Former MP for the Green party Sue Kedgeley, has spoken out in the NZ Herald about why she does not want a smart meter in her home.
You can read her contribution at this link
NB: If you are interested in the smart meter issue, please sign up for the email list at www.stopsmartmeters.org.nz. This link also includes a search facility to allow you to search the website for topics of interest.
Tairua is currently the location of a trial of smart water meters, so it’s especially appropriate that the town is going to have a screening of Take Back Your Power (see www.takebackyourpower.net); the award-winning documentary that gives all the facts about smart meters.
The date for the screening is: Tuesday 25th November
Venue: Tairua Community Library
Time: 6:30 – 8:30pm
Donation/Koha requested to help cover the organiser’s costs, please.
To be put in touch with the local organiser, please email through this link and with your permission your enquiry will be forwarded on. Thank you.
NB: If you are interested in the smart meter issue, please sign up for the email list at www.stopsmartmeters.org.nz. This link also includes a search facility to allow you to search the website for topics of interest.
The website http://www.thrivemovement.com/ has a recent post on the cell phone safety issue that is a must read for everyone with a cell phone. Here’s the introduction to the post…
By Kimberly Carter Gamble 13 Sept. 2014
When cell phones first came out, I used to hold mine directly up to my ear for what amounted to hours a day. A few years ago, I had surgery for removal of cancer in the exact spot I held my phone. I can’t prove direct causation, but that’s when I started looking into the possible ramifications of radiation from cell phones.
After that, I started reading the small print that came with the cell phones I bought and noticed even they had warnings about the radiation. But it took some real sleuthing to find it. Take Apple, for example; the manual tells you to go to the Apple website for a detailed explanation of safety. After sorting thru looking for the right link, you open the document where it tells you to go look on your phone. To access the info on the phone, you go to Settings > General > About > Legal > RF Exposure. It’s pretty daunting, and within the info, they refer you back to their website for more info on their testing. The process is quite a run-around.
Knowing that not everyone has the time or inclination to do the research needed to figure out what’s true and what habits would help keep us all safer, the THRIVE team created this infographic for you to see and share.
The infographic is below:
Cell_Phone_Radiation_Infographic
Please note that when it suggests a wired headset for a cell phone, the best type of wired headset is an air tube headset and when speaking from a landline, use a traditional landline with a cord, as cordless DECT phones were shown in one study to have similar cancer risks to cell phones.
NB: While you can keep yourself safer by following the advice on the infographic, ideally cell phone use should be minimised as the more people who use cell phones, the more cell phone infrastructure is needed to support the use of the phones, and cell phone towers themselves appear to be a cancer risk.
If you are interested in EMR and health please sign up for the email list at www.stopsmartmeters.org.nz. This link also includes a search facility to allow you to search the website for topics of interest.
Link to original source post: http://www.thrivemovement.com/cell-phones-more-than-voice-in-your-ear.blog
Don’t miss this compelling video of a lecture and power point presentation by Mike Mitcham from www.stopsmartmeters.org.uk on smart meters, the smart grid and the “internet of things”. Health, privacy and other important issues are covered in an engaging and informative presentation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=-wlOhGcwm1Y
If you are interested in the smart meter issue, please sign up for the email list at www.stopsmartmeters.org.nz. This link also includes a search facility to allow you to search the website for topics of interest.
Earlier this year 92014) electropollution consultant Paul Waddell from www.safespace.net.nz gave a lecture on electropollution. Thank you for Vinny Eastwood for filming the lecture and making its available to everyone on youtube.
You can access part one of the presentation at this link and part two will be added when it is available.
NB: If you would like to get updates on the smart meter issue in New Zealand please join the free email list at www.stopsmartmeters.org.nz. There is also a search option at www.stopsmartmeters.org.nz to allow you to find articles about other topics of interest on this website
If you have been wondering why there are so many people that you know battling cancer or some other degenerative disease, perhaps the answer may be as close as the DECT cordless phone base on your friend’s bedside table, the smart meter on their bedroom wall, the wi-fi router on their work desk, or the smart phone in their breast pocket…or perhaps all of these things in combination…?
