Sunday 17 August 2014

Canada Removes of 105,000 Smart Meters Because Fire

http://cjme.com/story/two-more-smart-meters-start-fire-saskatchewan/396968

Two more smart meters start on fire in Saskatchewan
                                                                                           
SaskPower continues to investigate cause of failures
 
An eighth smart meter has caught fire in Saskatchewan since SaskPower started installing thousands across the province.



http://news.ca.msn.com/canada/saskpower-to-remove-105000-smart-meters-following-fires-2


The Saskatchewan government has ordered its power utility SaskPower to remove 105,000 so-called smart meters installed at homes and businesses across the province, following concerns about eight unexplained fires associated with the units.
The minister responsible for the provincial Crown corporation, Bill Boyd, announced the move Wednesday.
..."The concerns are significant enough that we believe that any time that families are at risk here in Saskatchewan, actions have to be taken. That's why we've directed SaskPower accordingly."
Questions about the meters surfaced in July when SaskPower announced it was investigating a handful of cases where newly installed meters malfunctioned. In all cases, the failures only affected the outside of a home and no one was hurt.
SaskPower had put its meter replacement program on hold while it investigated the fires. As of Monday, eight had been reported.

Sensus Corporation, the company that supplied the meters, said in a statement to CBC News Wednesday that it has millions of meters operating safely across North America.
"We have no confirmation that the meter is the source [of the fire problems]," the statement said. "We are working with SaskPower to understand what specific events led to those issues and to determine the best course of action. The investigation is still underway."
Sensus is a multinational company servicing the utility industry with headquarters in the U.S. and operations around the world.


Cost of swap could reach $14M
According to officials, it will take about six to nine months to swap out the meters already installed. That is expected to cost about $90 per customer — $45 for a different meter and $45 for the work. That works out to around $9.5 million for the entire province. SaskPower also has a cache of more than 100,000 new devices in storage that will not be used.
Later on Wednesday, SaskPower indicated it expected the total cost could reach $14 million.
It was not immediately clear who would cover the costs associated with the swap. Boyd said he hoped to recoup the money from the company that supplied the meters.


The smart meters, which are manufactured by Sensus Corporation, allow SaskPower to bill customers for the power they use each month rather than relying on estimates between meter readings. The utility introduced the replacement program in October 2013.
No changes for some Saskatoon residents
The government's move applies to customers of SaskPower throughout the province, but does not apply to parts of Saskatoon that receive service from that city's power and light utility. According to Saskatoon officials, their meter replacement program, which uses a different supplier, has not had any problems.
"We have not heard any reports of problems with the Elster brand meters," Kevin Hudson, a Saskatoon city official, said in a statement Wednesday.

How to remove Smart Meter from your property

I am NOT a lawyer, so all the information provided here is for general guidance only. I may be inaccurate in some details.
If you have Smart-meter related health issues, you can use the instructions below
Step by step:
1. Contact your electricity distributor and ask to remove Smart meter according to Equal Opportunity Act 2010.
For more information please refer to:
http://nosmartmeter.blogspot.com.au/2014/07/ehs-electromagnetic-hypersensitivity.html
and
http://nosmartmeter.blogspot.com.au/2014/07/your-right-to-choose-kind-of-meter-and.html
Demand WRITTEN ANSWERS ONLY!
KEEP ALL RECORDS!
Get digital sound recorder and record all relevant phone conversations! The cost of the digital recorder starts from $10, not a big deal.
2. If unsuccessful, go one level higher:
Try to contact the following organisations:
https://www.ewov.com.au/contact-us/complaint_form
http://www.humanrightscommission.vic.gov.au/index.php/about-us/contact-us
Use the links ( from the first step) to ensure that they (EWOV and Human Rights Commission) will get some knowledge about Equal Opportunity Act 2010, because from my experience of dealing with them, they have none (or pretend to do so).
Again, keep all records and demand only written answers. Not to be shy - they have to help you, it is their job.
3. If unsuccessful again, use this option - the only one that currently works
http://www.vcat.vic.gov.au/disputes/equal-opportunity
You should fill some forms, Please find attached the instruction where and how to find the forms.
And believe me, very soon your distributor will contact you and will try to negotiate removal of the Smart meter.
4. And there is a trick: if you sign a Non Disclosure agreement with the distributor during mediation you will get "gag" order and you won’t be allowed to provide full assistance to other people who also suffer from radiation.
Also, in the future your own prospect of getting compensation, publish your story or just share it with fiends will be jeopardised.


