Victorian Government looks at ‘double dipping’

The [Victorian] government has signalled its intentions to charge consumers refusing smart meters extra for the privilege of retaining their existing meter. Industry sources predict this will be $120 to $150 per annum. Isn’t this double dipping? We all have been paying for smart meters since the beginning of 2010, whether or not we have one. The Auditor-General’s 2009 report slammed Victoria’s smart meter rollout. Nothing much has changed. Why should consumers be punished for the government’s (past and present) and the power distributors’ poor decisions? We were never consulted. In the meantime, thanks to the special status which Victoria’s privatised power distributors enjoy, it’s the customer who always pays.

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The Chinese Government is now a major player in Victoria’s electricity distribution businesses

The Chinese Communist regime, through the government-owned State Grid Corporation of China, recently completed its purchase of a 19.9 per cent interest in Australian-listed SP AusNet and a 60 per cent stake in the privately held Jemena business. This was approved by the Federal Liberal Government.  See:  http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/mining-energy/chinese-firm-acquires-sp-ausnets-stake/story-e6frg9df-1226794608150#

The Chinese Government and its interests are now the major player in Victoria’s electricity distribution businesses.

According to Amnesty International, an estimated 500,000 people are currently enduring punitive detention in China without charge or trial, and millions are unable to access the legal system to seek redress for their grievances. Harassment, surveillance, house arrest, and imprisonment of human rights defenders are on the rise, and censorship of the Internet and other media has grown. Forced killings of unborn babies and repression of minority groups, including Tibetans, Uighurs and Mongolians, Falun Gong practitioners and Christians who practice their religion outside state-sanctioned churches is prevalent. More people are executed in China than in the rest of the world put together.

It is astonishing that our Federal and State Governments have no concerns whatsoever that an essential service such as Victoria’s electricity grid is now majority owned by a foreign government and its interests that have the world’s worse human rights abuses.

See below a breakdown of foreign ownership of Victoria’s power distribution companies, along with the approximate electricity customer base.  United Energy is the only Victorian distributor controlled by Australian interests (Duet Group, its main owner, is managed jointly by AMP Capital investors Limited and Macquarie Funds Group).

Summary of Foreign Ownership

CitiPower 310,000 customers 51% owned by Cheung Kong group of companies
Powercor 700,000 customers 51% owned by Cheung Kong group of companies
Jemena  ‘over’   300,000 customers 60% owned by State Grid Corporation of China (and 40 % owned by Singapore Power)
United Energy   600,000 customers Duet Group, an Australian Stock Exchange listed company, owns 66% (and 34% owned by Jemena).
SP AusNet 641,000 customers 31.1% owned by Singapore Power and 19.9% owned by State Grid Corporation of China.

 
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Victorian smart meter mandate concludes

With the commencement of the New Year, the Victorian Government’s mandate for power distributors to forcibly and ruthlessly install smart meters has concluded.

Correspondence from the Office of the Minister for Energy and Resources, Minister Kotsiras, has acknowledged that two electrical metering systems in Victoria will remain – thus divulging that smart meters are in fact NOT compulsory.

However, because approximately 150,000 households/small businesses have yet to have smart meters installed, be assured that power distributors and government authorities will still try to dupe people to believe that smart meters are compulsory.

The fight is not over, but our success is largely due to people like you, members of Stop Smart Meters Australia and our numerous website followers, that have stood up to corporate and government bullying.  Thank you for all your support, and special thanks for those who have used the media to spread our message; that due to financial costs, safety, health and privacy issues, Victorians like residents in every other Australian state should have the freedom to voluntarily ‘opt in’ to the Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) program rather than being threatened and sometimes verbally abused for not accepting a device one does no need nor want.

