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By DEREK MOORE
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
A much-anticipated study of Pacific Gas and Electric’s SmartMeters concluded that the devices are accurate and not to blame for higher energy bills that were the source of thousands of customer complaints.
But that assessment likely won’t dampen criticism on the North Coast, where concerns about the new meters have mainly centered on the perceived health risks related to the electromagnetic frequencies that the devices emit.
The $1.4 million study commissioned by the California Public Utilities Commission did not address health concerns but instead focused on whether the meters accurately track energy use.
Commissioners sought the analysis after hundreds of PG&E customers in mainly the San Joaquin Valley complained last year that their utility bills skyrocketed after the high-tech meters were installed at their businesses or homes.
The findings were revealed Thursday at a PUC meeting in San Francisco.
Following a five-month review, the Structure Group of Houston concluded that the smart meters that were a part of the analysis performed within accepted margins of error.
The report said installation of the meters in the Central Valley last year coincided with a heat wave and rate increases, leading to higher-than-average utility bills for some PG&E customers.
The report also found that PG&E fostered widespread confusion about its own program by failing to address customer complaints, by confusing billing practices and in some cases by failing to notify customers about their new meter installation.
“We are pleased that the Structure Group’s detailed analysis confirms the integrity of our meter program and provides assurance to customers that our meter readings are accurate,” PG&E Senior Vice President and Chief Customer Officer Helen Burt said Thursday. “We also agree with its criticism of our failure to address customer concerns on a timely basis, and have taken steps to address that real shortfall in our program.”
Nevertheless, some are still calling for a halt to more smart meters being installed on the North Coast and elsewhere in California until concerns about possible health problems related to the devices are addressed.
Some fear the radio frequencies used to transmit data from smart meters, as well as electronic emissions from laptops, cell phones, TVs and other devices, can cause “electrical sensitivity” and health problems ranging from chronic fatigue, headaches and insomnia, to heart ailments and cancer.
The World Health Organization, American Cancer Society and other major health organizations have found no definitive links between radio frequencies and ill health.
West county Supervisor Efren Carrillo, who has been inundated with concerns about the new meters, sent a letter to the PUC earlier in the summer calling for a moratorium on their installation in Sonoma County.
Carrillo on Thursday said that he also supports PG&E customers being able to opt-out of the SmartMeter program for a fee.
“It is not unexpected that the Structure Group evaluation showed accuracy is not a significant cause for concern,” Carrillo said. “I do believe, however, that as described by the analysis, customer concerns should be better addressed if the CPUC is to allow continuance of installation.”
Sandi Maurer, director of the Electromagnetic Field Safety Network in Sebastopol, dismissed the Structure Group report on Thursday, saying that its methodology was flawed.
Maurer has put signs on the meters outside her house warning PG&E employees not to convert them. She said she is prepared to call the police if that request is not met.
“I know there are immediate health impacts for people who are EMF sensitive already,” Maurer said. “We would like the right to opt out, not just as individuals, but for areas and towns.”
However, PG&E customers as of now do not have that right, according to a PUC spokesman.
“They can say no if they want, but we have given the authority to utilities to go ahead with the smart meter program statewide,” said Andrew Kotch. “There is no opting out.”
Asked what would happen if a customer absolutely refused an installation, Kotch replied, “We’ll probably have to cross that bridge if we get there.”
In Sonoma County, about 140,000 gas and electric meters have been upgraded out of 400,000 that are eligible for conversion, according to PG&E data.
Fewer than 1,000 of the devices have been installed in the Sebastopol area, out of a total of 22,000 gas and electric meters that are set for the conversion.
PG&E has said that has nothing to do with resistance to the new meters in the west county.
Assemblyman Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, said Thursday that the California Council on Science and Technology is probably a few weeks away from releasing a report on whether smart meters sufficiently meet Federal Communication Commission standards.
Huffman said he requested the study because of what he views as a dearth of sound science on the subject.
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Smart meters ARE SPY METERS! People have got to understand how these are designed to work. These are the designed to FORCE you to change your life based on the idea of rate changes through out the day. If you decide not too or dont know because you didnt check useing several methods then you pay a really high rate. So really its another tool to help the utilities maximize profits by chargeing higher rates and fireing meter readers ( from which we’ll never see the saveings). This is akin to selling food in the super market at double the price in the hours of 3pm-6pm or gas at those hours at the same jacked up rates. We are paying for a unit of energy no less, no more. PS if utilities know peak hours perhaps they could produce more during those hours and ramp down during the others.
Back to them being spy meters. They are designed to run with a home area network that will tie into all your appliances. This meter lays the ground work for the monitoring of ALL your household activities useing any form of electricity. These will work with googles “PowerMeter” which knows WHAT you turn on and WHEN you turn it on. All this info is logged and dont think for a min. that this info wont be used to sell to advertisers. They will be able to recreate almost everything you do from the time you get up to the time you get to bed. They will know you get up late at night and open the fridge and go to the bathroom alot etc. Google “Google powermeter” and it tells you it can tell the differance of what lights you turn on or most any other device by the electric pulses. This all ties into your appliances that allows your utility to “regulate” these either through the price structure or by high demand dropping (Turning off) appliances such as A/C, Heat, fridge, etc. The price structure system means your appliances will BID for electricity based on what you think is too expencive or willingness to pay for x rate, such as firdge or A/C will turn off over $.19 KWH. This whole system will be communicating to each other and through the smart meter.
