Smart meter rebels enjoy a reprieve from fines – Herald Sun

Posted on January 1, 2015 by Stop Smart Meters Australia

THOUSANDS of Victorians who have refused electricity smart meters could escape penalties this year.

One company has given rebels a reprieve, and others are considering their position.

About 25,000 customers statewide have defied warnings of possible disconnection and higher charges to resist the installation of digital smart meters, instead keeping older meters that are read manually rather than remotely.

WHAT DO YOU THINK? HAVE YOUR SAY BELOW

Power giant AusNet Services has opted not to charge its 8326 “refusers” fees to manually read meters this year.

Other distributors are undecided whether to charge — despite gaining approval to slug residents an additional $11 to $31 per quarter from April.

Such fees would be on top of charges all households and small businesses pay for the government-mandated smart meter rollout.

The Herald Sun understands there are concerns the cost of setting up separate billing systems for refusers and chasing payments from them could outweigh what is spent on manual meter reads.

Stop Smart Meters Australia president Marc Florio said thousands of smart meter opponents had been “bullied” into accepting them, despite their concerns over health, privacy and other matters.

“Many people were threatened that they would have the power cut off, or pay substantially more for electricity. A lot caved in the end, especially older people,” he said. “The whole thing has been a con.”

The Australian Energy Regulator recently approved applications from Jemena, United Energy, CitiPower and Powercor for fees to manually read meters this year.

But United Energy’s Samantha Porter said: “Although we applied … for the fee, we have not yet determined if we will be charging it.”

Jemena, CitiPower and Powercor are also yet to decide whether they will charge the manual reading fees.

The Napthine government gave companies the right to apply to impose the “refuser” fees from this year.

Karen Collier, Herald Sun

Via: http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/smart-meter-rebels-enjoy-a-reprieve-from-fines/story-fni0fit3-1227171437417

Posted in Smart Meter | Tagged , , | 76 Comments

Open Letter to WHO, ICNIRP and ARPANSA

Posted on December 24, 2014 by Stop Smart Meters Australia

Steve Weller, Vice President of SSMA Inc., has for the last 3 years been researching the science that looks at microwave radiation exposure from modern wireless devices such as cell phones, WiFi and smart meters. The main aim was to see if studies had established associations between chronic exposures to microwave radio frequencies with biological effects in animals and humans that could be considered potentially harmful.

Steve’s interest in investigating the science on microwave radiofrequencies (RF) developed after he determined that a neighbour’s two smart meters was seriously impacting his health and wanted to understand how and why this could happen. He was further motivated by the fact that thousands of other people around the world were reporting similar adverse health experiences once a smart meter had been installed on or near their home.

Last month Steve was sponsored by ARPANSA, as SSMA’s EMERG representative, to attend the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) workshop held in Wollongong on 11th November 2014. The main aim of the workshop was for leading scientists representing the World Health Organization (WHO), ICNIRP, ACEBR and ARPANSA to discuss the latest evidence of health consequences from exposure to radiofrequency (RF) fields, and their relationship to ICNIRP’s current updating of the RF guidelines. A summary of the event is linked here ICNIRP science and wireless conference summaries

To his disbelief and concern, scientists appeared to be downplaying the risks, misrepresenting and distorting the science, to give the impression that there was nothing to be concerned about. An analysis of WHO Fact Sheet 193 showed the same misrepresentations.

Clearly disillusioned with the lack of honesty and integrity being displayed by these international organisations, which are entrusted with advising governments around the world to protect the health and well being of billions of people, Steve decided to write an open letter to the aforementioned organisations and their scientific representatives. A number of Australian politicians were also copied.

Links to the letter and supporting documents (evidence) that were sent are provided below.

An open letter to WHO

WHO-ICNIRP-ARPANSA discussion paper final

RF Research from 2012 – onwards for WHO

 

Steve is also the author of the “Taking a Stand” blogs which are all linked here: Reciprocal Buck Passing No Care, No Accountability and No Responsibility”

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year – From the SSMA Team

Posted in electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS), headaches, health, ICNIRP, Safety, Smart Meter, standards, Wi-Fi, WiMAX | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

US Federal Lawsuit Against Smart Meters

Posted on December 19, 2014 by Stop Smart Meters Australia

Bill Metallo in Florida, USA has filed a federal lawsuit against his energy company for installing a smart meter which has given him major health problems.  According to the report, smart meters are designed to make procedures easier for the power company.

