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.

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.

Smart meter, Refugees and Human Rights Activists

Avoiding Smart Meter’s in Victoria

(A Manual of facts to help you)

The aim of this web page is to provide you with some little known facts to assist you in your fight to protect your health, privacy and democratic right to say ‘NO’. It has been compiled from personal experience and many hours of research.

 

If you have a smart meter that is making you, unwell and/or have other symptoms related to EHS and you complain to your distributor, they will simply reply: “Smart meters are mandated/standard".

You can then complain to the Energy and Water Ombudsman (Victoria) (EWOV), they will send a request to your distributor, who will send the usual answer, which will be passed on to you that: " Smart meters are mandated/standard".

As far as the distributors are concerned, it is your problem and nobody else’s. I know the names of refugees who have left their jobs, friends, who have sold their property in VIC and moved interstate because they could no longer take the pain from smart meters.

Do you think Human Rights activists, mass-media or any Ombudsman paid any attention to their stories? Nope. The only "refugees" which they care about are illegals, those who coming from overseas direct to our Centrelink offices by boats.

Not one Human Right activist, mass-media editor or Green Party official is foolish enough to risk interfering with billions of dollars "donations" into pockets of corporations under the pretext of "Advanced Metering Infrastructure". So you can be sure the smart meter issue will not get into the front pages of any major media outlet until YOU make it happen.

Currently Energy and Water Ombudsman Victoria is answering to all complains in same way:

"Smart meters are mandated/standard/compulsory".

So if Smart meter is killing you, that’s fine by everyone who is supposed to protect you, as long as it done legally. Nazi murdered millions of people because laws of Raich allowed it.

 

I wonder that kind of answer we would hear from Ombudsmen if distributors got permit to shoot their customer on spot? Probably something like this: "Killing unhappy clients is allowed by Order in Council and section 6A Electricity Industry Act"?

 

Only one way to force Ombudsman to do his job, to protect you - complain. And not just complain - use law. There is Equal Opportunity Act, force Ombudsman to read it! Look at my post under heading "Equal Opportunity Act and Human Rights."

Legal Aid can waste a lot of money to help child molesters or rapists, but if an honest citizen has a problem with a big corporation, ‘sorry mate, it is your problem and no one else’s’.

And only you and no one else can force them to protect rights and liberties of honest citizens!

 

Not be shy. Write to local and main mass-media. Lodge complains. Demand answers and actions. Bring distributor to Human Rights  division of VCAT (it is free).

 

Since forcing Aboriginals from their lands it is first ever time in Australian history then people are forced from their homes. 

Not because they are criminals, enemies or anything like this. People who suffer from EHS cannot live in Victoria and they are forced to move away.

 

Power industry needs profits and politicians cover-up them. It is against all our Human rights, against Constitution, against all democratic liberties.

But it is happening JUST NOW. Because our politicians put profits of foreign corporations before humans.

 

Do NOT vote for Labors who started Advanced Metering Infrastructure rollout.

Do NOT vote for Liberals who did not lift a finger to take into account rights of citizens of Victoria.

Do NOT vote for Greens who supported desal plant, who against cheap clean water from Mitchell river, who did not say a single word to protect rights of Smart Meter' refugees!
Do NOT vote for National (current energy minister National one) who have same policies as Liberals!

What can you do?

Avoiding Smart Meter’s in Victoria

(A Manual of facts to help you)

The aim of this web page is to provide you with some little known facts to assist you in your fight to protect your health, privacy and democratic right to say ‘NO’. It has been compiled from personal experience and many hours of research.

 

What can you do?

 

Just for start - let know your distributors, politicians, local and big mass-media about your opinion. Not be shy.

 

 

They pretend "care about you", "listen to you", "represent you". So force them to do exactly this. Ensure they will not be able to get away "I did not know about any issues with Smart meters".

 

Politicians created laws which force you to pay for useless and dangerous electronic toy, distributors got brand new infrastructure for your expense - so they have to have a bit time to answer your questions, yes?

 

And if you upset them and spoil their day - it is not your problem, do you agree?

 

They rip you off for $1000, and I think you have to say something about it. If they do not want to listen - make them listen!

 

 

Here the list of contacts to start:

 

Electricity distributors: http://jemena.com.au/outages/find-my-distributor.aspx

Your MP: http://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/members/

 

Minister Energy and Resources: http://www.vic.gov.au/contactsandservices/directory/?ea0_lfz99_120.&roleWithSubordinates&8d3e407f-6c39-4da0-8893-530e4b03b5f3

 

Shadow one: http://www.vic.gov.au/contactsandservices/directory/?ea0_lfz99_120.&organizationalRole&f43da8e0-f5ab-427e-bf7c-6427945dc157

 

Energy and Water Ombudsman: http://www.ewov.com.au/

 

You know better them me about your local newspaper and radio stations. Ask them questions, tell your opinion about Smart meters, raise concerns. Ensure everyone knows about $1000 rip-off.

