Electricity smart meter companies confident deadline can be met | Herald Sun

Posted on August 8, 2013 by Stop Smart Meters Australia
Electricity smart meter companies confident deadline can be met | Herald Sun

Victorians are being slugged at least $124 a year for the $2.3 billion smart meter scheme. Source: Leader

ALMOST two in three electricity smart meters installed in some parts of Victoria are not fully working as the deadline for the contentious rollout looms.

About 350,000 devices fitted in SP AusNet’s region are yet to go “live” with remote meter reads, the Herald Sun can reveal.

However the power company, which covers Melbourne’s eastern suburbs and the state’s east and northeast, says it is on track for the December 31 target.

Victorians are being slugged at least $124 a year for the $2.3 billion scheme.

The new meters record electricity use in 30-minute grabs and transmit data via radio waves.

The change allows for tracking of real time energy use to manage bills, new types of electricity charges that vary by time of day, and remote rather than manual meter reads, connections and disconnections.

Jemena and United Energy have the lowest installation rates of 67 per cent and 69 per cent, with SP AusNet at 79 per cent.

Powercor has fitted 90 per cent of its meters, CitiPower has done 91 per cent.

All except SP AusNet reported the majority of meters installed were operating to specification and remotely communicating.

SP AusNet spokesman Lyall Johnson said this was an unfair comparison, as the company’s process differed.

“SP AusNet has consulted with the Government and regulator on our targets, and we are confident we will deliver on our commitments,” Mr Johnson said.

Jemena and United Energy said extra crews would speed up installations in the rollout’s final months.

United Energy’s Stuart Allott said impeded meter access and an early focus on setting up the communications network explained its installation rate.

While it could not guarantee all meters would be fitted by the target, it expected to have visited every customer to either install or arrange installation by then.

Energy Minister Nicholas Kotsiras said: “It is expected that distribution companies meet their obligations for the rollout by the end of 2013.”

karen.collier@news.com.au

via Electricity smart meter companies confident deadline can be met | Herald Sun.

 

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Smart Meter Meeting and Film Afternoon – Tasmania

Posted on August 7, 2013 by Stop Smart Meters Australia

Tasmania Invitation

Location Update: Meeting is being held in Hobart

Posted in Smart Meter | 6 Comments

Electricity giant SP AusNet has appeal to increase charges to consumers to cover the cost of smart meters dismissed | Herald Sun

Posted on August 7, 2013 by Stop Smart Meters Australia

AN electricity giant trying to slug Victorian customers tens of millions of dollars more for smart meters has had its legal bid for higher prices rebuffed.

The Australian Competition Tribunal has dismissed distributor SP AusNet’s appeal to increase charges over the next two years to cover communications technology costs.

The rejected $72.2 million cash grab follows criticism over the company’s choice of technology for the state’s controversial compulsory smart meter rollout.

Other networks are using a different and cheaper communications technology.

Australian Energy Regulator chairman Andrew Reeves said the tribunal ruling was a significant consumer win.

“It confirms the AER was correct in deciding that consumers should not be required to bear the cost of SP AusNet’s decision not to switch to a lower-cost technology,” AER chairman Andrew Reeves said.

An AER spokesman added: “Once its costs had increased significantly from what was initially expected, the business should have reviewed its choice of technology.

By not doing so, we felt that they had departed from the commercial standard that was expected”.

SP AusNet’s most common annual smart meter charge this year is $130.45.

The AER said the distributor had wanted to increase charges by about 32 per cent over two years, rather than an approved 14 per cent.

In a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange, SP AusNet’s general counsel and company secretary Susan Taylor said the company was disappointed with the decision and would “carefully review the implications … and determine whether it is appropriate to take any further action”.

Australian Competition Tribunal rulings can be appealed at the Federal Court.

karen.collier@news.com.au

via Electricity giant SP AusNet has appeal to increase charges to consumers to cover the cost of smart meters dismissed | Herald Sun.

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Germany Rejects EU Smart-Meter Recommendations on Cost Concerns – Bloomberg

Posted on August 5, 2013 by Stop Smart Meters Australia

Germany said it probably won’t follow smart-meter guidance from the European Union — which has recommended that 80 percent of homes install the devices by 2020 — because such a move would be too costly for consumers.

The EU proposal is “inadvisable” for Germany, the Economy Ministry said in a statement, citing a study it commissioned from consultants Ernst & Young. For users with low power consumption, the installation cost would be greater than the achievable energy savings, it said.

Read the rest of the article via Germany Rejects EU Smart-Meter Recommendations on Cost Concerns – Bloomberg.

To contact the reporter on this story: Stefan Nicola in Berlin at snicola2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Reed Landberg at landberg@bloomberg.net

 

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Smart Meters – Welcome to a brave new world WITHOUT privacy

Posted on July 31, 2013 by Stop Smart Meters Australia

The articles linked to this post clearly demonstrate what kind of details are available to the power companies using smart meters to monitor our power usage. Power usage

Image: National Institute of Standards and Technology

It also covers some of the concerns that the public has with respect to how this data can be used such as providing a profile of a monitored household to determine whether a house is occupied or not. Refer to article here: privacy-on-the-smart-grid

There are some good suggestions on how household details can be obfuscated but it remains to seen whether any of them will be implemented by Power companies.

