Synopsis: The Morro Bay City Council has adopted a resolution asking for a six-month moratorium on the installation of PG&E Smart Meters at homes and businesses in the community because the state Public Utilities Commission "did not consider possible health impacts" from the meters.
Morro Bay has become the first city in San Luis Obispo County to try to block PG&E's immediate plans to install "Smart Meters" at homes and businesses within its boundaries, which some residents and organizations fear pose serious risks to health, especially for those who suffer from "electrosensitivity" to such wireless electrical devices.
Neurological symptoms from exposure to radio frequency radiation can include headaches, sleep disturbances, difficulty falling asleep, awakening early and not being able to go back to sleep, disorientation, and general malaise. There also can be related cardiac symptoms such as rapid heart rate and irregular heart beat known as arrhythmia.
Round-the-clock emission exposure from a wireless Smart Meter also can compromise the immune system and make one susceptible to disease and illness. (Symptoms references at Bioinitiative.org)
There also have been reports elsewhere in the state of skyrocketing costs to residents from Smart Meters being installed by PG&E at their properties. According to business owners Bernadette Pekarek and Bill Martony, a Smart Meter was recently installed by PG&E on their commercial property without their approval and their electricity rates jumped sharply from about $15 to $20 a month to over $250 a month. PG&E was unresponsive to their objections, they said.
A class action suit has been filed by a group of residents in Bakersfield against PG&E over steep hikes in utility bills after the Smart Meters were installed at their homes. Homeowners in other California communities also are fighting the meters.
The New York Times reported that opposition to Smart Meters is sweeping the nation. Bloomberg Business Week's article said, "Duke Energy's proposal to install 800,000 (such meters) in Indiana was rejected by regulators because of concern that the cost of the project would outweigh potential benefits to consumers."
In approving a resolution calling for a six-month moratorium on allowing Smart Meters to be installed in town, the Morro Bay City Council on December 8 joined the growing statewide movement advocating a freeze on Smart Meters installation. Elsewhere, citizen groups are seeking to prevent their installation throughout California until state authorities can conduct a full-scale investigation of possible health risks, or an existing state bill is acted upon by the Legislature.
The bill, authored by Assembly member Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, would require the California Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to provide an opt-out alternative for customers and require utilities to provide a wired alternative to the wireless meter. Huffman also has requested the California Council on Science and Technology to examine whether the federal limits on radiation from wireless devices, including Smart Meters, adequately protect the public. The Council's preliminary report on that question is scheduled to be completed this month.
The Morro Bay Council resolution said the PUC "did not consider possible health impacts" in 2003 when it adopted a policy that all electric customers in California should have advanced meters, in part for greater energy efficiency.
The resolution "urges PG&E not to install, for a period not less than one hundred eighty (180) days, any Smart Meters repeaters, antennas and any related wireless equipment until PG&E has provided local residents additional information on the planned installation."
The vote of the City Council was 3-2 with then-mayor Janice Peters, Noah Smukler and Betty Winholtz in favor and Carla Borchard and Rick Grantham opposed. Winholtz orginally asked the City staff to investigate the Smart Meters last August after becoming aware of some residents' concerns.
Asked if PG&E would comply with the city's resolution, a company representative refused to answer the question, saying only that the company intends to "work with customers to resolve their concerns" about the Smart Meters.
However, other California cities—Fairfax, Santa Cruz and Watsonville—have adopted ordinances to halt installation of the meters in their area, and PG&E reportedly has not installed any Smart Meters under those moratoriums. Those ordinances say the meters could not be installed until Huffman's bill has been enacted into law and opportunities for property owners to opt out of having the meters installed are provided. And PG&E has indicated elsewhere that it may be willing to compromise on installing the meters, according to media reports.
PG&E has been installing the meters in northern California, the San Joaquin Valley and in San Luis Obispo County, mostly in the northern part so far. PG&E reportedly held public forums in Santa Maria to discuss public concerns. They reportedly have been installed or are being installed in 38 states and a number of countries, including Canada.
The Morro Bay resolution, authored by city attorney Rob Schultz, also urged PG&E and the PUC "to provide an appropriate mechanism and forum for local residents to voice their positions for or against Smart Meters before any Smart Meters are installed in Morro Bay." It also called for "PG&E to modify its Smart Meters program to provide that individuals may choose not to have wireless Smart Meters installed on their properties or use hard wire types."
In addition, the resolution said some residents have concerns about privacy with the Smart Meters, and that the PUC did not give adequate
consideration to those privacy concerns in view of the fact the meters will be installed on private property, and "many homeowners and
businesses have no knowledge of the planned installation."
The PUC is the agency charged with regulating utility companies in California, including the activities of PG&E, and local governments do not have any direct regulatory control over utility companies. However, state laws can be approved to regulate utilities through the legislature and governor.
Judy Vick, a community activist and former supervisorial candidate from the coastal area, who is leading the charge for a moratorium on the meters throughout the county, urged the Council on Dec. 8 to adopt the resolution and for residents to call PG&E and "ask to delay installation on their homes."
She told the Council that more than 22 cities and thee counties in California have launched formal objections to the mandatory deployment of Smart Meters due to complaints of significant overbilling, health hazards from electromagnetic fields exposure, interference with household electronics, privacy and security risks, and fire hazards.
