Undue Harassment

Posted on February 26, 2013 by Stop Smart Meters Australia

It is unlawful to continually, intimidate or harass an individual over and over again.

If you keep getting letters but have advised your distributor of your refusal to have an AMI installed, try using this bit of legislation, write to your distributor & complain to the ACCC

“ACCC Sales practices – Consumer Affairs Victoria
Section 07. Harassment and coercion

Harassment and coercion
It is unlawful to use physical force, coerce or unduly harass someone about the supply of, or payment for,
goods or services.
ACL reference: section 50
What is harassment and coercion?
It is unlawful to use physical force, coercion or undue harassment in connection with the:
-;    supply or possible supply of goods or services
-;    payment for goods or services
-;    sale or grant, or the possible sale or grant, of an interest in land, or
-;    payment for an interest in land.
Undue harassment means unnecessary or excessive contact or communication with a person, to the point where that person feels intimidated, tired or demoralised.
Coercion involves force (actual or threatened) that restricts another person’s choice or freedom to act. Unlike harassment, there is no requirement for behaviour to be repetitive in order to amount to coercion.
Legal reference: ACCC v Maritime Union of Australia [2001] FCA 1549”

Similar advise was posted earlier on SSMA and the link below will take you to this previous post that also includes a pre drafted letter of Undue Harassment.

Link

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Film Night – Castlemaine

Posted on February 26, 2013 by Stop Smart Meters Australia

Award Winning documentary ‘Resonance – Beings of Frequency’  will be shown in Castlemaine on Sunday 10th March at 3:00PM

This Film explains the effect of man-made wireless frequencies, and is a MUST WATCH FOR EVERYONE.

“RESONANCE” is a sensational eye opening documentary which reveals the harm we are doing by existing in an ocean of man-made wireless frequencies.

Not only are we surrounded by natural frequencies, our bodies are filled with them too. Our cells communicate using electro-magnetic frequencies. Our brain emits a constant stream of frequencies and our DNA delivers instructions, using frequency waves. Without them we couldn’t exist for more than a second.

To the naked eye the planet appears to be the same BUT at a cellular level it is the biggest change that life on earth has endured; the effects of which we are just starting to see and feel.

Resonance

This documentary can also be found  at:

Resonance – Beings of Frequency

Posted in Smart Meter | Tagged , , , | 15 Comments

Legal Advice Reminder

Posted on February 21, 2013 by Stop Smart Meters Australia

Over the past month, with the apparent approval of the Baillieu Government, especially its Minister for Energy and Resources, Hon. Michael O’Brien, power distributors in Victoria seem to have increased their bullying tactics in forcing smart meters against the will of residents who conscientiously object.  Stop Smart Meters Australia would like to remind Victorians there is currently no legislation in place that requires any person to allow another on his or her premises to either remove an old meter or install a smart meter.  Currently the installers must use their “best endeavours” to install smart meters (Vic Govt Order in Council dated 28 Aug 2007) and rely upon a ‘deemed contract’ between supplier/user as a basis to install smart meters  (in short – this is a deeming that they can come onto property by consent to read meter re billing purposes) – not a right to install a smart meter but a right to read and bill for electricity usage only.

If you encounter threats to disconnect power supply because of your refusal to allow the installation of a smart meter on your premises, the installer/supplier simply cannot do that without being held to account.  See: https://stopsmartmeters.com.au/2012/05/08/essential-services-commission-answers-questions-on-bullying-and-threats/Victorian Essential Services Commission 

Stop Smart Meters Australia strongly advises you NOT to enter into any VERBAL discussions at your door, or over the phone with power companies, DPI, or Installers – state that you will only deal with communications in writing.

And don’t forget – lock you meter box (and cut a window out so the meter can still be read).

Legal advice we have received includes: https://stopsmartmeters.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/legal-advice-oct-2012.pdf

Posted in Smart Meter | Tagged , , , | 83 Comments

Smart meter zapping broadband connection | The Courier

Posted on February 12, 2013 by Stop Smart Meters Australia

I HAVE heard a lot of stuff about smart meters but wanted to ask a question.

Since my smart meter was installed, my wireless broadband has been at best intermittent and at worst non-existent.

I have had to reinstall the mobile broadband program several times in a month and am having glitches with programs I have never had before – some of them major and interrupting my work flow.