 

And do NOT allow them to answer you with garbage like "mandated/standard/benefits for you"! Do not allow them to fool you!

 

Join political party which cares about your health, about your right to have a choice, which wants to make politicians accountable and responsible: http://www.peoplepowervictoria.org.au/home

 

Write me if you have any questions or need support.

Limits for Ultra High Frequency Electromagnetic Fields Exposure

 

Avoiding Smart Meter’s in Victoria

(A Manual of facts to help you)

The aim of this web page is to provide you with some little known facts to assist you in your fight to protect your health, privacy and democratic right to say ‘NO’. It has been compiled from personal experience and many hours of research.

Limits for Ultra High Frequency Electromagnetic Fields Exposure

Smart meter radiation must be within limits specified by AS 2772 RADIATION PROTECTION STANDARD Maximum Exposure Levels to Radiofrequency Fields — 3 kHz to 300 GHz. This Standard was created by AUSTRALIAN RADIATION PROTECTION AND NUCLEAR SAFETY AGENCY (ARPANSA).

As I understand soon it will be updated: http://www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/F2014L00960

But I don’t see that there will be much change here which will benefit the people of Victoria. Also, the ‘compatibility statement’ for this piece of legislation ignores the fact that Victorians are unknowingly being subjected to an experiment. (There has been no meaningful research into nonionizing radiation).

If we look at the history of the ARPANSA standard written in 2002, there was a prior standard of 1985. In the late 1990s it was time to update it, but it was not that simple:

http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Environment_and_Communications/Completed_inquiries/1999-02/emr/report/c04

 The technical committee did not reach agreement on the last revision of the Standard in 1999, which sought to introduce the more lenient ICNIRP Guidelines.

Also, in the conclusions in this document, para 4.240, the committee chair did not support the decision to transfer the responsibility for setting a new standard to ARPANSA. Despite this, the job of creating new standards; was passed on to ARPANSA. What did ARPANSA use as a base for the 2002 standard? See page ii http://www.arpansa.gov.au/publications/codes/rps3.cfm

Standard are based on the published 1998 Guidelines of the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP).

So I get the impression that the 1985 standards had stricter limits than the current standards. If so, this does not sound very promising!

International approach to UHF radiation.

In many countries, standards are based on ICNIRP guidelines, but not everywhere.

This site lists many countries/regions where standards are stricter. And it is a shame our Victorian government did not try to find out why:

http://ec.europa.eu/health/electromagnetic_fields/docs/emf_comparision_policies_en.pdf

Italy: The basic limits for magnetic flux density are identical with the reference levels in the Recommendation. A 10 times lower 'attention value' applies to existing situations with exposure for more than 4 hours in homes, playgrounds and schools. A 'quality goal' of 3% of the reference level applies to new construction of homes, playgrounds or schools near power lines, substations or transformers (or vice versa). An even stricter limit for magnetic flux density (0.2% of the reference level) was adopted in three regions before the federal law came into force. This too applies to power lines near homes, schools and other places where people may stay for more than 4 hours per day.
In Switzerland, an Ordinance on Non-ionising Radiation has been in force since 1999. Exposure limits identical to the reference levels in the European Recommendation apply to all areas accessible to the public. A stricter, precautionary limit on magnetic flux density of 1% of the reference level applies to new installations...

Technical terms for measuring UHF radiation.

 

The rate at which radiofrequency radiation is absorbed in the body is measured in watts per kilogram (W/kg).

The Australian limits are determined by AS 2772 which has Whole-body average (W/kg) 0.08 with allowed maximums of up 2-4 W/kg (see page 7, table 2).

The European Unions’ main standard is the same as Australia, from 0.08 up to 4 W/kg, see Table 1 page 64:

http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/sectors/electrical/documents/lvd/electromagnetic-fields/index_en.htm

Our smart meters emit up to 2.5% of Recommendations:

http://www.smartmeters.vic.gov.au/about-smart-meters/reports-and-consultations/ami-meter-em-field-survey-repor

so their usage in Switzerland or some parts of Italy would be questionable.

Notice that in tests of a bunch of Smart meters which are installed together the radiation reached 31% (Table 10).

In multistorey buildings, the situation may become really bad. We can only guess the amount of radiation people living close to bunch of then on their floor and also exposed to Smart meters above and below.

There are reports that radiation in areas of multistorey flats which are next to Smart meter locations is well beyond ARPANSA limits, but these reports are ‘not official’.

Department of Housing, owner of some buildings with possible over-the-limit levels of radiation is not in any rush to check this out. They settle aged and fragile people next to the source of powerful radiation and ‘forget’ about any Duty of Care.

In Russia, general rules for the protection are set in a 1999 framework law. Exposure limits for specific frequency ranges are set in so-called 'Hygienic epidemiological requirements'. The public exposure limit for electric and magnetic fields of 50 hertz is 10% of the reference level in the European Recommendation. The motivation for this is to prevent biological effects that are not seen as health risks in Western countries.