Modern wireless technologies that produce radiofrequency radiation (RFR) that can damage DNA (with high enough exposures) are in common use and believed by most people to be safe?
A new post on the website of the award-winning smart meter documentary Take Back Your Power* examines the proliferation of wireless technologies and asks whether we are unwittingly putting our health at risk through uncritical adoption of new high-tech gadgetry.
Here’s the link:
NB: If you would like to get updates on the smart meter issue in New Zealand please join the free email list at www.stopsmartmeters.org.nz. There is also a search option at www.stopsmartmeters.org.nz to allow you to find articles about other topics of interest on this website
*If you are inspired to want to run a screening of the award winning documentary Take Back Your Power (www.takebackyourpower.net) in your community or local cinema please contact us through this link. Thank you.
This map shows smart metering initiatives around the world, including details of technology used; dates, volumes, etc.
Created and updated regularly under the auspices of the smart metering project in the United Kingdom.
Key: red=electricity, green=gas, blue=water and triangle=trial or pilot where circle=project
View Smart Metering Projects Map in a larger map
Please note that the information on this map is not guaranteed to be accurate or up to date.
Companies all around the world are trying to install smart meters, which has led to many grassroots groups opposing them such as www.stopsmartmeters.org.nz, www.stopsmartmeters.com.au, www.stopsmartmeters.org.uk, www.stopsmartmeters.org, and many more are listed on www.takebackyourpower.net.
If you would like to get updates on the smart meter issue in New Zealand please join the free email list at www.stopsmartmeters.org.nz. There is also a search option at www.stopsmartmeters.org.nz to allow you to find articles about other topics of interest on this website
A report commissioned by Saskatchewan’s Crown Investments Corporation (CIC) after eight incidences of Sensus smart meters catching fire were reported earlier this year.
The report, released on Monday, found that customer safety was not given enough priority.
Directly following the report’s release, SaskPower CEO Robert Watson resigned. Canadian Economy Minister Bill Boyd said that Watson “won’t be receiving severance pay.”
NB: To the best of my knowledge Sensus brand smart meters are not being used in NZ. For information on smart meter fires in NZ please see this link: https://stopsmartmeters.org.nz/latest-news/are-smart-meters-causing-fires-in-new-zealand/
If you would like to get updates on the smart meter issue in New Zealand please join the free email list at www.stopsmartmeters.org.nz. There is also a search option at www.stopsmartmeters.org.nz to allow you to find articles about other topics of interest on this website.
For more information visit:
http://www.saskatchewan.ca/government/news-and-media/2014/october/27/smart-meter-review
Sources:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/smart-meter-safety-not-enough-of-a-priority-for-saskpower-review-1.2814283
http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/saskpower-ceo-resigns-after-smart-meters-report-1.2072954
Documents obtained under the Official Information Act show that Hamilton City Council has been considering installing water meters, including smart water meters, since 2012.
Below you can read the reply I received when I made a request under the Local Government Official Information Act for information regarding the Hamilton City Council’s plans regarding water meters, and supporting documentation is attached below the text of the email.
If you live in Hamilton and do not want water meters in general or smart water meters in particular you may wish to make your views known to the Council. The water meters that have been trialled to date in NZ produce pulses of radiofrequency radiation (RFR) in the microwave range every 8 seconds. This radiation has been classified as a possible carcinogen. (You can read about the health and environmental concerns with smart water meters at this link:
If smart water meters were installed in Hamilton they could add considerably to the “EMR” smog in the city.
It appears likely that the WEL Network Ltd so-called “smart box” (actually a smart meter) may be able to be teamed up with “smart” water meters to collect the data from “smart” water meters. (See this link for a discussion of this issue.) It is NOT compulsory to have a smart box if you do not want one. Please see these links for information on the smart box issue:
Sent: Friday, 19 September 2014 2:50 p.m.
