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Smart Meters - Public Service Commission

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tie into the <strong>Smart</strong> Meter/<strong>Smart</strong> Grid system. Some customers with <strong>Smart</strong><br />

<strong>Meters</strong> do have such devices on some of their major electrical equipment, and<br />

have had complaints of poor air conditioning or heating along with no hot<br />

water during “normal” off hours of energy consumption. For now these can be<br />

bypassed by your friendly electrician if you so desire.<br />

There is also the problem of security of the computer systems, and the<br />

potential of tampering and attack from hackers. In a case where the customer<br />

may believe that his electrical bill is too high from possible tampering or a<br />

malfunctioning <strong>Smart</strong> Meter, he/she will have little to no means to prove such<br />

an allegation to the electric company.<br />

A larger concern with <strong>Smart</strong> <strong>Meters</strong> are the hazards of exposures to<br />

microwave and radiowave radiation. The FCC has set standards on such<br />

radiation, but those are essentially based on brief exposures. Cell phones<br />

have been linked with brain tumors, but exposure is voluntary, and can be<br />

reduced or eliminated by stopping or cutting back on cell phone use, or using<br />

land lines instead.<br />

<strong>Smart</strong> <strong>Meters</strong> present a different problem in that many of them transmit<br />

continuously, and exposure is largely involuntary. Many of these meters are<br />

placed outside the home within a few feet of bedrooms, family rooms, living<br />

rooms, etc. – places in a home that typically see heavy use. <strong>Smart</strong> <strong>Meters</strong><br />

often have a range of 2 miles, and their area of effect in many residential and<br />

other areas overlap each other. For those with sensitivities to some radiation<br />

frequencies on this end of the scale, in a neighborhood gone "<strong>Smart</strong>" there's<br />

no escape even if the individual opted out of the new meter for his/her home.<br />

“Health problems, due to constant exposure of RF radiation, already reported<br />

include: migraines, nausea, vomiting, vision impairment, ringing in the ears<br />

(tinnitus), muscle spasms and nerve pain, heart palpitations, chest pain, and<br />

sleeplessness caused by intense bursts (pulsing) of radiofrequency radiation<br />

that has recently been classified as a “possible carcinogen” by the World<br />

Health Organization —in the same category as lead, engine exhaust, and<br />

DDT.

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