Not that long ago I had an email from a correspondent who told me that a friend had told him how he had recently received a much higher bill than usual. The friend had a smart meter installed at his home and speculated that an electrical storm in the area (prior to the anomalous bill) may have adversely affected the electronic smart meter.
Has anyone else experienced some sort of billing anomaly following an electrical storm?
If you have, please email through the Contact Form. (NB: Any reports received will be treated in confidence. The policy of www.stopsmartmeters.org.nz is to post information on this site only when permission has been given for this to be done.)
NB: If you are interested in the smart meter issue, please sign up for the email list at www.stopsmartmeters.org.nz This will allow you to get emails that give updates on the smart meter situation with a focus on NZ smart meter news.
In related news, another company in North America is making sure that smart meters are placed at least three metres away from gas cylinders, presumably to reduce explosion risk…
NB: If you are interested in the smart meter issue, please sign up for the email list at www.stopsmartmeters.org.nz This will allow you to get emails that give updates on the smart meter situation with a focus on NZ smart meter news.
A special community screening of the award-winning smart meter documentary Take Back Your Power has been organised by a volunteer in Dunedin.
The details for the screening are as follows:
DATE: Saturday June 20th
TIME: 5pm
VENUE: The Pioneer Hall, 45 George St, Port Chalmers, Dunedin.
The screening is free however, if you would like to bring a donation that can be passed along to the producer of Take Back Your Power this would be appreciated.
There will be an opportunity to ask questions about smart meters after the screening.
Please let friends and family in Dunedin know about the screening (such as by sharing this link on your Facebook page, if you have one) so that they can plan to attend. 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 will allow you to get emails that give updates on the smart meter situation with a focus on NZ smart meter news.
The Peasant Film Club is running a special (free or koha) community screening ( of the award winning smart meter documentary Take Back Your Power in West Auckland on June 11.
The address is the WEST offices, 9 Henderson Valley Road, Henderson. Click map for more details. Limited off-street parking, front and back.
Please let friends and family know about this screening.
NB: If you are interested in the smart meter issue, please sign up for the email list at www.stopsmartmeters.org.nz This will allow you to get emails that give updates on the smart meter situation with a focus on NZ smart meter news.
NB: If you are interested in the smart meter issue, please sign up for the email list at www.stopsmartmeters.org.nz This will allow you to get emails that give updates on the smart meter situation with a focus on NZ smart meter news.
Given the reports of fires (or even explosions) associated with so-called “smart” electricity meters, you might imagine that electronic smart meters would be the last technology you would want measuring the usage of highly flammable and explosive natural gas….Unfortunately you would be wrong.
I have not had any reports from members of the NZ public that a smart gas meter has been installed at their home but this does not mean that this is not beginning to happen here…
In some places overseas, smart gas meters are being rolled out aggressively, much to the concern of customers who may already know people whose health has been harmed by “smart” electricity meters.
The story below was contributed by an Australian who has successfully prevented his gas company from installing smart gas meter.
The correspondent who contributed the photos and letters below is obviously technically savvy when it comes to gas meters; if you are not able to identify the important components of a gas meter, please make sure you get advice from a suitably qualified person if you wish to follow this gentleman’s example and create a bracket to prevent the removal of your existing meter and its replacement with a smart meter without your permission.
If you have a gas meter and do not want a smart gas meter, you may wish to adapt one of the template letters/notices on our Resources page (that are designed to prevent a smart electricity meter installation) and send it to your gas company.
If you would like to give www.stopsmartmeters.org.nz feedback about the response you received from your gas company if you decide to take steps to prevent a smart gas meter from being installed at your home, you can reach us through the Contact Form.
Gas Meter protection Bracket
Unfortunately, I don’t have any mechanical drawings for my bracket (attachment titled, Aussie Analogue Gas Meter Protection Bracket.pdf) because there are numerous types and sizes of meters and they will each have unique installations that require a specialised bracket to be constructed. In my case, I did a sketch of what I wanted and took it to a metal engineering business and they manufactured it from the sketch (where subsequent measurements were also needed) and it fitted perfectly first up.
