Smart Meters - Public Service Commission

neighbor if they had recently purchased any new electronic equipment (I wondered if it might be a DECT
phone), but she said no.
Finally, in desperation, on May 22nd, I put a metal wheelbarrow over the meter (I had heard that metal stops
much of the radio frequency (RF) radiation). My symptoms began to subside, and I was feeling better on May
23rd and 24th.
On May 24th, I was gone much of the day. Upon return home in the evening, I was feeling fine, and then
worked for 2 hours in my office on that side of the house. All of the previously mentioned symptoms
reappeared, and I was feeling despondent, even crying, as I went to bed. The next morning I learned that my
neighbors had removed the wheelbarrow the day before while I had been gone, because PG&E had finally
agreed to come out and deactivate the RF transmitter. That morning, May 25, 2010, a PG&E technician
disabled the radio transmitter on the gas meter. I gradually began feeling better since then, although my
heartbeat is still quite irregular much of the time. I am no longer getting headaches at home, and do not feel
the emotional distress, dizziness or weakness.
I should mention that I am constantly exposed to some level of RF, since I live within 800 or 900 feet of the
Sebastopol downtown cell tower, and can pick up 4 or 5 wifi signals in my home. Plus numerous nearby
neighbors have “smart”phones or cellphones. We no longer have wireless of any kind in our home (since
January 2010). Nor do we have fluorescent light bulbs or a microwave oven. I keep a cellphone in my car,
switched OFF, and use it once or twice a month on speaker-phone for extremely brief intervals. I avoid places
with lots of cellphones. None of these previous exposures prepared me for the onslaught of the smartmeter
operating 24/7 next door, and I was very surprised at it’s strength.
For this reason I know that I cannot live in a neighborhood with smartmeters, whether or not they let me “opt
out”. I am obviously more sensitive to RF radiation than most, but I am sure many others will be similarly
affected. And many will have symptoms caused by the meters that they don’t understand or correlate to the
meters. N.H. Sonoma County
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In about late September I began to notice I was having some odd symptoms, including the following:
*Agitation*Memory loss*Inability to concentrate*Nervousness*Inability to get my work done,*Interrupted
sleep, I felt as if I were becoming unhinged.
During the time between September and earlier this month my husband and son seemed agitated too. My
husbandʼs blood pressure rose and he had to begin taking blood pressure medication. He was also
experiencing sleep disruptions.
On February 25th and 26th there was a huge snowstorm here. During the storm I spent many hours in my
living room, near my fireplace, about five feet away from the electric meter, which is installed outside my living
room window. My right ear was facing the meter. My husband was traveling and my son was not at home for
the same length of time that I was. The electricity went on and off several times during those two days. At one
point I heard a piercing sound along with pressure in my ears. Along with the symptoms I had previously
experienced, I began to develop worse symptoms, including the following: *Heart palpitations,*A buzzingpulsing
sound, especially in my right ear,*Agitation,*Interrupted sleep with nightmares of being
attacked,*Accelerated heartbeat. I was afraid that I would have a heart attack.
The symptoms would lessen when I went outside. It seemed that there was something wrong inside my home,
perhaps with the electricity. Through research and talking to electricians, I began to realize that my symptoms
might be traceable to something relating to the meters. They were the only recently installed appliances in our
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