"Smart" Meters

Last night I went to see a film premier at the Woodstock Community Center. The film, titled "Take Back Your Power" was a documentary by Josh de Sol about the health hazards and privacy invasions caused by Smart Meters. Smart Meters are new digital meters that are replacing the traditional analog meters that record a home's electric use. In the photo above, you can see the differences between the analog meter (left) and the electric, smart meter (right).

What is a Smart Meter exactly? A Smart Meter is an electric meter that records the energy use of a household and sends that information back to the utility company on a daily basis. Instead of sending an employee to read the meter, the data can be sent, wirelessly, to a receiving device on a nearby telephone pole, then sent via satellite to the company. It can also be collected in passing by one of the company's vehicles that contain the proper software and devices to receive the wirelessly transmitted data. All in all, these meters are being introduced as a way to more efficiently gather data, monitor usage, and bill the customers. This sounds reasonable, but let's take a look at some of the negative factors associated with these Smart Meters.

Job Loss

Our country is always talking about the rate of unemployment and our dwindling economy. What we rarely talk about is how the technologies we all love are putting one another out of work. These devices will put many meter readers out of work and, in addition, expand the already large gap between companies and their consumers.


Deadly Radiation

Being that the collected data is sent a few times per hour, these small meters radiate several electromagentic frequency pulses each minute. These pulses, similar to those of smart phones and cell phone towers, act as a carcinogen and are being linked to headaches, nosebleeds, severe anxiety, sleeping disorders, and brain tumors. You can read an article and watch a video about that here.


Invasion Of Privacy

Smart Meters link up to other appliances with "smart technology". This allows the Smart Meter to actually differentiate between the electric usage of a coffee pot, microwave, or television. This allows the electric company to see what appliances you're using and how often you're using them. The electric company can then send this information to these appliance companies so that they can see who is using their products and how they may better market them to the consumer. Why are the electric companies interested in these figures, and why do they have a right to share this information with other companies? 


Higher Bills

If the symptoms of Smart Meters didn't catch the attention of homeowners, the high bills surely did. Most people discover they have a Smart Meter after they have received an unusally high electric bill. Smart Meters actually use energy to transfer the data of your energy use. Since the data can be transferred as often as every four seconds, it actually costs the homeowner money to transfer the information to the electric company.


Many people who have been experiencing the symptoms I listed earlier (headaches, nausea, nosebleeds, anxiety, etc.) find that they have Smart Meters on their homes. Once the Smart Meter is removed, or they leave their house, the symptoms become less severe or disappear altogether. When they try and get the meter removed, they find themselves being met with overwhelming opposition from the utility company. One woman's company even refused to remove it unless she sent them a doctor's note! 

If you have a "Smart Meter" you should remove it for the sake of your health, your children's health, and the health of your human community, as well as the animal and insect communities - like our poor bees who die from too much radiation exposure. Be aware that when you call your electric company, they may argue that you do not have a Smart Meter. They are half right. Due to the health hazards, privacy issues, and rise in bills the term "Smart Meter" has become associated with feelings of negativity and general opposition. Because of this, many companies have changed the name to AMR (automated reading meters) or simpy digital meters. In any case, these still have the same ill effects because it's the same device under a new name.
The film was amazing in its documentation of force by the utility companies onto the consumer so that they could meet their quotas. Some employees were breaking into people's basement doors, cutting down locks, and climbing over fences. As one of the scientists on the panel put it: to solve a problem we must first be able to see the other person's point of view. This is the compassionate way to solve a problem. These employees are people just like us that have orders from their companies to put X amount of meters on X amount of houses each day. They, too, have families to go home to and bills to pay so that they can live a good life. If you wish to remove your Smart Meter, or prevent one from being installed, do it peacefully by speaking to your utility company and explaining your situation to them in a polite manner.This website supplies kits to protect your analog meter from being replaced, in addition to other resources that can help you get yours removed and prevent its installation.

More importantly, share this information with your community. Tell them about Smart Meters, talk to your city council, and start a petition to ban them from your town. America was designed to work from the towns up - to be local. If we all band together in our towns, each state could block the mandate for the installation of these meters and we could work toward living healthier, radiation-free lives. You can also go to www.takebackyourpower.net and host a screening at your library, college, school, or community center. The film was brilliantly produced and I highly recommend everyone to see it.

Tomorrow I will discuss certain foods that can help protect us from radiation and electromagnetic frequencies. This is especially important for those living in cities or working with computer on a daily basis - not to mention those who use smart phones.

Stay tuned!