Powercor says it’s a Telstra problem. Telstra says it’s Powercor and no one wants to take responsibility for the fact it was fine until the meter installation.

Others in the same building have also got broadband issues. Has anyone else had problems with their meter?

FRED SPITTLE

Ballarat

via Smart meter zapping broadband connection | The Courier.

 

Posted in Smart Meter | Tagged , , , , , , , | 33 Comments

Smart meter charges ‘too big’

Posted on February 12, 2013 by Stop Smart Meters Australia

Too much: Smart-meter rollout annoys regulator. Photo: Ben Rushton

IN A bid to stop overspending on the electricity network, SP AusNet has been blocked by the Australian Energy Regulator from hiking charges to pay for its rollout of smart meters.

The AER, an arm of competition watchdog ACCC, also criticised the company for failing to switch to cheaper technology to avoid a blowout in costs.

The regulator also cut back, from $410.7 million to $304.1 million, SP AusNet’s proposed expenditure for the rollout of the meters between 2012 and 2016, triggering a legal challenge by the power distributor.

With the legal challenge failing, consumers will not be charged for cost overruns.

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SP AusNet says it has not ruled out challenging the decision, but will ”carefully review” it before deciding on a response.

The regulator said ”a reasonable business” would have reconsidered what equipment to install after a blow-out in costs.

”The allowance for 2011 that the [regulator] originally approved would have been more than sufficient to cover the costs of switching to the alternative technology,” regulator chairman Andrew Reeves said in a statement late on Monday.

If SP AusNet’s proposal had been approved, meter prices would have risen by about 16 per cent in both 2014 and 2015 on top of the 7 per cent allowed previously by the government.

No price rise was considered necessary to account for the cost of switching technologies, the AER said, although some provision was agreed to be made for foreign exchange contracts and project management, which will increase SP AusNet’s allowance by $17.5 million.

”The effect is that current meter prices will increase by approximately 3 per cent each year in 2014 and 2015 on top of the 7 per cent previously allowed,” it said.

For the standard meter, this means prices will increase by $12.93 in 2014 and $14.22 in 2015.

The Victorian government approved a statewide rollout of so-called smart meters in 2006. The cost of the introduction has risen steeply even though the cost of the basic technology has declined, resulting in mounting public criticism.

Between 2009 and 2015 alone, Victoria’s electricity distributors are to spend $2 billion on the meters, recovering the costs through user charges.

SP AusNet services the eastern suburbs of Melbourne and the north-east and east of Victoria.

via Smart meter charges ‘too big’.

 

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Outrage at 39 per cent jump in fixed power supply fees

Posted on February 7, 2013 by Stop Smart Meters Australia

HOUSEHOLDS are being stung with power supply price rises of up to 39 per cent before using any electricity.

In a blow to Victorians scrambling to save money by using less power, analysis reveals they will pay as much as $477 this year without flicking a switch.

Energy Retailers Association of Australia chief Cameron O’Reilly blamed higher network, meter and green scheme costs for driving up “fixed” or service to property charges.

But St Vincent de Paul Society energy analyst Gavin Dufty said some businesses appeared to also be trying to claw back cash amid falling electricity consumption.

Fixed supply charges will jump by as much as $113 this year for customers with some retailers in some areas, the society’s analysis of January price rises found.

“Some of these significant increases are due to changes in poles and wires charges, but we believe another reason is companies making up for a shortfall in revenue from reduced energy consumption,” Mr Dufty said.

Origin Energy’s annual supply charge for the SP AusNet zone had surged 39 per cent to $386, the review found.

Neighbourhood Energy’s charge in the CitiPower network is up 37 per cent to $389, while Simply Energy’s charge in the United Energy area has also climbed 37 per cent to $422. At the other extreme, Australian Power and Gas supply charges lifted 3 per cent, and EnergyAustralia added 2-3 per cent in some zones.

Mr O’Reilly said consumers could shop around for the most suitable deal.

An Origin spokesman said higher costs had been passed on.

The analysis tracked published price changes for customers who are not on market offers. But Mr Dufty said households on contracts could expect similar percentage increases.

Customers in Melbourne’s inner west and north, the northeastern suburbs and eastern Victoria pay the state’s highest supply charges. Simply Energy’s $477 slug in the SP AusNet area was the steepest noted.

Mr Dufty said big fixed charges hurt modest users such as low-income and single households most.

