by Katherine | 16 Mar, 2015 | Government and Electricity Industry Positions, Latest News, Uncategorized, Users Feedback
Website editor’s note:
The following email was received by www.stopsmartmeters.org.nz in late February 2015:
I have been really ill, requiring hospital treatment 1 or 2 times a month since 2 weeks after having smart meter put in. I had tremors, sharp head pain, urine infections, kidney pain, heart palpitations and severe weight loss, also thyroid problems. The meter was on outside wall by my headboard. I moved out of the bedroom after being told about smart meters. My symptoms have improved remarkably, but I now have to endure Graves Disease and severe eye disease. For about 18 months I was slowly deteriorating to the point that I honestly thought I would not live. My family thought I was not going to live. How can these meters be allowed?
Regards
[Full name supplied but removed to protect privacy]
In response to an email from www.stopsmartmeters.org.nz more details followed:
Hi Katherine, sorry to take so long with my reply. I was with Genesis. I asked them to remove modem and they said that they had made a decision in November 2014 to not take any more out and that I would have to change power company if I wanted it removed. This decision was made as there were so many people wanting them removed, so I was told. The power meter is 18 inches from my head on outside wall.
This customer’s response was to change to another electricity retailer. Her new company:
“… told me to get a letter from my GP and send it to them. I got a letter and sent and the modem was removed within a few days. I live in [name of location of residence supplied].
Within a few days of moving out of the bedroom into my spare room, I noticed the pain in my head stopped. I had been so sick for about 18 months and no one could explain the reason for it.
One day I was so unwell I got in car and went to my GP. I just said to him that there IS something wrong with me and I want every blood test possible taken.The results showed I had thyroid problems. I was at [name of NZ hospital] every 2 weeks for the next year. I have had Radioactive Iodine treatment. That terrified me after what the radiation from the smart meter had done to me.
I had tremors, heart palpitations, sharp pains up the side of my head, nausea, up 4 or 5 times a night to toilet and developed Thyroid Disease [while the smart meter was installed and prior to the modem being removed – Ed] .
Smart meters are known to cause thyroid cancer*, so guess I’m lucky to have asked for tests when I did. Also recurrent urine infections with no reason for them.
Five weeks have passed [since the modem was removed] and I feel like new. All symptoms have gone completely. My eyes have been affected badly is the only problem I have now. I am also left with Graves Disease and need to now wear sunglasses, even to watch tv and inside the house until lights off and into bed. I feel very lucky. I can’t remember who first told me about smart meters and the health problems they cause. Hope this letter helps in any way.
Regards [full name supplied]
Website editor’s note: Reports of “smart” meter-related problems (whether health problems, fires, increased bills or any other problems) may be reported in confidence to www.stopsmartmeters.org.nz via our Contact Form at this link.
Information is not posted on the website unless permission is given for this to be done.
*Ed note: I am not aware of any scientific publications on smart meters and thyroid cancer; however at least one study has shown that cell phone radiation can stimulate thyroid cell division. Many smart meters in NZ use the cellular network frequency. http://thyroidworldcongress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/O022_Mizrachi.pdf
by Katherine | 5 Mar, 2015 | Events, Uncategorized
The smart meter situation at present in NZ is not good.
Companies in the electricity industry are putting in smart meters as fast as they can. Not surprisingly, considering the fact that the pulses of RFR that smart meters produce can be intense, some people develop new symptoms after these devices have been installed at their own home or a nearby neighbour’s home and there is now peer reviewed research on adverse health effects associated with smart meters.
In NZ, electricity companies are often reluctant to remove smart meters even when people report health issues after installations.
I have also had reports of people who do not want smart meters being bullied by their electricity retailer to try to get them to accept a smart meter. (For an example of some bullying behaviour, please see this link: https://stopsmartmeters.org.nz/government-and-electricity-industry-positions/company-tries-to-bully-chronically-ill-woman/)
There is no law or regulation that states that people in NZ have to accept a smart meter which gives some protection to consumers. However, it is legal to install smart meters (despite the health and privacy risks) and increasingly, NZ electricity retailers are using their supply contracts with consumers to try to enforce smart meter installations upon reluctant customers.
This contrasts with the situation in many parts of the USA where municipalities have acted to protect public health by banning the installation of smart meters in their local areas.
Such enlightened legislation/by-laws has yet to be passed in NZ (and has not even been drafted); however if the NZ government or local authorities were to take this step, the gains to public health could potentially be negated if the NZ government signs the so-called “Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement” (TPPA). (The TPPA is also known as the TPP.)