To: Katherine Smith
Subject: FW: OFFICIAL INFORMATION REQUEST RESPONSE – KATHERINE SMITH – WATER METER BOXES IN FAIRFIELD
Dear Katherine,
Please find below Hamilton City Council’s (HCC) response to your Official Information request, dated 6th August 2014, in respect of the water meter boxes installed in Fairfield.
Request 1)
Regarding the recently installed water meter boxes in Fairfield, Hamilton
iii) Were the boxes installed by staff employed directly by the Council?
vii) What is the total value of this contract?
viii) Please supply a copy of the contract for the installation of the water meter boxes.
Toby Boxes, which can be utilised to house water meters, have been installed in Sare Cresent, Fairfield. There were a total of 51 boxes installed. The installation was completed by HCC staff at an estimated labour cost of $11.25 per box. HCC did not contract out the installation of water meter boxes in Fairfield.
HCC is unable to disclose the cost of the Toby boxes, as these were supplied under contract and the cost is considered commercially sensitive. Consequently, the Information in respect of the cost of the Toby Boxes is withheld under Section 7(2)(b)(ii) of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 – in that release would be likely to unreasonably prejudice the commercial position of a person who supplied or is the subject of the information.
Request 2)
Please supply copies of all other documents including but not limited to, email correspondence, minutes of meetings, internal memos, advice received, etc. relating to the installation of the water meter boxes in Fairfield.
The only correspondence Council has on record is your Official Information Request.
Request 3)
Please supply copies of all correspondence between Council staff and/or councillors with WEL Networks Ltd, or their agents, regarding possible integration of WEL Networks Ltd “smart boxes” with Council infrastructure.
Request 4)
Please supply copies of all Council documents (including but not limited to, minutes of meetings, internal memos, advice received, etc.) regarding possible integration of WEL Networks Ltd “smart boxes” with Council infrastructure.
Please find attached copies of information, as requested, which HCC considers can be made available to you in accordance with the purposes of LGOIMA and the principle of availability.
Copies of some information has been withheld under the following sections of the of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 as follows:
Section 7(2)(b)(i) – in that release would disclose a trade secret. The information is withheld on the grounds that providing this information would disclose a trade secret belonging to WEL.
Section 7(2)(b)(ii) – in that release would be likely to unreasonably prejudice the commercial position of a person who supplied or is the subject of the information. The information is withheld on the grounds that it would unreasonably prejudice the commercial position of WEL.
Please be advised that the withheld information is in the form of a proposed MOU and confidentiality agreement that WEL has put to HCC relating to HCC being an observer and having the opportunity to learn from a technology trial with Smart Metering.
If you have any concerns with the decisions referred to in this letter, you have the right to request an investigation and review by the Ombudsman under section 27(3) of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987. For your information, the Ombudsman’s contact details are:
Email: info@ombudsman.parliament.nz
Post: PO Box 10152, Wellington 6143
Telephone:0800 802 602
I must apologise that there was a delay in replying to your request.
If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact me.
On Behalf of the Privacy Officer
In addition to the email above, the following document was supplied by Hamilton City Council.
Traditionally, in NZ as around the world, electricity meters have been purely electromechanical devices that did not contain any sort of electronics. Until recently, most NZ homes had the type of analogue meters known as “Ferraris” meters. That began to change a few years ago when companies began to install electronic smart meters which produce radiofrequency radiation (RFR) in the microwave range to transmit information about electricity use.
Currently, when people in NZ tell their electricity company that they do not want a smart meter, or want an existing smart meter removed, the first option offered by many electricity companies is for the modem (which produces the RFR) to be removed from the smart meter, rather than for the entire smart meter to be removed and replace with a non-smart meter.
There are a variety of alternatives to smart meters in use in NZ including the Itron ACE 1000 SMO meter – which is an electronic meter with an analogue barrel display* – and analogue (purely electromechanical meters otherwise know as “Ferraris” meters).