Russia found some "biological effects" in UHF radiation! And cut the limits by 10 times. The USSR had stricter rules than USA, and more, in USSR there was a belief that UHF radiation has "bio effects", this is something that ARPANSA does not want to hear! For example, the Soviet limits for occupational exposure were just 0.4 W/kg per hour, while ARPANSA "generously" give us up to 4 W/kg in our homes, 24/7! This sounds alarming to me. May be it would be worthwhile our Government asking Russia for more information on this subject?

jmpee.org/JMPEE_PDFs/21-1_bl/Vol21-1-Pg9-Czersk.pdf

Smart meters and Health issues.

Avoiding Smart Meter’s in Victoria

(A Manual of facts to help you)

The aim of this web page is to provide you with some little known facts to assist you in your fight to protect your health, privacy and democratic right to say ‘NO’. It has been compiled from personal experience and many hours of research.

Health issues.

Are Victorians being subjected to an experiment without their knowledge and consent? Neither the Victorian government nor the distributors have produced any evidence that these devices are safe, all they have done is ensure they comply with out of date standards!

For some time a number of individuals have reported a variety of health problems that they relate to exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMF). Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity (EHS) has been known to specialists for more than 50 years. EHS is recognised by World Health Organisation:

http://www.who.int/entity/peh-emf/publications/reports/EHS_Proceedings_June2006.pdf

It is recognised by law in Australia, by decision of Administrative Appeals Tribunal of Australia, McDonald and Comcare [2013] AATA 105 (28 February 2013):

COMPENSATION – Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988 (Nth) - Electromagnetic hypersensitivity syndrome.

More information here: http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/aat/2013/105.html

International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has classified radiofrequency electromagnetic fields as class 2b carcinogens, possibly carcinogenic to humans:

http://www.iarc.fr/en/media-centre/pr/2011/pdfs/pr208_E.pdf

Despite all it EHS was NOT taken into account by Victorian politicians or the distribution industry, who are responsible for the Advanced metering Infrastructure project.

Alternatives.

Must they be wireless? In agreement with Order in Council 10 December 2013 they must be “remotely read". (But the distributors are still only required ‘to use best endeavours’!) ‘Remote reading’ can be done not only by wireless, but by using power cables for internet connection, for information on this subject see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadband_over_power_lines.

The Victorian government gave distributors a choice of meter design. So why did the distributors choose potentially dangerous wireless technology? I have no idea, but you can guarantee cost was a major deciding factor. Why has the Victorian government not tried to carry out any meaningful research? That is also a mystery to me, but you can also guarantee cost is a major issue with that too. On this point, you may well ask, ‘why would they, the responsibility for the rollout is industry led, so it is their responsibility’! The government is very good at ‘duck shoving’ blame, if you let them!

Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity has been known about for at least half a century and the distributor’s choice of wireless technology clearly shows they have no idea what they are doing, or, they just not care.

What are ‘smart meters’?

Avoiding Smart Meter’s in Victoria

(A Manual of facts to help you)

The aim of this web page is to provide you with some little known facts to assist you in your fight to protect your health, privacy and democratic right to say ‘NO’. It has been compiled from personal experience and many hours of research.

What are ‘smart meters’?

1. Smart Meters are part of a mesh wireless network, which is based on Ultra-High Frequency radio waves, called Radio Frequency ElectroMagnetic Fields (later in text RF-EMF). Their main purpose is to send detailed information about customer's electricity usage to the distributors using wireless communication.

As a result of receiving information by radio (usually 4 times per day) distributors will no longer need Meter Readers. Also, because of almost real time data access, distributors can react quicker to changes in network's load.

http://www.unitedenergy.com.au/customers/your-electricity/smart-meter-rollout.aspx

Smart meters are two-way, digital communication systems that record detailed electricity usage and store this data into 30 minute intervals and automatically send this data to the electricity distributors.

To make it simple: a smart meter is a digital electric meter with two build-in ‘mobile phones’.

2. The first ‘phone’ makes at least 4 calls to central office every 24 hours, each call up to 10 sec long, and also sends/receives a non-predictable amount of messages to/from Smart Meters in the neighbourhood (this is called a ‘mesh network’).

3. The second ‘phone’ looks for so-called ‘smart’ electrical appliances in the consumer's home; these appliances will be AS4755 compliant, with built-in wireless transmitters. After establishing contact with these appliances, the Smart Meter is able to collect detailed information about their usage and their electrical consumption (this is called a HAN, Home Area Network). These appliances can be turned on or off remotely by the distributor, or hackers who will hack into the system! It depends on distributor's policy, but many of them keep the second ‘phone’ permanently ‘on’ and people are exposed to RF-EMF radiation 24/7/365.

More information here:

http://smartgridaustralia.com.au/SGA/Documents/IN_Work_Group_SmartMeter_HAN_Comms.pdf

4. If you care about your health, privacy, safety and security you should avoid buying any goods which have unneeded wireless devices. Ask questions and do research before purchasing printer, fridge, washing machine and even toaster!

They can hurt your health, assist thefts or put your privacy in danger.