Unfortunately the NZ government has indicated that it plans to sign this agreement. The text of the TPPA is still secret. However, from the small amounts of information that have been leaked into the public domain, it is clear that the agreement would favour the interests of large corporations and is potentially a disaster for any country that signs it. The reason for this is that the agreement apparently would allow corporations to sue governments should a government pass a piece of legislation that could be deemed to impact adversely on corporate profits.
The TPPA is opposed in NZ by a diverse range of individuals and groups, including the Public Health Association, environmental groups and unions who are concerned about how the TPPA could adversely affect ordinary New Zealanders by putting the profits of big corporations ahead of the needs of people who live in New Zealand.
Nationwide protests against the TPPA have been organised for March 7, 2015.
You can find out more about this issue (including how to join local protests) at http://www.itsourfuture.org.nz/ and here http://www.itsourfuture.org.nz/events/
by Katherine | 21 Feb, 2015 | Uncategorized
Site editor’s report: Here is a report from a New Zealander that I received earlier this week.
Please note that reports of smart meter-related illness made to www.stopsmartmeters.org.nz (such as via https://stopsmartmeters.org.nz/contact-us/) are treated in confidence and information not posted on this site unless permission is given in writing.)
I just wanted to report that a smart meter was installed in our house three years ago (in the garage under my bedroom). I suffered intermittent bout of irregular and fast heart beats, especially during the night, four cardiology reviews, treadmills echoes .. No answers…. The modem in the smart meter* was deactivated five months ago, and we hardwired our computers … No more heart problems !!
In my view the smart meter had everything to do with my symptoms.
[Full name supplied – Ed]
*Ed note: The smart meter was an EDMI Mk7C brand which has a modem that can be removed or disconnected. (The modem in a smart meter, also sometimes called a “network interface card” or “comms unit” is the part of the smart meter that produces the microwave radiation.) The family was initially with Mercury but Mercury refused to do anything to help so they changed to Contact which deactivated the modem.
by Katherine | 18 Feb, 2015 | Events, Latest News, Science, Uncategorized
An Environmental Sensitivities Symposium is coming up in 2015. The Symposium is designed to help people with a variety of illnesses, including those who have electromagnetic sensitivity (also known as electrosensitivity or electrohypersensitivity), multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS), food allergies and other conditions such as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Lyme disease.
The Symposium features international experts such as:
Michael Bevington is the chair of Trustees of the charity ElectroSensitivity UK (See
http://es-uk.info/)
and
Prof Olle Johansson, associate professor, head of the Experimental Dermatology Unit, Department of Neuroscience, at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, is a world-leading authority in the field of EMF radiation and health effects.
Other speakers include:
Martin Pall, PhD, Dr Christabelle Yeoh and Lucinda Curran.
Basic access to the online Symposium is FREE while there are upgrades available for modest fees. (A book option is available for people who have severe electrosensitivity issues and cannot use a computer.)
The Symposium website is below:
NB: Please let colleagues, friends and family know about this event as public education about conditions such as electrosensitivity and multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) is badly needed to help improve the lives of people who have these conditions easier. (The current lack of knowledge among the general public about electrosensitivity, MCS etc. makes life harder than it should be for people who have developed these conditions as neighbours may inadvertently cause harm, by for example, allowing the installation of a smart meter close to the home of some who has electrosensitivity, or by using toxic garden chemicals etc. etc.)
by Katherine | 17 Feb, 2015 | Latest News, Privacy, Uncategorized
The website smartgridawareness.org, which features intelligent commentary on issues relating to “smart” meters and the “smart” grid has revealed a simple strategy that hackers could use to economically paralyse any country that is dependent on so called “smart” meters to measure electricity use at households and businesses.
As you can see at the link below, any person, organisation or country with hostile intent who has programming skills (or the money to hire the services of a programmer) could cause economic and social chaos in a targeted area through the following means:
1) Hack into the computer system controlling smart meters
2) Access the “remote disconnect” feature and switch off power to homes and businesses
As smartgridawareness.org reports:
In 2009, a researcher named Mike Davis developed a worm that was designed to do just this…
“The vendor scoffed at Davis’s simulation, … That’s when Davis delivered his final blow and told the vendor that his malicious software didn’t just turn the power off, it also deleted the firmware update on the meters so they couldn’t be updated again to restore power. …”
The full story is at this link: http://smartgridawareness.org/2015/02/16/smart-meters-not-secured/
The vulnerability of smart meters to cyber attacks is another good reason to keep your analogue (Ferraris) meter or to insist on a non-smart meter if your existing meter has reached the end of its useful life and needs to be replaced. Smart meters are not compulsory in NZ.