Here are four examples of radio interviews aired over the past few months. They give a very good summary of the issues of why many Victorians will not accept a smart meter.

https://soundcloud.com/3mdr-97-1fm/sonja-rutherford-26th

https://soundcloud.com/3mdr-97-1fm/sonja-rutherford-smart-meters

https://soundcloud.com/3mdr-97-1fm/10th-october-2013-maureen#t=0:29

http://ondemand.rrr.org.au/grid/20131213111959

 

Not satisfied with the abuse already inflicted on the democratic and human rights of many Victorians, it is believed that the Victorian Napthine Government is looking at introducing new regulations to extend the smart meter mandate to after 2013.

Will the Government ever learn?  With an election year coming up, they may be sorry…..

Happy New Year everyone!!

 

 

 

 

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Petitions to rollback smart meters

You are invited to join Ted’s petition on Change.Org to rollback smart meters:
https://www.change.org/en-AU/petitions/the-hon-greg-hunt-mp-and-prime-minister-of-australia-tony-abbott-stop-installing-smart-meters-and-remove-installed-ones

And while you are at it, if you haven’t already signed Fiona’s petition against smart meters, then please do so:
http://www.change.org/en-AU/petitions/government-power-companies-people-are-being-forced-from-their-homes-give-us-a-choice-to-remove-refuse-the-smart-meter

Posted in health risks, Smart Meter | Tagged , , , | 21 Comments

Farewell Steve and thank you!

“Without health life is not life; it is only a state of languor and suffering, an image of death.”    Buddha

This will be a different Christmas for Steve Weller and his family; they won’t be in Melbourne with their family and friends, but will instead be in Queensland, learning to adapt to the hot, humid weather, learning that there is no going back. Steve’s two children will visit Seaworld and other theme parks, something Steve and his wife have promised their young primary school aged son and daughter in an attempt to distract them from the shock and grief of leaving behind all their friends, teachers, school and home – forever. There is only one reason this family has to leave the state and relocate to Queensland: WIRELESS SMART METERS. Since smart meters were rolled out in his street, Steve has developed sleep problems, headaches and other symptoms, which have made his life a misery. Shielding has helped to some degree, but he has effectively become a prisoner in his own home. Our Victorian Government has been informed about Steve’s predicament and has done NOTHING to help him. He and his family have been driven out of this state by an uncaring Government.

Steve and his family’s leaving will mean nothing to Dr Napthine and his ministers – for every family that leaves, another will come to Victoria. But this is not a numbers’ game. Steve and his family are NOT replaceable, they are unique individuals, Victorians that belong here, contributors to our community. His and his family’s forced departure will diminish us all as a society and will condemn this Victorian Government for having ‘mandated’ the dismantling of liberty, compassion and respect for human rights, values which should be an accepted part of Australian society.

After becoming sick from exposure to wireless smart meters, Steve, who has a degree in microbiology and biochemistry, researched wireless smart meters and the biological effects of wireless technologies for more than two years. He has written a number of blogs (see below) and his contributions have been incredibly helpful to our cause and to many individuals who have been similarly affected. His gentle and patient persistence, together with his ability to understand and clearly articulate scientific concepts, have meant that he has been able to be heard by some in the scientific and regulatory departments, such as ARPANSA and ACMA. Thank-you Steve, for all you have done and for being a great Victorian and a good friend to many involved with the Victorian branch of Stop Smart Meters Australia Inc. We all dream of a day when justice will be restored and the entire wireless smart grid will be switched off in this state. Then, maybe, you and your family will return and we will all be allowed to live free from adverse health effects from smart meters, free from worries and concerns about the long term effects on our children and grandchildren and then, perhaps, we’ll all be happy and proud to see Victoria flourish once again.

Steve has recently completed a report titled ‘Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity (EHS) – A Personal Case study’. Click here to read full report: A personal EHS Case Study – final

Here are the links to Steve’s other blogs:

Letter of the week

Smart meter health issues real or psychosomatic?

Taking a stand part 1– Letter to Powercor

Taking a stand part 2 – Letter to ARPANSA

Taking a stand part 3 – Questions to ARPANSA

Taking a stand part 4 – ARPANSA RF Standards rock solid or a house of cards?