Despite worldwide claims of health effects experienced since smart meters have been installed, Mr. Metallo’s power company (OUC) denies that smart meters cause medical issues. They have imposed an opt out fee on Mr. Metallo, which he claims violates the Americans with Disabilities Act.

OUC stated, “There are many benefits of digital meters including the ability for customers to learn more about their daily energy use through an online customer dashboard, instead of having to open a bill at the end of their monthly billing cycle“.

And this is the best power companies can do in promoting the benefits of smart meters at the expense of people’s health!

Posted in health, hypersensitivity (EHS), insomnia, opt out, Smart Meter | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments

Senate inquiry into the performance and management of electricity network companies

Posted on December 15, 2014 by Stop Smart Meters Australia

The Senate Standing Committees on Environment and Communications is seeking submissions from people about the behaviour of the various electricity distribution companies around Australia and of their apparent ‘gold-plating’ of their networks.

The Committee is interested to learn whether they force their customers to pay for these “gold plated” costs that are possibly not necessary. The committee is to consider whether prosecutions should be issued if rorting has been detected.

The Senate Inquiry will also investigate:

-whether energy companies have misrepresented information to the energy regulator for their benefit
-allegations of price rorting by companies
-whether current network arrangements discriminate against homes and businesses who generate their own power, and
-the possibility of establishing an independent body to investigate and prosecute poor behaviour.

Information about the inquiry, the full terms of reference and how to make a submission can be found at: The performance and management of electricity network companies.

Don’t miss this opportunity to let the Senate know your experiences dealing with power companies.

Submissions close December 18.

Posted in Smart Meter | Tagged , | 21 Comments

Bill shock: Smart meter charges set to cost most Victorians more in 2015 – Herald Sun

Posted on December 13, 2014 by Stop Smart Meters Australia

VICTORIANS will be slugged smart meter fees of up to $226 on their electricity bills next year.

The Australian Energy Regulator has approved charges for 2015 of $109.40 to $226.30, plus GST, for the most common type of smart meter, depending on where consumers live.

Hundreds of thousands of households will be hit with fees up to 28 per cent higher than this year’s, after some companies blew their budgets.

Other households will get slight discounts on the fees.

The annual fee ruling comes as the Victorian Auditor-General’s Office investigates whether consumers are getting a fair deal under the system.

Homes in Melbourne’s northwest and eastern suburbs, and Victoria’s northeast and east, face the biggest sting next year.

“It’s another blow to the hip pocket,” said Gavin Dufty, an energy expert from the St Vincent de Paul Society. “We have paid a huge amount for these meters and it’s time we saw some benefits.”

The latest financial fallout from the controversial digital device rollout could add up to $50 million more to the total cost of the project, the Herald Sun understands.

The full smart meter bill for homes and small businesses could exceed $2.4 billion, once inflation and the GST is factored in.

Power company Jemena’s charge for next year is $226.30, up 17 per cent on last year. AusNet Service’s charge is $205.50, up 28 per cent, and United Energy’s charge is $154.50, or 9 per cent more.

CitiPower’s $115.90 fee is down 60c on last year, and Powercor’s $109.40 charge is 5 per cent lower.

The regulator gave the green light to a combined $111.4 million in excess expenditure claims for distribution companies AusNet Services, United Energy and Jemena after they blew last year’s budgets.

However, the regulator rejected a further $38.1 million cash grab as “inefficient”.

Smart meters are read remotely rather than manually, and allow consumers to opt to be charged different rates for use at different times of day.

Retailers have said they could allow some customers to slash annual power bills by hundreds of dollars.

The Auditor-General’s Office plans to table an updated report on the smart meter project next June.