NB: If you are interested in the smart meter issue, please sign up to the free email list on www.stopsmartmeters.org.nz Thank you.
by Katherine | 11 Feb, 2015 | Uncategorized
An article by an Australian physician on adverse effects suffered by people who have had smart meters installed has now been published in a peer reviewed journal. You can read about the article at this link:
http://stopsmartmeters.com.au/2015/02/07/australian-study-puts-victoria-at-centre-stage-of-the-smart-meter-controversy/
NB: If you are interested in getting updates on the smart meter issue in NZ you can sign up to the free email list at www.stopsmartmeters.org.nz
NB: Not everyone suffers from health effects following a smart meter installation as people’s sensitivity to electromagnetic radiation varies. However the EMR produced by smart meters has been classified as a possible carcinogen by the WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer so many people decide to prevent a smart meter installation for this reason. (See https://stopsmartmeters.org.nz/how-to-avoid-getting-a-smart-meter/ if you don’t want a smart meter.)
by Katherine | 11 Dec, 2014 | Latest News, Uncategorized, Users Feedback
Below is a special message from Golden Bay residents who are fighting to protect their beautiful environment and the health of the local residents and wildlife from the threat of a cell phone tower that Vodafone wants to erect on a site of outstanding natural beauty.
More information on this issue may be found at this page: https://www.facebook.com/GBNaturalandLinked
Please consider supporting this appeal and also forwarding this link to anyone else who may want to do likewise. Many thanks.
Approximately two years ago Vodafone proposed a cellphone tower on a coastal ridgeline in an area of outstanding natural beauty in Golden Bay, New Zealand situated next to the Abel Tasman National Park with world class views. The proposed site was recommended to be preserved as an outstanding natural landscape and is home to two health and sustainable living retreats, numerous nature trails, wildlife and endangered birds.
In a world of over development, our aim is to preserve this rare natural landscape for people to have a space to retreat away from visual and electro-magnetic pollution and we wish for future generations to still be able to enjoy nature’s playground.
In a public submission process 75% of submitters were against this particular site for a tower. Vodafone has chosen to circumvent the public process and have used unethical ways to get their tower approved under a “permitted activity” rule, telling half truths to local council and the public.
Golden Bay Natural and Linked are up against the “BIG” guys...the multi-national companies and the government and we can only preserve this space with your help.
We need to raise $20,000 for Environment court proceedings against Vodafone on abuse of process and the local council on inaccurate rule interpretation. This case is a precedent for both local and international regulation on cellphone towers and the liberal relations of governments and telco’s.
We are an independent Incorporated Society, formed to protect, conserve and manage our environment . We can only proceed with this campaign by raising funds to pay for our environmental attorney and legal expenses.
All donations from anywhere in the world are automaticly made in $AU because of the websites settings.
We will express our gratitude to the the highest donor with a free week stay at the Anahata Yoga Retreat where you can enjoy the yogic lifestyle and connect with this beautiful and hopefuly EMF free zone!
Please donate whatever you can to:
– GoFundMe: http://www.gofundme.com/cellphonetowerfree
by Katherine | 16 Nov, 2014 | Uncategorized
Frequent use of mobile and cordless phone link to malignant brain tumour confirmed in new comprehensive analysis based on the largest number of cases in Sweden; 3G phones more damaging than 2G, and children more at risk; “current guidelines for exposure should be urgently revised.
To see the rest of the article, please visit:
http://www.i-sis.org.uk/Wireless_Phone_Use_Increases_Malignant_Brain_Tumour.php
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.
by Katherine | 25 Sep, 2014 | Government and Electricity Industry Positions, Latest News, Smart water meters, Uncategorized, Users Feedback
On Friday, August 16, having learned that the Waikato District Council had an item relating to “smart” water meters on its agenda for an extraordinary meeting scheduled for August 19, I emailed the Mayor and Councillors to express concern about the potential adverse effects of “smart” water meters on human health, water quality, wildlife and people’s privacy and home security and to ask that they do NOT pass any resolution in favour of adopting “smart” water metering technology.