Taking a stand part 5 – ACMA making money at the expense of public health

Taking a stand part 6 – When health issues are not the responsibility of a health department – how bizarre!

Taking a stand part 7 – Reciprocal Buck Passing – No Care, No Accountability and No Responsibility

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Smart water meter “trials” have commenced!

While technology for water smart meters has been around for a number of years, its seems that the number of “trials” is dramatically increasing around Australia.

This Fact Sheet from the Australian Water Association provides a good summary of smart water meters: Smart Water Meters

Sydney Water needs to be commended for requesting signed permission to install water smart meters for their trial.  See: dd_052935.

Yet South East Water doesn’t request such permission, and conveniently fails to use the word “smart” or “wireless” in describing it new digital water meter.  A phone call to South East Water has confirmed that their digital meters are in fact wireless digital smart meters.   Clearly, with the Victorian community’s backlash against electricity smart meters, South East Water has chosen to avoid the word “smart” or “wireless” to make their new digital meters more palatable to their customers.

See: FAQs for digital water meters

Perhaps is is about time essential services companies operating in Victoria take a leaf from their interstate colleagues and show more respect for their customers’ rights.  The aggressiveness and stealth by which many essential services companies in Victoria are installing smart meters is beyond comprehension, and borders on deception and bullying, and in many cases, crosses such borders.

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Victoria’s electricity prices rise more than NSW and South Australia – Herald Sun

VICTORIA faces higher electricity price rises than New South Wales and South Australia, despite the state being touted as the world’s most competitive retail market.

And the average householder is being slugged almost $250 a year to cover the cost of environmental policies.

Federal and state “green schemes” such as the carbon tax, renewable energy and energy efficiency targets and solar subsidies now account for about one-fifth of Victorians’ electricity bills.

An Australian Energy Market Commission report reveals residential “market offer” power prices are expected to climb an average 4.3 per cent a year between now and 2014-15 before dropping an average 4.9 per cent in 2015-16.

The AEMC mainly blames previously approved electricity distribution charges for the delay in cost relief in Victoria.

The state’s overall price trend, averaged across the three years, is for prices to rise less than inflation at 1.3 per cent annually.

In NSW and SA, prices are expected to decline an average 0.7 and 0.9 per cent.

Energy Minister Nicholas Kotsiras said the typical $1285 annual bill for Victorian families was still less than the $1810 in NSW and South Australia’s $1564.

Consumers who shopped around could save significantly.

The report says retailers have different wholesale energy purchase costs depending on contracts with suppliers.

It also notes Victoria’s retailers have additional costs due to the smart meter rollout and higher customer switching rates.

The AEMC report is based on current policies, which means it doesn’t include the effect of removing the carbon tax.

It does, however, factor in moving to a floating carbon price.

Via: http://www.heraldsun.com.au/money/cost-of-living/victorias-electricity-prices-rise-more-than-nsw-and-south-australia/story-fni0cp8i-1226782888212

 

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Watch out Western Australia – Western Power Proposes Smart Meters!!

Excerpt from their Smart Grid Proposal for Western Australia “ELECTRICITY NETWORKS CORPORATION” (“WESTERN POWER”) online document:
http://www.erawa.com.au/cproot/9955/2/20111007%20-%20D76321%20-%20Access%20Arrangement%20Information%20-%20Appendix%20R%20-%20Smart%20Grid%20Proposal.PDF
 

“We have a unique opportunity to minimise the costs and maximise the benefits of rolling out smart meter technology because of the need to replace the “non-compliant  meters”. This program will result in around one third of our meter population being ‘smart’ by the end of the AA3 period.”

Is this another ploy calling our old analogue meters “non compliant”? Compliant to what standards?

Here we go again….

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Smart meter installer unleashes tirade

Neil Mitchell, 3AW, interviews Darren:

http://www.3aw.com.au/blogs/neil-mitchell-blog/smart-meter-installer-unleashes-tirade/20131210-2z2jp.html

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‘Take Back Your Power’ screenings in Tasmania

TakeBack-Tas-Dec

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