What should be a bigger concern to the public is that the smart meter combined with smart appliances creates the potential framework to support further monitoring measures in the future that may not be limited to simply turning on/off appliances remotely.

A “brave new world” in deed where it appears our home is no longer our private sanctuary.  Is this a case where technology has outpaced our laws particularly in regards to electronic trespass and where suddenly we appear to be potentially inviting corporations and potential government agencies into our houses without our knowledge or consent?

NBC News reports:

Researchers examining the privacy implications of smart-meter technology found that one German provider’s devices contained vulnerabilities that allowed them to snoop on unencrypted data to determine whether or not the homeowners were home.

After signing up with the German smart-meter firm Discovergy, the researchers detected that the company’s devices transmitted unencrypted data from the home devices back to the company’s servers over an insecure link. The researchers, Dario Carluccio and Stephan Brinkhaus, intercepted the supposedly confidential and sensitive information, and, based on the fingerprint of power usage, were able to tell not only whether or not the homeowners were home, away or even sleeping, but also what movie they were watching on TV.

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The Israeli Supreme Court Ordered the Israeli Government to Investigate the Number of Children Currently Suffering From EHS

Posted on July 25, 2013 by Stop Smart Meters Australia

Dafna Tachover, Jul 22, 2013

On July 18, 2013, the Israeli Supreme Court ordered the Israeli Government to investigate how many children in Israel already suffer from electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS). The Government must submit the result of its investigation to the court by November 16, 2013.

The Order was issued in response to a Petition to the Israeli Supreme Court to ban Wi-Fi in schools submitted in August, 2012.

This order is the result of an extensive brief written by Attorney Dafna Tachover and submitted to the Court on June 13, 2013. A 65-page brief, supported by 640 pages of appendices, emphasized the problem of EHS and claimed that it is unreasonable to expose children to WiFi when it is proven to cause sickness.

In the Supreme Court hearing, when the Govt. was asked what it would do if a child with EHS attended a school, the attorney for the Gov. answered: “The WiFi will be turned off in the school.”

The brief attempted to prove the following:
(1) Prove EHS is an existing illness, caused by EMFs
(2) Prove that the thermal safety standard was proven false as early as 40 years ago.
(3) Prove that it is unreasonable to rely on WHO considering it is corrupt.
(4) Prove that the Gov’s evaluation on the issue was unprofessional and negligent at best.
(5) Prove how the industry intentionally misled the public

Regarding the safety standards the brief claimed that the contention of the Govt. that the existing Israeli standard (1/10 of the Thermal Standard) “Protects with absolute certainty from known adverse health effects” is ridiculous as:

  • How can it be protective if people are sick with EHS?
  • How can it be protective when thousands of papers prove biological effects?
  • How can it be protective when even WHO declared RF a Group 2B carcinogen?

EHS

The brief emphasized the EHS issue to indicate that the damage already exists. Affidavits from 7 professionals with EHS were provided, including an affidavit of a mother both daughters of whom suffer from EHS, supporting scientific evidence was presented. It was shown that the government did nothing to investigate the issue despite ample notice and legal obligation. In addition, the brief attempted to demonstrate the ridiculousness of the claim that the condition does not exist and/or that it is not proven to be caused by EMF’s.

It should be noted that in Ms. Tachover’s correspondence with the Govt. Committee on the issue of Wi-Fi in schools prior to the submission of the lawsuit, the Committee eventually admitted the existence of EHS – the committee in its final report wrote: “If there is a child with sensitivity to RF radiation, the Ministry will provide a solution on an individual basis”.

What next: On Nov. 16 the Govt. must submit its Answer and the Plaintiffs will have to respond 15 days later. The Court indicated that following the submission of these responses, it intends to reach a decision.

The full article can be found here

It looks like legal action against wireless RF is the flavour of the month with this recent announcement in Canada:

Merchant Law Group LLP is pursuing litigation concerning cellular phone use and brain tumours in Canada.

More information can be found here

Wireless RF is used by Smart Meters to communicate power usage data back to the Power Utilities. When the smart meter HAN radio is turned on so that smart appliances can integrate with the meter as well as allowing consumers to connect wirelessly with hand held devices to view their power usage, we are likely to see more people experiencing EHS symptoms. It is time for our negligent Government and Power Utilities to investigate claims made by people in Victoria that smart meter RF is impairing people’s health otherwise they can expect to look forward to similar legal actions in Victoria in the near future.

 

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The Government is considering deployment of a wireless Smart Grid throughout WA

Posted on July 23, 2013 by Stop Smart Meters Australia

Why we should care…

Human Health and the Environment: Electromagnetic Radiation, such as that emitted by Smart Meters, has proven negative biological effects on living tissue.