“As the … rollout is effectively complete, it is timely to undertake the audit to assess the extent to which deficiencies in the AMI (Advanced Metering Infrastructure) program have been addressed, and whether benefits for consumers are being realised,” it said.

The overspending companies blamed stalled installations caused by the former Liberal government’s project review, public resistance to the meters’ introduction, shortages of installers forcing up wages, and the delayed introduction of time-of-use electricity tariffs.

While Jemena and United overspent last year, their expenditure in earlier years was lower than expected.

The rollout, ordered by Labor and continued by the Coalition, has been plagued by cost overruns and safety and privacy concerns. Victorians have been paying annual smart meter fees since 2010.

Karen Collier, Herald Sun

Via: http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/bill-shock-smart-meter-charges-set-to-cost-most-victorians-more-in-2015/story-fni0fit3-1227154633835

Posted in Smart Meter | Tagged , | 59 Comments

Baby monitor health warning

Posted on December 9, 2014 by Stop Smart Meters Australia

Australian author, Donna Fisher, has publicly stated that baby monitors emit dangerous radiation.  She adds that they could be doing more harm than good.

Apart from the health risks for people sensitive to electromagnetic radiation, Donna fears that wireless baby monitors increase the risk of SIDS.  Having a baby monitor in a child’s bedroom is like having a phone antenna station in the bedroom as it is the same radiation.

See: 7News 

Posted in baby monitor, Radiation | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Networked devices are energy hungry – G20 Summit

Posted on December 6, 2014 by Stop Smart Meters Australia

One of the recommendations of the recent G20 summit is that:

“Participating countries will work together to accelerate the development of new ways to improve the energy efficiency of networked devices.  In 2015, this work will include consideration of options for goals for reducing the global standby mode energy consumption of networked devices”

So these “networked devices”, such as smart meters, are consuming too much electricity?  Even when they’re in stand-by mode, which according to the power companies, is something like 23 hours and 56 minutes a day.  And meanwhile we’re being told to switch off our appliances at the wall in order to stop wasting precious electricity on stand-by mode.

And apparently these smart meters are enabling us, the consumers, “to reduce our electricity consumption”, while at the same time, enabling the power companies to increase people’s electricity consumption to run this networked device in stand-by mode most of the day.  And who is paying to run the smart meter in stand-by mode?

Obviously I’m not as smart as a smart meter because this isn’t making sense to me…..

Margaret

Full report

 

Posted in Bills Soar, Smart Meter | Tagged , , | 8 Comments

ARPANSA seeks your feedback

Posted on December 1, 2014 by Stop Smart Meters Australia

The Australian Radiation Protection And Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) sets the standards of safe levels of radiation emissions from devices such as smart meters, Wi-Fi, mobile phones, mobile phone towers, cordless phones and baby monitors.  They have developed a survey to gauge the communities perception of ARPANSA performance and the services they provide. The survey should take approximately 10 minutes to complete, unless you’re keen to give them detailed responses.

Responses will allow ARPANSA to assess your view of:
* ARPANSA in general
* their leadership in radiation protection and nuclear safety
* how they communicate
* their integrity and leadership on radiation protection issues.

ARPANSA states, “By completing this survey, you will help ARPANSA identify your needs and deliver better services”.

ARPANSA survey

Posted in ARPANSA, Radiation, Smart Meter, Wi-Fi | Tagged , , , | 25 Comments

Special Q & A Screening of Take Back Your Power, Belgrave, VIctoria

Posted on November 29, 2014 by Stop Smart Meters Australia

 

TakeBackPowerCameoDec2014TAKE BACK YOUR POWER, Click Here to book this special Cameo Belgrave screening. Thank you for supporting your community concerning rights, safety, privacy, & health.

Posted in Smart Meter | Tagged , | 4 Comments

People Power Victoria’s Radio Advertisement

Posted on November 26, 2014 by Stop Smart Meters Australia

Listen to People Power Victoria’s radio advertisement by clicking here: People Power Victoria’s Radio Advertisement 

Please forward the ad to your contacts and spread the word…..

Posted in Smart Meter | Tagged , , | 19 Comments