However, large families were often better off choosing the lowest consumption rates rather than the smallest supply charge.

karen.collier@news.com.au

Via: http://www.news.com.au/national/outrage-at-39-per-cent-jump-in-fixed-power-supply-fees/story-fndo4cq1-1226572143843

It’s a shame that Cameron O’Reilly doesn’t explain that the higher meter costs in Victoria are largely due to the smart meter costs blow out from $800 million to $2.3 billion, and that every household in Victoria, as part of their electricity bill, is now paying an average of $114 a year for the so-called privilege of having a smart meter in their home whether they like it or not. 

 

Posted in Smart Meter | Tagged | 20 Comments

Cyber security a key national priority

Posted on February 5, 2013 by Stop Smart Meters Australia

Prime Minister Julia Gillard says that cyber security is a key national defence priority for her, as per the recently published article in The Australian, of 4 February 2013 FL article

The PM’s push to have all state governments roll-out smart-meters appears as a misguided attempt to rein in power prices. Ironically, a rise in electricity prices is exactly what the carbon tax set out to achieve.

Posted in Smart Meter | 13 Comments

Boy saves family from house fire – Neoskosmos

Posted on February 1, 2013 by Stop Smart Meters Australia

12-year-old Peter Tzirozidis was the hero behind a vicious house fire, caused by a Smart Meter, that destroyed a family’s home in Christmas Street, Thornbury. The courageous young man noticed the house fire and immediately alerted neighbours to save his grandparents who live in the house, including his bedridden grandfather.

His mother Sophie Tzirozidis, who was out walking the dog when the house fire began, heard her young son screaming on the street waving his hands for help, and immediately ran home to see her family home in flames. She also noticed that the smart meter had sparked the fire that quickly spread to the roof. She said she could see “flames coming out of the Smart Meter” that caused the fire to extend to the roof.  “The police, ambulance and fire brigade came and it looked like a scene out of a movie,” she told Neos Kosmos. “When I came back – bang – it was like a big explosion happened.”

Ms Tzirozidis added that her son “got the shock of his life” when he noticed the house fire and knew he had to do all he could to get his grandparents out and to safety. Three neighbours had to carry her housebound father out of the house, who was taken away by the ambulance to check for smoke inhalation.

The fire took firefighters between two to three hours to contain. Ms Tzirozidis was told that this was the third incident of Smart Meters causing a house fire they had seen in Northcote.

“I didn’t want the Smart Meter,” Ms Tzirozidis said. “They just installed it in our area, everyone got it on Christmas Street.” She said if she had known that it could cause that much damage, she “wouldn’t have gotten a Smart Meter”.

Building has just begun on the 30-year-old family home in Northcote, even though the fire occurred on May 9, 2012 and caused approximately $350,000 damage to the property. She said that although the insurance will help rebuild the house, the family are the ones who suffer the most having lost so many memories and contents that are irreplaceable.
“Everything is gone,” Ms Tzirozidis added, “all the photos, my kids when they were little they are all gone. It makes me angry because Smart Meters are dangerous and people shouldn’t go through this.”

Following the fire, Ms Tzirozidis contacted CitiPower who advised her that the fire had nothing to do with the Smart Meter, and was most probably caused by the wiring of the house, adding that it was old.

“Why do we have to go through this because of Smart Meters?” she asks. “There’s going to be another family that’s going to go through the same thing as us.
“People need to know the dangers of Smart Meters.”

Penni Pappas, 31 January 2013

Via: http://neoskosmos.com/news/en/boy-saves-family-from-house-fire

Posted in Smart Meter | Tagged , , | 63 Comments

Actions you can take….

Posted on January 29, 2013 by Stop Smart Meters Australia

images2    ACTIONS YOU CAN TAKE NOW
IF YOU DO NOT CONSENT TO A SMART METER INSTALLATION
Please follow this link and read the instructions very carefully. It is important that you follow all steps, especially make sure that you lock your meter and make a little window so it can be read, or have someone at home who can allow for the reading of the meter.

Posted in Smart Meter | 9 Comments

Smart Meter video – A Current Affair

Posted on January 25, 2013 by Stop Smart Meters Australia

It’s the ongoing campaign by Australian families against so-called Smart Meters. At issue, serious questions over their cost effectiveness and health concerns.

Click here http://video.au.msn.com/watch/video/smart-meters/x5zgu0q

Posted in Smart Meter | 31 Comments