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B.C. residents ‘forced’ to accept smart meters

Who would choose the inconvenience and hardships of life without conventional electrical power?
Letter to the Editor generic image.indd
Letter to the Editor

Who would choose the inconvenience and hardships of life without conventional electrical power?  An increasing number of people are feeling forced to make this very difficult decision.

When the only options given by Fortis is a radio on or radio off smart meter, which both have associated adverse health effects, the choice between damaging or a little less damaging is hardly a choice.

Highlighted in various media outlets, Fortis claims they have made “… ongoing attempts” and that “[people who have had their power cut] are customers we have been working with.”  However, if that were true, a reasonable alternative such as the option to continue having electricity measured with an analog meter, which has no health, fire or privacy risks, should have been a choice.

Instead, Fortis wielded its power of corporate monopoly over the welfare of its customers and hired Exponent Inc., whose past clients include tobacco, asbestos and PCB’s, to represent them at the BC Utilities Commission hearings. That Fortis chose Exponent, a ‘product defense’ company with a reputation of ‘skewing science’ is indicative of the substantial evidence of harm that needed to be countered and quashed.  So why did the Utilities Commission turn a blind eye to the testimony of independent research scientists and medical experts?

Ultimately it is all about money in which all levels of government may also stand to gain from potential future revenue streams.  According to Myles Keogh, Director of Grants and Research at the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, “The data is going to be worth a lot more than the commodity that is being consumed to generate the data.”

When Fortis says “we want to be clear that we have met all of our legal and regulatory requirements,” this means that their smart meter emissions fall within Health Canada Safety Code 6 guidelines.  The inadequacy of Safety Code 6 to protect Canadians from wireless radiation is well recognized within the scientific and medical communities as indicated by these headlines:

-Canadian Medical Association Journal reports Health Canada’s Wireless Limits are “A Disaster to Public Health”

-Cell Phones and WiFi are a “Serious Public Health Issue,” according to Canadian Parliamentary Report   2015

-Pediatric Autism Specialist Calls For Smart Meter Moratorium

-Public Health Physician Warns of Smart Meter Dangers, Stresses Need For Analog Option

-“The Evidence is Irrefutable” Smart Meters Correlate with Adverse Health Effects - The American Academy of Environmental Medicine

-Scientists ‘can’t all be quacks,’ as RDOS calls for moratorium on Smart Meters

Why would our government ignore obvious health risks of wireless technology in general and wireless smart meters in particular?

The revenue from wireless broadband sales is lucrative.  For example: “Federal government raises $5.3 billion from telecom firms that bid on licenses,” up from $4.3 billion raised in 2008. It is easy to see why they ignore the cost of smart meters as recognized in a recent US Supreme Court decision that concluded that “A cost-benefit analysis (of smart meters) should include health, safety, and privacy issues” and concluded that “any disadvantage could be termed a cost . . . including, for instance, harms that regulation might do to human health or the environment”.

We are just one B.C. family of an increasing number of B.C. residents who are currently experiencing the duress of feeling forced to accept a smart meter or bear the hardship of having their electricity cut off.

We appeal to Fortis and our governments and agencies to restore their credibility and the public trust by offering the reasonable safe choice of an analog meter option.

Marilyn Limbert

Fruitvale