Letters: Choice to go without smart meter is costly by Lavonne Garnett and Nick Dudink - Nanaimo Daily News - January 02, 2015: - nanaimodailynews/choice-to-go-without-smart-meter-is-costly-1.1702206 Southwest Harbor, Maine, USA] Big Brother into power by Dick Atlee - Mount Desert Islander - January 02, 2015: - mdislander/opinions/letters-to-the-editor/big-brother-power Re. Gas smeters in Maryland: Not so Smart Meters by Mike Petropoulis - Capital Gazette - January 02, 2015: - capitalgazette/opinion/letters/ph-ac-ce-letters-0102-20150102,0,616117.story Sent: January 2, 2015 8:02 AM To: Office PREM:EX OfficeofthePremier Cc: Bill Bennett.MLA; John Horgan.MLA; Complaints BCUC:EX; Adrian Dix.MLA; Andrew Weaver.MLA; greg.reimer@bchydro; [email protected] Subject: Smart Meters Dear Premier I am writing to you because your minister in charge seems oblivious (whether it is intentional or unintentional) to what is happening, as do the opposition. You, on the other hand, are a master politician and this issue is gaining traction. Why is this program so badly conceived, administered and implemented that it is attracting international coverage as a good example if how NOT to do it? The phrase nobody taking responsibility can apply only to BC, which, under your leadership, is becoming internationally recognized for incompetence and unaccountability. See the article below. Why arent the people who are accountable for this mess, including the minister, fired without severance? Any taxpayer money paid for consultant fees would ideally be clawed back (as you do to single mothers who do seek employment to attempt to rise out of poverty). smartmeters/perspective-uk-smart-meter-installation/ mississippicoal.wordpress/2011/12/01/smart-meter-fires/ Smart Meter Fires Blamed on Old Wiring and Improper Installation Some homeowners worry installing new ‘smart meters’ could spark fires Florida TV news, Contact 5 investigates fire complaints from Smart Meters. The concern seems to be related to incompatibility between the new meters and older electrical home wiring. Florida resident, “Margie Albernaz woke up in July to the smell of smoke in her Greenacres home. “I went over to the FPL meter and it had caught on fire, it was all black smoke and charred,” said Albernaz. The report continues, “After some more digging, we discovered similar fire concerns have been reported across the country with different power companies and different brands of smart meters.” But the Florida utility assured residents that it was nothing to worry about, smart meters don’t cause fires….however a spokesperson for the utility said they’d responded to 30 complaints related to meter fires and that “you could have wiring issues if you have dimming lights or power issues on one end of your home and not the other.” youtube/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Xtcw4hgvgU8 Remodeler finds SmartMeter interference with circuit breakers By Dennis Rockstroh of mercurynews Posted: 09/12/2010 Q One item you did not cover in your Sept. 7 SmartMeter article was interference with arc-fault circuit interrupters (AFCI). This is a type of circuit breaker that code requires in new and remodel construction. Its job is to detect arcing, which has been shown to be a cause of fires. Normal circuit breakers will not always break when arcing occurs. If arcing is detected by the AFCI, the breaker trips, stopping the potentially dangerous arc. Long story short, I did some remodeling recently. City code required that I use an AFCI for one of the bedroom circuits that was being remodeled. Some weeks after I completed the remodel, the AFCI started tripping. This meant I had to inspect each junction box and outlet to determine where an arc might be occurring. Appling Family Blames House Fire On Georgia Power Meter- News Video Liability wptv/dpp/news/region_st_lucie_county/port_st_lucie/smart-meter-concerns-continue-are-a-complicated-issue-public-service-commission-chief-says Local fire officials have said during a handful of meter-related fires, it was impossible to tell if the smart meter itself, or the can that encloses the meter, caused the fire. The can is the homeowners responsibility. The meter is FPLs. One of those fires damaged a Parks Edge home in St. Lucie County in February When ‘Smart’ Meters Kill: The Story of Larry Nikkel — Details Emerge of Vacaville, CA Smart Meter Fire Death Larry Nikkel died in a house fire related to smart meter installation in Vacaville CA. The burnt out computer, loud humming in the house were classic signs that the smart meter was arcing. The case was settled out of court. (I have been told it involved a large payment by PG&E to the family, but there is a gag order on details.) _________________________________________________ FOX 5 Investigates: Smart meters spark controversy “I was walking to the seventh tee, when the pro came up and said,‘Jump in the car. We just got a call. Your house is on fire,” Michael Capetto said. He lives in Upper Makefield, near Philadelphia, where the utility PECO this past summer reported at least 15 smart meters caught fire or got so hot, the meters melted. Similar fires have been reported in other states too.”