Stop Smart Meters Australia

People Power Victoria – an overwhelming response!

Posted on April 9, 2014 by Stop Smart Meters Australia

Within one week of promoting the formation of our political party People Power Victoria – No Smart Meters, we are already nearly halfway to our minimum target of 500 members.

If everyone who has joined PPV enlisted one more person to apply for membership, we will reach our goal within two weeks – surely this would be unprecedented in the formation of a grass-roots Victorian political party!

But of course we would like even more than 500 members!

Thank you everyone for your support, and because of this overwhelming response, please be patient as our volunteers register your membership and acknowledge your kind donations.

Let’s continue to spread the word and keep the momentum going……

Membership forms can be downloaded at: http://www.peoplepowervictoria.org.au/uploads/files/PPV%20Membership%20form.pdf

Or completed online at: http://www.peoplepowervictoria.org.au/membership

Posted in Smart Meter | Tagged People Power Victoria, Smart meters, Victoria | 12 Comments

Petition to reconnect Sofia’s power

Posted on April 7, 2014 by Stop Smart Meters Australia

Stop Smart Meters Australia has created a petition for Sofia to have her power reconnected with a manual read interval meter. Please help Sofia’s cause by clicking on the link below and sign to register your support:

https://www.change.org/en-AU/petitions/hon-dr-denis-napthine-allow-sofia-s-electricity-supply-to-be-reconnected-with-a-manually-read-interval-meter-mrim#

Sofia’s smart meter story: a life ruined, a future denied
Upon returning from an interstate business trip, Sofia’s health started to mysteriously and rapidly decline. Sofia could no longer sleep, her vision suddenly deteriorated, she had constant headaches, nausea, irritability, fatigue and short term memory loss. An acute, burning rash all over her body and swollen legs eventually led to hospitalization.
This was a stark turn of events for a woman still in her prime, who had been healthy and had enjoyed an exciting, busy life as a full time worker and sole parent of a teenage daughter.

Sofia and her doctors discovered the horrible coincidence – all her symptoms had started after a wireless smart meter had been installed inside a cavity in her bedroom wall, against her wishes and without her knowledge whilst she was away from home.

Now Sofia is on a Disability Pension, too sick to work and struggling to look after herself and her 14 year old daughter.

After months of unendurable physical suffering and pleading with her power distributor, United Energy, and government agencies, this Victorian mother had only one option – to take things into her own hands and have the smart meter removed from her home. Soon after, her health started to improve and she still continued to pay the estimated electricity bills she received.

On the 3rd March 2014, without warning or written notification, Sofia’s power was cut off. Appeals United Energy), Energy Safe Victoria, the Victorian Energy Ombudsman, the Victorian Energy Minister, local politicians and others have only resulted in stone walling and doors shut in her face. No one wants to help, no one wants to accept the grim reality facing this distraught mother and daughter.

Since the disconnection occurred, Sofia and her daughter have had to live without:
-Electric lights. She and her daughter have been using candles and a torch for light
-A refrigerator/freezer. All food has to be purchased daily and consumed that day.
-The ability to use a washing machine to launder clothing
-The use of a laptop computer to allow her daughter to complete her schoolwork
-Any heating for her home, particularly as the weather turns colder with winter approaching

Sofia has been told that, unless she accepts a smart meter on her house, she will not be supplied with electricity. Her power distributor refuses to return her safe, non-wireless meter. For this situation to be allowed to occur in Melbourne “the world’s most liveable city” is an indictment upon the Victorian Government. While others in her neighbourhood are permitted to retain their analogue meter, not Sofia. This is clear discrimination!

Such behaviour is a denial of an essential service and therefore the denial of a basic human right – especially as Sofia’s electricity account is fully paid up!
Governments are supposed to represent the people who elect their representatives and not BIG business; however it appears from the punitive treatment being meted out to people like Sofia that the Victorian Government is actively working against the welfare of vulnerable Victorians in our communities.

It is because of these tragic developments in Sofia’s situation that we are appealing to you to sign this petition. Let’s hope this forces the Victorian Premier (Denis Napthine) and his new Energy Minister (Russell Northe) to back down from the government’s punitive measures against Sofia and her daughter. Please help Sofia get her old, safe meter back, and the power switched on.