In the end as the end game goal EVERYTHING will have a RFID tag on everything you buy such as the barcode is now. Its called Line item tagging or EPC instead of UPC. The RFID’s will have unique serial numbers on them that identify that can of coke or box of mac and cheese. When you check out at the register and you pay useing anything other then cash (Unless you use cash + savings card) It will register your cans of coke as YOURS. They say to help in case of a recall they can easily tell who has these and who needs to bring back the products. All this ties into the smart meter because your fridge will have a RFID reader built in, so when you take your 12 pack of sodas home and you walk within 3-10 feet of your fridge it registers (ie picks up the signal of the RFID’s) everything you got. Consider the fact that your clothes MAY have RFID’s sawn into them, more specially your underwear, socks, shoes since these rarely get shared. They will know when your around and how often you do. The idea of the fridge telling you that you should buy more of something or auto ordering has been the selling point for these. You know this is going to be another sold marketing tool.
Theres so much more that I have researched for last few years, I just dont have the space to write it all here in response. This is a track and trace grid and I think people should be able to opt out of it. If it is such a great thing that all the pushers want us to believe then allow people to sign up to it and allow people to decide. That would truely allow this to roll out at its own pace and cool people down. On second thought If they did that then people wouldn’t see the true nature of this due to the slow boiling of the frog. simply google (smart meter+ privacy or issues etc and read up on this.)
Idiotic. You all demanded a third party test to investigate this meter. The results, no surprise, show they work. Did you think that this technology, which is already in use worldwide, would be some corporate spy tool, specifically developed by our California utility to spy on the people? How arrogant The California grid is walking on egg shells, and if the smart people of California would have allowed some new power plants to accommodate the increased demand of the state, then there would be no problems. But nooo, lets vote to deregulate the utilities and get some fine Enron folks in to make life better for our state. Oh, did you hear. EMF in the meters causes brain tumors.
The installation of Smart Meters has NOT been accompanied by any change in rates. None! At of today, the only pricing tier is for energy usage, regardless of time. It’s true that Smart Meters will make time-of-day pricing easier in the future.
Nor are they any known plans to reduce power to households to manage usage, except when a system meltdown is threatened, which is something they’ve done long before Smart Meters.
When timed-pricing is begun it will be to comply with a mandate from California voters. Remember, that law we passed to reduce CO2 emissions? So, peak-time energy use will become more expensive, which has always been one of the planned ways of reaching the goal.
Don’t like the goal? Blame voters. Don’t like the means? Blame the PUC, although they have few choices. But why blame PG&E?
Utility districts all over America are installing electronic meters with none of the hysteria experienced in California. Is it something PG&E did or could it be that Californians are just prone to this sort of hysteria?
Why to we keep calling this an “independent” investigation. Structures Group, who was awarded $1.4 million by the PUC to conduct this investigation, is a long time PG&E consultant. Did anyone really think they would bite the hand that feeds them?
I think people with environmental illnesses should be able to opt out. People can read their own meters if sending someone out is the issue. Most people are honest and would send in a correct reading. PG&E already had this option for people who have dogs in their yard. In these cases, PG&E would send someone out after a few months to verify the reading. I don’t really see any benefit to people with Smart meters, but it does benefit PG&E. From their office, they will probably be able to determine if someone is in the house or not. Is this a way of spying on us?
That the the PUC & PG&E are cuddly is one thing, but as has been pointed out without being addressed is that the meters are de facto rate increases without even being considered as needing PUC approval, which proves that either the PUC is utterly incompetent or so cuddly with PG&E that rate increrases are kisses and hugs.
If an average user’s rate goes up for untimely use, it should be able to be lowered the same amount by very timely use, otherwise it is an INCREASE in rate. In other words, if average use goes up, that is a rate increase.
The PUC does not address another very dubious practice which is the floating PG&E rate. There are no absolute times for lower rates, just statements about probable highs. If everyone puts their wash in and starts the electric cooking and turns on the ac and tv at 7pm now, that will be a new high demaand period, and an unavoidable rate increase.
many home electronics are not meant to be depowered constantly and many do not even have off switches. high powered appliances do not have off switches, being in a low power state until activated. These all use power and requiring people to go to their electrical panels to turn devices on and off, often placed outdoors (so the meter could be read) in places hard to get to in bed slippers, behind bushes with all the night crawlers about (pg&e didn’t need to get to the meter, just read it), is not an oversight on the part of the PUC, it is a gift from the PUC to PG&E.
The PUC has moved from protecting the consumer to protecting PG&E, and this is a fraud ignored by the whole state government, the gov on down. eff them all, just like the ins commission and other so-alled oversight com.’s. What a fraud of a so-called democratic state.
I always thought that the difference between the two parties is that the dims used lubricant when they stuck it to us, but now that times are tuff for their donors, they had to forgo that with the an expensive study that found out we could lubricate ourselves.