On mediation professional lawyers can trick you, lie to you, bluff. It does not matter if you find out later – they already got your signature on the deal and they «gagged» you, so they do not care.


5. So if you want to be a free man and do not want to have any obligations to corporations, who care only about profits and who look at people only as a source of dividends for shareholders - better request VCAT to make orders on your case.

Court ruling is open to public and can be used for any purpose you might seek in the future, including compensation related to damages for health, forceful relocation (becoming refugee), etc.


Lawyers cannot lie in court because everything will be on the record. And judge would not allow them to trick you, even if you come without lawyer.

If I were you, I would refuse mediation at all, or from the start agree only to "no gag order" conditions. And demand 3 business days for cooling-off period. During this time you will be able to get independent advise from lawyer («gag order» allows you to use one).


6. If you need assistance - please register in blogger.com and contact me.

Smart meter and Asbestos - letter to CEOs, members of board, shareholders of distributors


I like to pay attention to similarities between current situation with UHF radiation and asbestos.

Asbestos:

1. There was a lot of published evidence that asbestos is dangerous.

2. Industry denied or pretended not to know about this information.

3. Governments around the world did not see anything wrong with asbestos, it usage/processing was not really limited by safety standards.

4. Only since 1978 asbestos became «officially dangerous» in Australia, exact date depends on state.

5. American Conference of Government Industrial Higyenists (ACGIH) recommended that amount of asbestos dust in air should be under 5 mppcf (5 million particles per cubic foot), this recommendation was in force in 1946-1970 years.

6. Industry did the best to fight off any allegations using as argument «asbestos is allowed for usage, it is not banned».


UHF radiation:

1. There is an evidence it is dangerous even at low levels.

2. Industry denies this evidence for many years using several excuses.

3. In many countries UHF devices are introduced by government (Smart meters is an example).

4. In some countries limits for UHF already became very strict, but not in Australia (yet?).

5. ARPANSA setup a limit for UHF radiation which is convinient for industry and easy to «obey».

6. Industry fight off any alligation just claiming «our debices emit under ARPANSA limit».


And now I like to ask CEOs, members of board, shareholders of distributors some questions. I do not need answers, YOU do:
1. Then James Hardie used «asbestos was not banned before 1978» argument in court hearings about amount of compensation for people who worked with asbestos in 1950s-1960s did it gave him any good? As far as I know not.
2. Do you want in future to see your company having problems which James Hardie got?
3. Will you consider changing your attitude from «we obey ARPANSA standards» to something more cautious?
4. Distributors, not Government choose wireless technology instead of "broadband by power cable" for remotery read electrical meters.
5. Distributors, not Government, have orders from S314 Order in Council: «A distributor must have and must keep up to date to the End Date a risk management strategy (‘risk management strategy’) to:
(a) identify, address and mitigate technological or other risks of and in connection with the provision, installation, maintenance and operation of advanced metering infrastructure and associated services and systems; and»


6. And if Distributor will run out of cash because too many huge claims from victims of UHF radiation Government will say «I told you so!»:
(b) manage expenditure increases arising from those risks.
7. Distributors breached «best endeavours» clause in Order in Council S439 and installed Smart meters against customers will.

8. And now I like to ask you to do some guessing: in case if something will go wrong in future who will be blamed – your company or government?
 
9. And then shareholders will look for someone to blame for this blog will be mentioned, believe me. And YOU will be asked question:
- Were you aware of it?