Posted in Smart Meter | Tagged Denis Napthine, Russell Northe, Smart meter, smart meter protest, United Energy, Victoria | 28 Comments

The Great Meter Con – Recent letters in The Age

Posted on April 5, 2014 by Stop Smart Meters Australia

Get smart
David Lamb’s (Letters, 27/3) and David Laird’s (31/3) smart meter problems are small beer. Since my smart meter was installed, my supplier has billed all my electricity at the peak rate despite most of it being used in off-peak hours (for water heating on a dedicated circuit). Previously, this was billed at off-peak rates. Incompetence or a scam? Presumably tens of thousands of others are also affected – many unknowingly.
Brewis Atkinson, Nunawading

Via: http://www.theage.com.au/comment/the-age-letters/why-should-those-hurting-share-the-pain-20140402-35yrt.html

Get with the times
I can add to David Lamb’s concerns about smart meters (Letters, 27/3). Since its installation nearly two years ago my smart meter has registered readings for off peak and peak usage, as well as calculating my solar exports to the grid.
However, it has not been smart enough to match Victorian summer time with the time shown on the meter clock. Real Victorian time has been one hour ahead of meter time, which creates problems for anyone trying to use power at off-peak times. Energy Australia customer relations staff, when they eventually understood my complaint, simply suggest that it ”balances out”. In other words, stop stirring the pot. ”Just another example of corporate con”, to quote David Lamb?
David Laird, Forest Hill

Via: http://www.smh.com.au/comment/the-age-letters/a-white-male-of-means-will-no-doubt-decide-20140330-35s3y.html

The great meter con
I have two smart meters at my home. One is for peak electricity supply and the other is for off-peak electricity. In the two years since they were installed, the only benefit I can see is that the electricity retailer saves money by not having to send someone to check my use.
I thought the purpose of smart meters was to enable energy providers to charge a high use rate at times of high energy demand and a lower rate at times when surplus energy was available. Silly me. Just another example of corporate con.
David Lamb, Kew East

Via http://www.theage.com.au/comment/the-age-letters/please-dont-return-us-to-the-dark-days-20140326-35ip8.html

Posted in Smart Meter | Tagged Smart meter, The Age, Victoria | 19 Comments

Public Exposure: DNA, Democracy & the ‘Wireless Revolution’ documentary

Posted on April 2, 2014 by Stop Smart Meters Australia

Posted in Smart Meter | Tagged Smart meters, Victoria | 34 Comments

PEOPLE POWER VICTORIA – NO SMART METERS: The emergence of a new political party

Posted on March 28, 2014 by Stop Smart Meters Australia

Stop Smart Meters Australia is launching a new political party for Victoria, with a charter centred on opposition to the mandated roll-out of wireless smart meters for electricity, gas and water, and on the commitment to re-establish a healthy environment for all.

The People Power Victoria – No Smart Meters party (PPV) also stands for fair and affordable delivery of essential services to all Victorians, respect for Human Rights and a safer, more ethical use of technology.

Victorian politicians of both Houses of Parliament are ignoring our concerns, happily leaving their constituents vulnerable to the whims of private corporations. Perusing this website alone, you will find countless examples of injustice enforced upon everyday Victorians, and essentially, our politicians simply DO NOT CARE. It is time now to play their game and create a new political force.

The community’s experience with rising essential services’ costs and disregard of customers’ rights and wellbeing is epitomised by the incompetent and aggressive roll-out of the Advanced Metering Infrastructure (smart meters) program in Victoria. This program is just one example of a broader frustration for voters who expect laws and processes that recognise and protect human and democratic rights of Victorians. This new Party aims to ensure laws and processes are properly introduced and implemented, and have as their aim genuine protection for all Victorians.

PPV will provide a focal point for voters who are frustrated by the lack of political action and feel strongly that much more needs to be done through our parliamentary system to protect the human and democratic rights of Victorians.

Our mission is to reclaim our state and set it on a new and better path.

We have a vision of a caring and compassionate society, where individuals and families have the freedom to be masters of their own lives and homes, and where every Victorian is given the opportunity to prosper and thrive.

This is your chance to have a voice, to reclaim your rights, your home, your state and to change the course of history.

We cannot do it without you. Please complete a membership form and encourage everyone over the age of 18 in your family and friendship circle to do the same. Applicants have to be enrolled to vote in Victoria. Party membership is FREE, and a membership form can be completed online or downloaded at: http://www.peoplepowervictoria.org.au/

We need at least 500 members to register our party, so spread the word!

To enable us to run in the forthcoming Victorian election, we are hoping to gain 500 members within the next six weeks.

Thank you. It is only together that we can make a difference!

Posted in Smart Meter | Tagged People Power Victoria, Smart meters, Victoria | 78 Comments

Sofia’s Story – Punitive power and the smart meter tyranny

Posted on March 26, 2014 by Stop Smart Meters Australia

Sofia is a sole parent, with a 14 year old daughter.