Privacy and Security: Smart Meters collect and wirelessly transmit private data. Detailed profiles of our activities can be deduced from the unique electrical signature of each appliance. Security experts warn that wireless Smart Meter technology is especially vulnerable to remote cyber-attack and electricity theft. Two-way  communications also give power companies the ability to remotely shut off power.

Safety: Problems include interference with a wide range of medical and electronic devices, radio frequencies coupling onto household wiring, plus increased vulnerability to atmospheric events, leading to fires, explosions and damaged appliances.

Higher Bills and Minimal Energy Conservation: A one year Canadian study on Toronto Hydro customers showed Smart Meters increased bills for about 80% of consumers, with no significant energy conservation.

DNA DamageKids brains

Please refer to our flyers for more details:

Western Australian Version

Western Australia smart meter installation flyer

Victorian Version

Victorian Smart Meter installation

Posted in Smart Meter | 25 Comments

Power switch may mean smart meter cost unless ‘metering competition’ is delayed | Herald Sun

Posted on July 18, 2013 by Stop Smart Meters Australia

VICTORIAN households and small businesses risk being charged up to $140 for a new smart meter if they switch retailers.

Rules allowing only distributors, rather than retailers, from installing or replacing meters are due to expire at the end of the year, exposing customers to potential extra costs.

The State Government fears consumers could face higher costs and safety risks unless the introduction of “metering competition” is delayed, documents reveal.

It has requested an Australian Energy Market Commission rule change to prevent Victorians from being disadvantaged.

Its submission states, among other reasons, that this would avoid “the risk that consumers may be required to replace their meter with a change of electricity retailer and face charges associated”, or the risk of higher electricity prices due to switching carriers.

The cost of the controversial smart meter program has blown out to $2.3 billion.

Victoria’s electricity distributors, CitiPower, Jemena, Powercor, SP AusNet and United Energy, have had sole responsibility for smart meters since 2009.

The Government wants the AEMC to extend this arrangement for up to three more years, until a national framework with proper processes and systems for metering competition is established.

A decision is due later this year.

In a separate letter to the AEMC, Energy Minister Nicholas Kotsiras supports plans for metering competition, but is concerned about “detrimental impacts” if it is rushed. These include “potential risks to the safety of customers” during disconnections and reconnections and “adverse impacts on customer reliability where there are meter faults”.

“If there is not an orderly transition to a competitive metering market, the benefits associated … will be compromised,” the letter states.

The Consumer Action Law Centre’s Janine Rayner said promised benefits from smart meters, such as the ability for better energy use and costs, had to be realised before another “massive change” was imposed on Victorians.

karen.collier@news.com.au

via Power switch may mean smart meter cost unless ‘metering competition’ is delayed | Herald Sun.

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Getting smart about so-called ‘smart’ meters: Presentation and Film – Guildford

Posted on July 16, 2013 by Stop Smart Meters Australia

Join us on 3rd August at the historic Guildford Music Hall (11 kms south-east of Castlemaine) for a presentation by Janobai Smith followed by the screening of ‘Smart Meters and EMR: the Health Crisis of our Time’ and discussion.

Citizens Advocating for a Safe Environment volunteers will also be hosting a smart meters information stall at Wesley Hill Market (Pyrenees Hwy/Duke St, Castlemaine) on Saturday, 27th July 7.30 am – 1 pm (weather permitting). Come along and say g’day!

Get Smart About Smart Meters

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British Columbia (Canada) backs down on wireless smart meters

Posted on July 12, 2013 by Stop Smart Meters Australia

The B.C. Government does a back flip on their smart meter mandate by suggesting that they won’t force people to accept a wireless smart meter after 60,000 people objected to having one installed on their property.

It was reported on CBC News “The B.C. government won’t force people to get a wireless BC Hydro smart meter if they don’t want one, but they are likely going to pay an extra fee for the opting out of the system.

Energy Minister Bill Bennett says the details are still being ironed out, but it is clear someone will have to pay the extra cost and it won’t be those who have agreed to have the wireless meters installed…..

Opponents concerned about health

The $1 billion plan to install 1.8 million smart meters across B.C. has met with opposition for several reasons, including the cost of the program, concerns about privacy and hacking of the systems, and possible health effects of the wireless technology……”

The complete article can be found here CBC News B.C. Smart Meter

A video covering the same subject can be found here

It is interesting to note that right at the end of the linked video it was mentioned that originally both the Government and the Power Company insisted that all customers will have to have the meters installed because the system won’t work if not everyone is on board. Now that the B.C. Government has backed tracked on this requirement, critics will question whether the billion dollar program will still be worth the money. It is important to note that the very same excuse that everyone “will have to have a smart meter for the system to work” was made by the previous energy minister Michael O’Brien in correspondence to those who challenged him on the need to have a smart meter. And so the lies begin to surface and the mandate begins to unravel. Time to put pressure on our local Government to come clean.

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