Pacific Gas and Electric Co.’s crusade to place SmartMeter devices at all California homes and businesses has been met with complaints of inaccurate billing issues and health risks across the state.
With less than a month before the digital meters are slated to arrive in town, the utility giant visited the Scotts Valley City Council on July 7 to boast about the benefits of the new technology, which it began installing in 2006. The digital gas and electricity meters are supposed to replace analog technology that dates back to Thomas Edison’s experiments in the late 1800s.
In response to please from a number of residents, the City Council agreed to consider a moratorium on SmartMeter installation until the August release of an ongoing state report by the California Public Utilities Commission on the meters’ accuracy.
“I have no problem with joining a probably meaningless moratorium, but you’ve got to understand that there is a push for a green economy right now, and this is part of that push,” Vice Mayor Dene Bustichi said. “But it’s a balancing act for what’s best for the entire community.”
Councilwoman Stephany Aguilar said customers should be able to opt out of the program.
Talk of health risks stems from electromagnetic radiation emitted by the devices, similar to that produced by cell phones, baby monitors and, more extremely, microwaves.
“I myself am very sensitive to EMF emissions and don’t see any harm in supporting the moratorium,” Aguilar said.
But PG&E senior director William Devereaux said the company is under orders to proceed with the new technology from the state and federal government.
The Obama administration has launched an $8 billion endeavor to upgrade the country’s electricity grid, which includes meter improvements.
Devereaux said the new meters will allow PG&E to track power consumption hourly and eventually will allow customers to watch how much power they use at certain times of day, down to individual appliances in the home.
The aim is for people to shift consumption away from peak use times, such as late afternoon, which would save energy and fossil fuels, Devereaux said. With digital meters, power use could be charged by the hour and prices could change with the time of day.
For the plan to work most efficiently, everyone has to participate, Devereaux said.
Roughly 6 million of PG&E’s 10 million customers already have digital meters. But grievances about hefty bills have plagued the company every time it installs them in a new jurisdiction.
In May, the utility company admitted that about 23,000 SmartMeters could have been the source of billing inaccuracies.
Devereaux said the company is tackling the mistakes.
“We are working on the problems,” he said. “They are more accurate than the previous meters.”
On June 18, San Francisco’s city attorney asked state regulators to halt meter installation in the city until the Public Utility Commission report is finished. Santa Cruz County supervisors joined the request soon after.
Berkeley’s City Council also has drafted a letter in response to a number of worries about the digital meters.
Joshua Hart, who recently started a group called Scotts Valley Neighbors Against Smart Meters, said he and many other residents worry about the financial, health and safety consequences of the meters.
Hart does not own or use a cell phone because of electromagnetic emissions.
San Francisco recently passed a law that requires cell phone retailers to disclose radiation levels because of a connection between radiation and brain tumors, Hart said.
“PG&E has grossly miscalculated the health impacts of EMF radiation,” Hart said.
But Devereaux said the World Health Organization and the Federal Communication Commission have ruled that the digital meters are safe.
Hart contended that the FCC’s standards are outdated.
“Levels of electromagnetic radiation permitted in the U.S. are banned by law in other countries, like Italy, Russia and Switzerland,” Hart said.
Hart said the installation of digital meters will allow the layoffs of more than 1,000 meter readers, because the meters send out wireless signals and can be read remotely, which eliminates the need to visit every customer.
Devereaux said about 400 meter readers have lost their jobs, while 80 percent were moved to other areas of the company.
While layoffs and billing inaccuracies were part of the discussion at the City Council meeting, the people who spoke were most alarmed by the health risks.
Scotts Valley resident Marilyn Garrett compared the meters with microwave radiation.
“We need public ownership of utilities that works in the interest of the public,” Garrett said.
Christine Barrington of Scotts Valley said that she’s not sure about the health risks, but she has a very good reason not to trust the corporation and government.
“I feel there is no rush,” Barrington said. “I think we need to slow down until we really understand what the costs may be.”
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