from smart meter radiation is chronic (persistent over long periods of time) and not due to tissue heating.
An equivalent example is: NVE and the PUC acknowledge that the salt content is within FCC guidelines. There is no argument on that, but we are not checking for salt content, rather for the danger of a tsunami, yet they continue to repeat that the salt content (of the tsunami) is within FCC Guidelines. And by that logic they claim safety.
They also refer to reports that were sponsored by associations of manufacturers and promoters of smart meters.
The information is NOT mine. You are welcome to check the links and deliver it to NVE. Let me know how it goes.
Best,
RW
Yes but when I doffed my tin hat, the voices came back. "Go to the nearest casino. Place $20 on ...Put $100 into the third slot on the left of the blonde in the Red top. Order a young Scotch."
I did so and won more than i earned all week at my dumb job!
I donned my tin hat when I got home and then the old lady started in yelling at me. So I ripped off that hat and heard some more cool directions. I am positive the little meters are totally on our side. Ya just have to know how to listen to the little tiny voice, and then the things are just fine!
Peace out and see ya at the strEATS!!