So I suggest that if anyone prints the photo file off (together with a photo of their own gas meter installation) and supplies these images to their engineer, he should have no problem making a similar bracket.
Below are two letters that were sent to the gas company specifically refusing a meter that is “AMI” (Advanced Metering Infrastructure) ready gas meter.
NB: If you are interested in the smart meter issue, please sign up for the email list at www.stopsmartmeters.org.nz This will allow you to get emails that give updates on the smart meter situation with a focus on NZ smart meter news.
If you are in the Rangitikei and want to know more about smart meters and/or connect with other people in your area who are concerned about this issue, there is a great local Facebook page dedicated to smart meters. Check it out on the link below:
NB: If you are interested in the smart meter issue, please sign up for the email list at www.stopsmartmeters.org.nz This will allow you to get emails that give updates on the smart meter situation with a focus on NZ smart meter news.
If you are in the Rangitikei area and are interested in health and environmental issues in your part of the country, there is a great new website that covers a diverse range of topics including food, fracking, waste disposal and smart meters.
If you are interested in growing some of your own food there is some inspiring and useful information on this link of the site
If you would like to support a healthier environment in cities and towns in the Rangitikei region there is a petition to ban the use of glyphosate (now officially a “probable carcinogen”) 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 will allow you to get emails that give updates on the smart meter situation with a focus on NZ smart meter news.
An international group of scientists who have expertise in electromagnetic radiation (EMR) and electromagnetic fields (EMF) have appealed to the United Nations for protection from exposure to non-ionising electromagnetic field exposures.
Their appeal discusses why current safety standards in most countries [this includes NZ – Ed] are inadequate because “numerous recent scientific publications have shown that EMF affects living organisms at levels well below most international and national guidelines.”
The scientists have requested that:
children and pregnant women be protected;
guidelines and regulatory standards be strengthened;
manufacturers be encouraged to develop safer technology;
utilities responsible for the generation, transmission, distribution, and monitoring of electricity maintain adequate power quality and ensure proper electrical wiring to minimize harmful ground current;
the public be fully informed about the potential health risks from electromagnetic energy and taught harm reduction strategies;
medical professionals be educated about the biological effects of electromagnetic energy and be provided training on treatment of patients with electromagnetic sensitivity;
governments fund training and research on electromagnetic fields and health that is independent of industry and mandate industry cooperation with researchers;
media disclose experts’ financial relationships with industry when citing their opinions regarding health and safety aspects of EMF-emitting technologies; and
white-zones (radiation-free areas) be established.
The full text of the scientists’ appeal is at this link:
NB: If you are interested in the health effects of EMF and/or the smart meter issue, please sign up to the free newsletter at www.stopsmartmeters.org.nz
Some NZ electricity companies currently offer different pricing plans, some of which offer different tariffs at different times of the day. Such pricing plans are often referred to as “Time of Use” (ToU) tariffs or pricing plans.
At the moment in NZ, “Time of Use” pricing plans are options, rather than being mandatory. Don’t count on time-of-use pricing to remain optional, however, or for the government to come to the rescue of struggling households (or businesses that cannot change the time of day at which they need to use electricity, and theref0re face excessive costs.) No, the government is all for the smart meters and has started a “smart grid forum”. (More on this below.)
In a report by the Electricity Commission, “Advanced Metering Infrastructure in New Zealand: Roll-out and Requirements” (3 Dec. 2009) the purported benefits of “smart meters” are extolled:
“‘Smart’ electricity meters, and the infrastructure that accompanies them, can provide a richer information base with which consumers can make better decisions about electricity use. The functionality in ‘smart’ electricity meters allows consumers to participate in the electricity market by allowing them to respond to market signals by altering their consumption patterns.”