…”..the meter sizzling inside the casing like a piece of bacon” ________________________________________________ ” Memphis Light Gas and Water Division officials on Tuesday told a City Council committee that “smart meters” slated to replace the utility’s traditional meters don’t cause fires….But problems with the metal electrical boxes, or “meter sockets” into which meters are plugged, could cause overheating and spark a “flash over” fire, they reported. Made of plastic, smart meters also can melt.” commercialappeal/news/2013/mar/05/memphis-city-council-briefs/ ________________________________________________ 1/17/2013 Electric Meter Catches Fire at Winchester Resident’s Home A Sensus Smart Meter caught fire on a Winchester TN home. The damage was contained by the brick siding. The owner, Brandon McClain is asking the utilities to pay for the smoke damage to his garage, the loss of his wages to deal with the problems, and the cost to replace the meter base. He states, “I believe the fault lies in the Sensus Smart FlexNet meters Winchester Utilities is currently using, or the utility employees spread the terminals when the smart meter was installed. My family could’ve been seriously harmed.” __________________________________________________________ 11/27/2012 Fire captain finds hazardous power surges follow Smart Meter installations Matt Beckett, a CA Fire captain stated, “Two years ago PG&E replaced that meter [analog] with a “Smart Meter”. Immediately following we noticed power surges in the form of our refrigerator motor intermittently speeding up simultaneously with our lights becoming brighter. As a seventeen year veteran and current Fire Captain this caused me to become very concerned.” The Smart meter on his house was replaced with an analog, and there were no problems, until a new Smart Meter was reinstalled. This time he had two surge protectors burn out. Read more: emfsafetynetwork.org/?p=9013 ___________________________________________________________ 11/2012 Michigan Is your electric meter dangerous? (see video in link.) Some say new meters are leading to fires: “Bonnie and Owen Medd said they never had a problem with the electric meter on their Ann Arbor home until DTE Energy replaced it with a new advanced “smart” meter. Then, it exploded. “The DTE man told me we were very lucky our house didn’t go up in flames,” said Bonnie. The Medds blame their new smart meter.”… “After hearing about the fire at the Medd’s meter, 7 Action News started digging. We found similar fires are being reported across the country. Our sister station, WPTV in West Palm Beach, Florida, has covered several fires linked in part to smart meters.” _________________________________________________________ 11/29/2012 Examiner: Something is still wrong with the smart meters Writer Norman Lambe outlines his concerns regarding smart meters and gas explosions. “A glitch in the construction of the meters soon became apparent to the installers, and created a situation in which arcing could take place creating a spark, and if a natural gas leak existed anywhere in the vicinity serious problems could result, as witnessed to by the San Bruno explosion.” He calls for a federal probe on the possible connection between Smart Meters and gas explosions stating, ” I believe it is time for a federal probe into finding out once and for all the responsibility for the natural gas explosions taking place to determine if the smart meters are responsible.” (Norman Lambe is an insurance inspector) _______________________________________________________ November 2012 : A recent article recognizes the connection between Smart Meter installations in Reno Nevada and Smart Meters exploding and burning out appliances. According to the article NV Energy Gary Smith admitted to problems with arcing and burnt out appliances, stating, “What happens is sometimes in the panel itself, you can get heating in those clips (where the smart meter’s prongs plug in) if they’re worn out or damaged,” Smith said. “Then we get what we call a ‘hot socket’ and you’ll have arcing and you’ll have a flashover.” __________________________________________________________ IEEE Smart Meter Fire Reports “Obviously all companies with smart meter programs, and all their suppliers and sub-contractors, are going to have to take a close look at the issue of fire hazards. This is just the beginning of a difficult story. Companies installing smart meters already have run into a lot of consumer push-back because of concerns about privacy, security, and–sometimes–higher rather lower electricity costs. The last thing the smart grid needs is meters causing fires.” (IEEE is industry) _____________________________________________________________ In August 2012 GE recalled 1.3 million dishwashers due to reports of 15 fires. GE also makes Smart Meters. __________________________________________________________ GEORGIA Family reports smart meter fire. In the photo the homeowner holds the charred remains of a smart meter which exploded and caught fire on her home, causing $11,000 worth of damage. According to the news report Georgia installed the same type of meters-Sensus- that have sparked fires in other states. _________________________________________________________ Smart Meter Causes Dumb Fire “In June 2010, Shirley Bayliff was sitting at the piano in her suburban Illinois home, giving music lessons to a student, when she heard a “pop” outside the house before the power went out. When she and her husband looked out the window, they saw five-foot flames shooting out from a new General Electric smart meter their utility company had installed as part of a pilot project.”…”Since then, two more of the 130,000 smart meters Commonwealth Edison installed in the area have burst into flames, one in 2011 and one this last July, according to the newspaper. _________________________________________________________ Three states utility regulators investigating Smart Meter fires “The Pennsylvania Utilities Commission wants more information about PECO Energy’s handling of its smart meter program, including failure rates of its meters, the number of overheating incidents and how many overheating incidents resulted in damage. …Regulators in other states, including Illinois and Maryland, are investigating allegations of dangerously overheating electric smart meters and reports of meter fires.”
Posted on: Mon, 05 Jan 2015 16:36:22 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015