People who want a purely electromechanical meter (a Ferraris meter) are often told that these meters are no longer available on the NZ market by their electricity retailer, however, this is not true. You can see at the appropriate page of the company Legacy Metering Group that there are still purely electromechanical (Ferraris) meters available in NZ. (Please click HERE to be directed to the appropriate page of Legacy Metering Group’s website. The Ferraris meter is the one with the spinning disc.)
Electricity companies frequently make claims to the effect that removing the modem from a smart meter makes it into a normal meter.
The purpose of this post is to discuss the differences between a traditional analogue (Ferraris) meter and a smart meter which has had its modem removed.
In terms of its functionality, a Ferraris meter simply measures electricity use and this use can be read from the mechanical register by a home owner or meter reader and this information supplied to the electricity company so that the household or business can be billed correctly. Ferraris meters have no electronics and therefore no ability to store data.
In terms of the health risks, it is important to keep beds and other furniture where you may spend a considerable amount of time at least one metre away from a Ferraris meter (and preferably 2-3 metres) due to the high magnetic fields in close proximity to the meter. The meter works by creating two opposing magnetic fields which then drive the disk depending on power usage. Other than the high magnetic fields from the household wiring and the metering coils, the Ferraris meter has no health risks.
A Ferraris meter cannot produce radiofrequency radiation (RFR), and as it does not have any switch mode power supply or any other electronics, it cannot produce high frequencies or transients known as “dirty electricty” (DE). (For a discussion of the health issues with the RFR and DE please see this page.)
Some* (but not all) smart meters on the NZ market had a removable modem (also known as a “chip” or occasionally “network interface card” or the “comms” device within a smart meter ).
The modem is responsible for sending information about electricity use back to the electricity company and/or lines company at about the 900 MHz frequency for meters connected through the cellular network. Removing the modem prevents the smart meter from being able to transmit data wirelessly, and in most cases will stop the smart meter from producing the RFR that poses health risks.
However, some smart meters in NZ also contain ZigBee chips or modems which also create radiofrequency radiation (RFR) in the 2.4 GHz frequency range. (The purpose of a ZigBee is to communicate with any smart appliances that are in a home.) In some smart meters, such as the Landis+Gyr E350 series in which a “silver springs” network interface card has been fitted, the main modem and ZigBee chip are part of the same network interface card, so removing the network interface card will solve the problem of the RFR from both sources. In other smart meters, such as the EDMI Mk7A, there is apparently an option for a ZigBee chip; however, it is my understanding that most smart meters in NZ currently do not have a ZigBee chip included.
Regardless, in order to prevent a smart meter from producing RFR, the modem must be removed or disconnected, and any ZigBee chip (if separate from the modem/network interface card) should also be removed as well.
A smart meter with its modem removed may still produce dirty electricity (DE). NB: Any meter with electronic components may produce DE – Please see this page for details on DE and health: https://stopsmartmeters.org.nz/health-issues/
One slight advantage of an electronic meter over a Ferraris meter is that there could be slightly lower magnetic fields, but this is not a good enough reason to recommend an electronic meter over a Ferraris meter.
Another issue that is also of interest is the possible increase in electricity charge that is often noticed when an electronic meter is installed. The older style Ferraris meters, due to the way it measures current flow by the two opposing magnetic fields, is reasonably slow reacting to surges of power use. A surge or inrush of current is common when an appliance is turned on, particularly if it has a motor. The electronic meter on the other hand very accurately measures these very brief surges of high power consumption that were not normally registered in the older Ferraris meter and this can lead to significantly higher billing, often 20% or more. It is debatable whether this extra billing is fair as it can be a considerable increase in billing for no increase in actual usage. Also, the so called “energy saving” appliances and lights that we are being encouraged to use may actually have higher inrush currents and increased billing over older appliances, increasing the billing even further.
Removing the modem from a smart meter will not change how it measures electricity or decrease your bill if your bill went up after the smart meter was installed.