“Those ‘smarter’ meters can also provide better information to electricity lines companies about network performance and consumers consumption patterns, allowing better management of networks and more informed investment decisions. ‘Smarter’ meters can also allow retailers to offer a range of tariff options to consumers that:
“(a) financially incentivises consumers to respond to market signals in the form of tariff pricing by altering their consumption patterns to reduce delivered electricity cost;
“(b) allows tariff changes to be carried out remotely. Before smart meter technology, changing tariffs required a site visit and a physical change of meter;and
“(c) provides information to consumers that allows them to choose the best pricing plan for them.” [Emphasis added]
The Electricity Commission considered this differential pricing to be beneficial because it will force people to use less electricity at peak times as many people won’t be able to afford it. This allows the electricity industry to reap the profits from time-of-use pricing while delaying investment in any new generation capacity needed if NZ’s population continues to increase. (Too bad if air pollution in cities increases because people can’t afford to run electric heaters on winter afternoons and evenings and therefore burn coal instead or people in low income households can’t afford to eat hot meals.)
“Developments in AMI have the potential to allow additional peak demand to be managed, delaying the need for investment in new generation, transmission, and distribution,” stated the Electricity Commission.
The government has now created a special “smart grid” forum to move ahead plans for “smart” meters and the “smart grid”.
Yes, “smart” meters have a lot of advantages if you are an electricity company.
If you are a member of an ordinary family or run a small business (which can’t negotiate with the government for enormous discounts on your electricity), you will be bearing the costs of the implementation of the “smart grid”, will be exposed to additional electromagnetic radiation from “smart meters” and associated infrastructure, and may have higher power bills to boot. What a great deal! (Not.)
Website editor’s note: The following email is from a New Zealander who described herself in an earlier email as usually being an “upbeat and energetic person” who found herself suffering inexplicably from chronic tiredness and headaches after moving house. Her doctor was not able to find a cause for her symptoms. Eventually a friend suggested that the smart meter at her new home might be the cause of the symptoms so she contacted www.stopsmartmeters.org.nz and described her symptoms. She also reported that a computer that was placed close to the smart meter was “playing up”.
The Landis+Gyr E350 series smart meter which was installed at her home contains a combines a modem and a ZigBee chip that are combined into a single “comms” [communications] device which is removable. At this customer’s request, the lines company that had installed the smart meter sent a technician who removed the comms device.
Below is a follow-up email from the customer after the comms device was removed:
Hi Katherine,
Thank you so much for your kind thoughts with this email.
My headaches have certainly ceased since having the comms unit removed from the meter.
I know so many people have baa..humbugged me for it and comments have been flying through various media about what a load of rubbish about health issues with these meters.
During the time of experiencing headaches we ended up purchasing a new mattress, new pillows – thinking it was tension etc. as my husband was experiencing unsettled sleep also. But my headaches were progressively getting worse. Even my doctor couldn’t help me figure out why.
I know it wasn’t a matter of it being all in my head (excuse the pun) because my next course of action was to get my eyes checked for the possibility that I needed new glasses. I know it didn’t have anything to do with my eyes because I have NOW only just needed new glasses (no headache symptoms, just blurred vision).
After the unit was removed, It probably took just over a week (nearly 2) for me to realise I was no longer waking up with a throbbing headache (it was actually my husband that mentioned one morning that I wasn’t moaning about having a headache) and I can honestly say that all my eating, sleeping and any other…whatever habits…. had not changed except for having the comms unit removed from the meter.
I just say it’s similar to me being lactose intolerant – eating dairy makes me sick – but if I want to eat ice cream, I have soy dairy free. So my meter was making me sick and if I have to have a power meter, then I have one without the comms unit LOL !!