Patricia Wilmore, representing PG&E, told the Council that "some customers have raised concerns about the potential for Smart Meters to affect their health," but, she said, 90 million Smart Meters around the world "are operating safely every day."
The World Health Organization (WHO) has concluded that there are no adverse short- or long-term health effects associated with exposure to radio-frequency signals at the low levels generated by Smart Meters, she added. Cindy Sage, co-editor of the Bioinitiative Report, said WHO is in the process of deciding if radio frequency, which Smart Meters use, is a carcinogen or neurotoxin.
In 2006, PG&E proposed and the PUC approved "advanced metering," which included a plan to install Smart Meters throughout PG&E's territory and to upgrade all of its approximately five million electric meters and four million gas meters over a five-year period. Later that year, PG&E began installing the advanced meters statewide and this year the company began installations in San Luis Obispo County.
In 2009, California Senate Bill 17, entitled Electricity: Smart Grid Systems, was enacted, requiring utility regulators plus every major utility in
the state with over 100,000 customers to develop a Smart Grid deployment plan by July 1, 2011. The law requires that the Smart Grid "improve
overall efficiency, reliability and cost-effectiveness of electrical system operations, planning and maintenance."
The purpose of the meters, according to PG&E, is to collect electric and natural gas usage data from homes or businesses and to transmit the data to PG&E via a secure wireless communication network. PG&E asserts that the meters will give customers access to information and greater
control over their energy use and bills.
In an interview with the San Jose Mercury News in November, PG&E Chief Executive Officer Peter Darbee said the company is looking for a
"compromise solution" for people who consider the devices a health risk. He didn't elaborate. Michael Peevey, president of the PUC, told the
San Francisco Chronicle that he had suggested to PG&E executives that they find some way to address the concerns of people who say they suffer
from "electrosensitivity." "My personal view is that PG&E ought to consider some means to address people who sincerely believe they're affected," Peevey said.
Leading the challenge to Smart Meters is the EMF (electromagnetic fields) Safety Network , a nonprofit organization that says it is devoted to providing quality education about the health impacts associated with electromagnetic fields and radio frequency radiation and offers "resources for community activists working to facilitate public policy change." It's concerns with electromagnetic fields are stated on their website.
Sandi Maurer, founder of the EMF Safety Network, said she was pleased that the California Council on Science and Technology is studying the
issue but she called for the PUC to conduct its own investigation. She said the Network has filed a request asking the PUC to study the intensity of
the radiation emitted by the meters and the cumulative radiation exposure customers could be subjected to. She also called for the PUC to hold
public hearings on possible health effects.
Smart Meter opponents say alternative advanced and smart metering systems already exist that do not require wireless components and are
instead fully wired, whch makes them "cleaner" and more secure and safer. Many commercial businesses, multi-residential units, and other cities
such as Chattanooga, Tennessee, are using them. Residential consumers in California should also be able to have wired smart metering systems, too, they argue.
Legislators also have received complaints from some residents over much higher rates after Smart Meters were installed. State Senator Dean Florez, the majority Democratic leader, has demanded a halt to Smart Meter installations. "People think these meters are fraud meters," said Florez. "They feel they're being defrauded. They're getting no benefit from these things."
Vick said the PUC Division of Ratepayer Advocates (DRA) in November called for an investigation into alleged public health hazards from PG&E'sSmart Meters. She quoted the agency as saying, "Unless the public's concerns can be put to rest, there is a very great risk that PG&E's Smart Meter deployment will turn out to be a $2.2 billion dollar mistake ratepayers can ill afford."
Vick is seeking to have the county Board of Supervisors approve a moratorium and recently addressed the county Health Commission, which
voted 4-3 not to recommend a moratorium until it has more information about the meters, which she said said she is providing. Vick said she also is providing the information to all supervisors and is asking residents to join in urging them to look into the questions surrounding the meters.
In her comments to the Council, Wilmore said PG&E's program to install the meters is North America's largest deployment of automated
metering Infrastructure. Recently, PG&E began deploying the meters in San Luis Obispo County, she said, with installations currently in progress in Paso Robles, Templeton and Atascadero. Deployment in the rest of the county is scheduled to take place during 2011, she added.
Wilmore claimed that "independent studies have shown that more than 99% of Smart Meter devices are working properly and better than the
traditional meters they replace." She said the Smart Meters perform at about a 97% accuracy rate.
"PG&E takes accountability for not communicating enough with our customers the various benefits of the Smart Meter before initial
installations began, and we've since strengthened our communications program surrounding the meters," she said. "We are committed to holding
Smart Meter answer centers in communities prior to installation to hear and address our customers' concerns. But we are confident they will be
happy with the real time data the meters provide and their accuracy."
In spite of complaints that the meters are costing ratepayers much more, Wilmore said the meters are designed to "help customers learn more about their energy use, understand how their use affects their bills and how they can take steps to save energy and reduce costs."
Describing how the meters work, she said that once customers have their meters, they can go online and track their energy use in real time.
Smart Meter Energy Alerts, for example, automatically notify participants when they begin to use energy at a level that could increase their rates andtherefore their bills. The system also makes it possible to restore power faster after a disruption.
Wilmore also claimed that the meters increase safety because meter information is accessed remotely, making visits to customers' properties
by meter readers no longer necessary. And it increases efficiency by enabling easier access to better information, which helps to resolve customers' problems faster and answer their energy cost questions more accurately, she added.