Smart meters have the capacity to measure reactive power as well as usable electricity and if reactive power (which is useless to the consumer) is added to the bill, the bill would rise without any change in electricity consumption. I do not know whether any domestic customers are currently being billed for reactive power in NZ. Hopefully changes in billing transparency should prevent companies from charging for non-usable reactive power, if any NZ companies are presently doing this.
Having a smart meter that has had its modem removed may also leave your vulnerable to Time Of Use (TOU) pricing, should your electricity company choose to institute this, because the smart meter can store data at regular intervals and this data can be used to charge different rates for electricity used at different times of the day.
In practice TOU pricing is likely to mean you would have to pay more for electricity when you most need it, for example on winter evenings when you want to turn on the heater and have a hot meal – and perhaps also a hot shower if you arrive home wet from a walk back from the bus or train station.) Most companies in NZ do not currently use TOU pricing but more are likely to institute TOU pricing in the future. (Please see this link for details about how Time Of Use (TOU) pricing may increase your power bill: https://stopsmartmeters.org.nz/government-and-electricity-industry-positions/the-advantages-of-smart-meters/
and
Analogue (Ferraris ) meters and those brands of electronic meters which DO NOT have not capacity to store data provide protection against Time Of Use Pricing being inflicted on consumers.
Smart meters which have had their modems removed may still pose privacy concerns. Please see this link for details: www.stopsmartmeters.org.nz/government-and-electricity-industry-positions/network-tasman-there-are-no-privacy-concerns-with-smart-meters-yeah-right/
If you value your health, privacy and financial well-being, a Ferraris meter is the best sort of electricity meter.
However if you are having difficulty getting your electricity company to agree to remove your smart meter, accepting the offer of the removal of the modem (plus any ZigBee chip it may contain) from the smart meter will reduce the health risks from a smart meter as the meter will no longer produce pulses of microwave radiation.
If you want the modem removed from your smart meter, you may want to follow the following steps:
1) Find out if your smart meter contains a ZigBee as well as a smart meter. (It is best to do this in writing as people in the contact centres of electricity companies frequently know nothing about the technical aspects of smart meters and may inadvertently give you incorrect advice if you phone your company.)
2) Organise to be present when the technician calls at your home to ensure the job is done properly.[1]
3) Get an agreement in writing that the modem (and any ZigBEE chip) will be removed and will not be replaced.
4) Put a lock on the meter box after the modem has been removed to prevent it from being reinstalled. [2]
Website editor’s note: If you would like to get updates on the smart meter issue in New Zealand please join the free email list at www.stopsmartmeters.org.nz. There is also a search option at www.stopsmartmeters.org.nz to allow you to find articles about other topics of interest on this website.
*Meters on the NZ market which can have a removable modem include EDMI series meters, Landis+Gyr E350 series smart meters and General Electric (GE) SM110. To the best of my knowledge, the Elster gREX meter CANNOT have its modem removed.
[1] I have not heard of cases where this has not been done properly but I have received reports of contractors installing smart meters against home owners/occupiers express permission so I think it prudent for people who want the modem to be disconnected and/or removed to be present to witness that this has actually been done.
[2] I have not heard of any confirmed cases in which modems have been replaced without customers’ permission but the standard Terms and Conditions on some NZ companies’ websites include statements to the effect that companies can install smart meters or remote meter reading equipment. Possibly these may allow a company to re-install the modem without consulting you unless you have an agreement that the company will not do this. (Please note that I am not a lawyer; you may want to ask your lawyer about the standard Terms and Conditions for your company if you want a qualified opinion on this matter.)
Locking your meter box also protects you have from having the modem re-installed by another party (such as the smart meter owner, which is often a different company from the electricity retailer) if the meter owner or its agents is unaware of the agreement you have with your electricity company.
If you lock your meter box and there is no window to allow a meter reader to read your meter, you may need to make an agreement with your company that you will phone in or email meter readings to your company on a regular basis. You could offer to include a photo of the meter (as proof that you are providing an accurate reading) if you have a digital camera and can email or otherwise send this image to your electricity company.
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