(You can read background information about the item on the Council’s agenda (including its wording and background information on “smart” water meters in NZ) at this link https://stopsmartmeters.org.nz/uncategorized/urgent-smart-water-meter-alert-for-waikato-district-council-area/)
My reason for writing was that I thought it unlikely that the Mayor or Council members would have been provided with information relating to the potential risks posed by “smart” water meters to human health, wildlife or privacy by “smart” water meter proponents.
The letter that I wrote may be downloaded from the link below:
Letter to Waikato District Council v2.
The Council voted in favour of introducing water meters to Ngaruwahia, Huntly and Raglan and to continue to monitor “smart” water metering technology with a view to adopting it when it is considered “proven” and “cost effective”. Please see this link for details: https://stopsmartmeters.org.nz/uncategorized/waikato-district-council-vote-on-water-meters-and-smart-water-meters/
by Katherine | 29 Aug, 2014 | 2014 Election Questionnaire, Latest News, Uncategorized, Users Feedback
The link to access the actual questionnaire plus a list of all parties’ responses is here: https://stopsmartmeters.org.nz/2014-election-questionnaire-2/
A discussion of the issues raised by the questionnaire and the replies received is here:
https://stopsmartmeters.org.nz/uncategorized/2014-election-questionnaire-general-discussion/
by Katherine | 29 Aug, 2014 | Latest News, Uncategorized, Users Feedback
EMR Australia http://www.emraustralia.com.au/ has just published it latest quarterly on different aspects of EMR and health. The current issue features the following topics:
- how wireless devices affect children and what you can do about it;
- how mobile phones affect the brain and fertility;
- the latest findings from science;
- how children and teens are using technology;
- an article on electrosensitivity by guest writer, Dr Richard Conrad;
- hybrid cars;
- legislation in France and Australia;
- news from around the world – and much more.
You can download the issue as a PDF as from this link:
http://emraustralia.com.au/EMR_and_health.html
by Katherine | 28 Aug, 2014 | Events, Latest News, Take Back Your Power, Uncategorized, Users Feedback
Just a reminder that there is a special screening of the award-winning smart meter documentary on Friday August 29 in Whakatane. Please see this post for details: https://stopsmartmeters.org.nz/uncategorized/award-winning-smart-meter-documentary-to-screen-in-whakatane-friday-august-29/
NB: If you are not in Whakatane, you can stream it from www.takebackyourpower.net
PS: If you are in Marton your chance to see the movie for FREE is coming on September 13: See: www.stopsmartmeters.org.nz/uncategorized/award-winning-smart-meter-documentary-to-screen-in-marton-on-september-13/
by Katherine | 26 Aug, 2014 | Events, Latest News, Uncategorized, Users Feedback
Expert environmental lawyer Sue Grey’s presentation on wi-fi in schools is now online.
You can see her presentation at this link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAHA1FtPaw0
Thank you to Sue Grey and to everyone who helped with recording and editing her presentation so it could be made available online to people who could not attend the presentation.
by Katherine | 26 Aug, 2014 | Events, Latest News, Take Back Your Power, Uncategorized, Users Feedback
You can see the award-winning smart meter documentary Take Back Your Power in Marton for FREE on Saturday 13 September at 2pm at the Valhalla Cinema in Broadway, Marton.
If you would like to bring a donation to help cover the organisers’ expenses, this would be welcomed but there is no obligation.
Please let family and friends in this area know about this special community event. Thank you.
by Katherine | 26 Aug, 2014 | Events, Latest News, Take Back Your Power, Uncategorized, Users Feedback
Take Back Your Power, the award-winning documentary on smart meters will screen in Whakatane on Friday August 29.
Details are below:
Date: Friday 29th AUGUST
Time: 6.30-8.30pm
VENUE: Eastbay REAP, Pyne Street, Whakatane
Cost: Koha towards refreshments
Copies of DVD for sale at $16 each
Join us for an action-oriented screening of Take Back Your Power.
Come to our sparking discussion about how we can save energy, save
money and not endanger our health.
A few words of introduction about the film, written by the organiser, Pip Norvell are below:
[NB: If you would like to be in touch with the organiser, please email through the Contact form at this link www.stopsmartmeters.org.nz/contact-us/ and your email address will be passed along to her if you request this.]
TAKE BACK YOUR POWER is a feature length documentary from the USA about Smart Meters and takes us on a journey “investigating the erosion of rights…” Smart Meters are electronic electricity meters that measure and record electricity consumption and transmit this information back to the retailer (reference 1 – see below for reference list), and the claim is that they will significantly reduce our impact on Climate Change, amongst other things (2).