She became ill after a wireless smart meter was installed on her house 19 March 2013. Sofia hadn’t given permission for its installation. In fact, she wasn’t even aware that her original electricity meter had been swapped for a smart meter, as it occurred whilst she was on an interstate business trip.

It was only afterwards, when she and her medical advisors were searching for the cause of the sudden deterioration in her health, that she discovered the horrible coincidence. The smart meter had been installed in the worst possible position, inside her bedroom cavity wall, just centimetres from where her head lay as she slept at night.

Victorian smart meters, such as hers, emit microwave radiation 24/7. Network traffic can result in as many as 190,000 transmissions per day from a mesh smart meter. Authorities never alerted the public to this fact.

The technicalities of wireless smart meters were the last thing on Sofia’s mind when she ended up in hospital with swollen legs and an acute burning rash, all over her body. She had developed a burning sensation in her eyes, throat, mouth, and covering her face. That was just the start of the nightmare. Sofia was also suffering from unexplained headaches, insomnia, nausea, irritability, constant fatigue and short-term memory loss. To make matters worse, she experienced an acute deterioration of her vision.

Sofia was subsequently diagnosed with EHS (electro hypersensitivity), triggered by her smart meter’s microwave radiation. She has had to cease professional employment. She is no longer able to go about her normal daily activities in the community, without experiencing great pain from exposure to ubiquitous electromagnetic radiation. She is now on a Disability Pension.

All Sofia is asking for is the return of her safe, analogue meter. But do you think her power distributor, United Energy, or the Victorian State government are listening? All her pleas have been ignored and ridiculed. Even the Victorian Energy Ombudsman was unable to help her.

Finally, at her wits’ end, and in a state of unbearable pain, Sofia took matters into her own hands. Her smart meter was removed. As a result, her health slowly started to improve. In order to show good faith and a willingness to pay her electricity bills, Sofia continued to pay her electricity based on estimated usage.

On 3 March 2014, 8.30am Sofia’s power was cut off, without warning or written notification. United Energy, Sofia’s power distributor, refuses to reconnect her, unless a wireless smart meter is installed.

This is despite the provision of medical evidence verifying her condition. This is despite the fact that other Victorians, who have objected to a smart meter, have now received letters formally honouring their request to not have a smart meter installed.

It seems that the horrible quagmire which Sofia ended up in would never have eventuated, if only she had known enough in the first place to lock her meter box.

Her requests to speak to her power distributor’s management have been refused. Efforts by her Federal MP and Legal Aid have come to naught. A representative of the Victorian Department of State Development and Business Innovation lamely suggested that she move to the country to escape the radiation, leaving her 14-year daughter in the care of friends so she can continue with her schooling.

And this all is happening, despite the former Energy Minister stressing, in one of his interviews, that disconnecting power from people’s houses is INHUMANE.

Sofia and her daughter are still living without power and suffering immensely mentally and emotionally.

How callous and inhumane can United Energy be?

How could this happen to anyone living in a democratic country like Australia?

This YouTube clip about Sofia’s story was sent to Stop Smart Meters Australia by Paradigm Images Production: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVtEkwkk8Ec

Posted in Smart Meter | Tagged Smart meters, United Energy | 93 Comments

‘Letter of the Week’ to Victorian Premier Dr Denis Napthine

Posted on March 19, 2014 by Stop Smart Meters Australia

Stop Smart Meters Australia has recently been presented with a copy of a letter that was sent to the Premier of Victoria, Dr Denis Napthine. We believe it is an excellent letter worth sharing with our followers.

See: A letter to the Premier of Victoria

Posted in Smart Meter | Tagged Denis Napthine, Smart meters, United Energy, Victoria | 48 Comments

A response to Jemena

Posted on March 16, 2014 by Stop Smart Meters Australia

Jemena is sending letters out to people within their distribution network who have rejected their “offer to replace the old meter with a smart meter”.

Click here for a copy of the letter: Jemena Letter

The letter from Jemena seems to imply that people who have not consented to installation of smart meters have refused Jemena general access to their meter. People have ONLY objected to providing Jemena access to the meter for the purpose of REPLACING the meter.

A supporter of Stop Smart Meters Australia has written a response to Jemena, encouraging people to use it as a template if they wish. He believes if people do not reply to Jemena’s letter, they are conceding that they have not given Jemena general access to the “old” meter.

A copy of this response letter can be found at:Response to Jemena’s OFFER Letter

Posted in Smart Meter | Tagged Jemena, Smart meter | 48 Comments

Ballarat ‘Take Back your Power’ Screening – 25 March, 7:00 pm

Posted on March 15, 2014 by Stop Smart Meters Australia

Posted in Smart Meter | Tagged Smart meters, Take Back Your Power, take back your power film | 1 Comment