Thank you again for your kind thoughts
Regards
[Full name supplied]
NB: If you are interested in the smart meter issue, please sign up to the free newsletter at www.stopsmartmeters.org.nz
There are a variety of different types of smart meters on the NZ market. These include EDMI Atlas Mk7A, Mk7C and Mk7D meters, Elster gREX meters and Landis+Gyr E350 series smart meters, to name a few of the more common types.
The meters all have to comply with NZS2772.1:1999. However this standard is designed to protect only against shocks, thermal injury and sudden death not the type of symptoms (such as headaches, heart function abnormalties etc that have been reported by many people following exposure to radiation from smart meters. (See: https://stopsmartmeters.org.nz/health-issues/)
The following links discuss the level of microwave radiation produced by different types of smart meters on the NZ market.
In practice, exposure from the same type of meter could vary depending on the type of environment in which a meter is located. (For example, a meter inside am open plan home could expose the occupants to more microwave radiation than the same type of meter mounted on an exterior corrugated iron wall as the metal will reflect radiation away from the home.)
Hi Katherine,
We were given a smart meter several years ago now. It was installed on the outside of my son’s bedroom. He was nine years old at the time. He is fourteen now so it was about five years ago.
He would say he was sick up to three times a week. It was always very vague. He would say he just felt sick. Then about 10 o’clock in the morning he would get up and suddenly feel much better. This pattern carried on for several months. Finally I decided that the smart meter outside his room might have something to do with his health.
I rang my provider, at the time and had the smart meter removed. Immediately Henry’s health improved. No more days off school for a vague illness.
We do not use wi-fi, microwaves or cordless phones in our home and cell phone coverage is very poor where we live. I am happy to say Henry has remained healthy since removal of the smart meter.
I hope this is helpful.
Regards,
[Full name supplied]
Site editor’s note: If you have have experienced illness after a smart meter installation, you may contact www.stopsmartmeters.org.nz through our Contact Form. Reports are received in confidence and posted on the website only if permission has been given for this to be done.
In many of the reports that I have received relating to illness after a smart meter installation, the smart meter has been close to a bed or some other location (such as a work desk) where a person spends a lot of time. In such cases, the exposure to microwave radiation can be expected to be higher than when smart meters are located further away from parts of a home or business where people spend a large amount of time.
In the case of this child’s experience, it is not possible to estimate the level of microwave radiation to which he was exposed as the brand and model of the smart meter is not known, due to it having been removed a number of years ago. (Different smart meters on the NZ market have different emission profiles; for information on exposure from different types of meters, please visit the Technical FAQs section of our FAQs page.)
Please note that beds should be located at least one metre (preferably two metres or more) away from even an analogue (Ferraris) meter due to the high magnetic fields produced by a Ferraris meter. (The strength of these fields decline rapidly with distance.)
NB: If you are interested in the smart meter issue, please sign up to the free newsletter at www.stopsmartmeters.org.nz
Rcently I have received a number of articles about how insurance giant Lloyds of London has added to its insurance policies an exclusion relating to “electromagnetic fields”.
According to an article at the website of Citizens for Safe Technology:
“‘The Electromagnetic Fields Exclusion (Exclusion 32) is a General Insurance Exclusion and is applied across the market as standard. The purpose of the exclusion is to exclude cover for illnesses caused by continuous long-term non-ionising radiation exposure i.e. through mobile phone usage.”
(Interesting that telecommunications companies keep claiming that cell phones are safe when a major insurance company has now excluded coverage for health effects, isn’t it?)
Presumably if the insurance industry doesn’t want to cover illness related to cell phone use, I image that the industry would similarly will not want to cover injuries relating to smart meter exposure; after all the two technologies involve EMF exposure.
Are there any readers who are in the NZ insurance industry who may like to email me about this issue? (You can reach me through the Contact Form. Information will be held in confidence and will not be posted on the website unless permission is given for me to do this.)
You can read the full article (and see the relevant document from CFC Underwriting LTD, London, UK agent for Lloyd’s at the link below:
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