REVIEW
The film has melodramatic pseudo-science moments and creepy menacing music, but don’t be misled – there is a serious case to be answered about the safety of yet another Radio Frequency EMF-emitting device attached permanently to the side of your house.
I have never given so much of my time to researching one film topic; I wanted to establish the relevence of the Smart Meter industry to a NZ audience, discovering on the way that our retailer had attached one without our consent, and despite current NZ safety guidelines (3)(4), less than one meter from a young person’s head when he sleeps.
I have been in touch with others in NZ seeking to avoid Smart Meters (5)(6), read countless scientific documents, and contacted several retailers – exposing the retailers in this situation is not my intention. They have attempted to be helpful, and stand to lose customers, possibly, through no fault of their own. They are not the ones making money from the deployment of smart meters in most cases (7). The ‘safety’ information they have been feeding me has been supplied to them by Government agencies (8)(4) relying on industry-funded research (3)(9) using out-dated and inadequate US standards (10)(16).
The Government’s activity on the issue has been to establish a Forum “to advance the development of smart electricity networks in New Zealand” (13) and to remove barriers (14) to the roll out. This is being hailed by nearly all Political Parties as of benefit to the Environment, the customers and the wallet (15). Only one Party, the Democrats for Social Credit (11) is calling for an immediate moratorium “until the technology is proven to not be a risk to health, and until home owners are given a choice about whether or not they are willing to admit the smart grid into their homes.”
Over one million smart meters have already been installed in NZ. This drive has been fuelled by a directive from the Electricity Agency to certify meters before April 2015, even though analogue meters are “by no means inaccurate”(12). The Agency says “All residential meters installed prior to October 1999 have certification that expires on 1 April 2015. To ensure that they operate accurately, all these meters need to be recertified before that date. Many retailers are using this as an opportunity to update metering technology, rather than having existing meters recertified.”
I can see that there is a relentless drive to replace every single meter in NZ (and the world..) as soon as possible, and for plausibly good reasons, but what if…? What if they are not safe? (17)(18) What if they do increase the risk of your house burning down? What if they do enable data hackers or ‘the industry’ to spy on you through your appliances? What if….?
Please come and see this film. Inform yourselves. Find out which retailers will give you a choice, and what you can do if you don’t want the smart meter you didn’t realise you had. Take Back Your Power!
Best Regards,
Pip Norvell
REFERENCES
1.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_meter and https://www.ea.govt.nz/operations/retail/metering/advanced-metering/
2. http://energy.about.com/od/metering/a/Pros-And-Cons-Of-Smart-Meters.htm
3. http://www.epecentre.ac.nz/docs/media/ARC_Full_Final_02.pdf (page 16);
4. http://www.health.govt.nz/system/files/documents/publications/electric-magnetic-fields-your-health.pdf (page 20)
5. https://www.facebook.com/groups/453123721454384/ -Smart Meter Free Families in NZ FB Group
6. https://stopsmartmeters.org.nz/ and http://smartmeterpowerstruggle.wordpress.com/ for collated information
7. https://www.consumer.org.nz/articles/electricity-rights – Question under “Meters’ heading about ownership.
8. https://www.ea.govt.nz/– Electricity Agency
9. http://www.arcinnovations.com/smart-meters-get-the-safety-nod – Arc Innovations, Meridian
10.http://www.takebackyourpower.net/news/2014/03/27/us-department-of-interior-attacks-fccs-exposure-standards-out-of-date-and-inapplicable/
11.http://democrats.org.nz/News/NewsItem/tabid/119/ArticleId/1218/Stop-Smart-Meters.aspx#.U9Nsc0Bj1EJ
12.https://www.ea.govt.nz/operations/retail/metering/metering-installation/ Item 40
13.https://www.national.org.nz/news/news/media-releases/detail/2014/03/20/smart-grid-forum-members-announced
14.http://www.med.govt.nz/sectors-industries/energy/electricity/new-zealand-smart-grid-forum/view
15.https://stopsmartmeters.org.nz/2014-election-questionnaire/
16.http://www.emfacts.com/2014/03/a-critique-of-the-new-zealand-report-health-and-safety-aspects-of-electricity-smart-meters/
17.http://www.organicnz.org.nz/node/653
18.http://sagereports.com/smart-meter-rf/?p=368
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East Bay REAP
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