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.

 

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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

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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

Residents block smart meters in Reservoir, Preston and Kingsbury | Leader Newspapers

Posted on January 23, 2013 by Stop Smart Meters Australia

129108-20130115-smart-meter

Darebin Progress Association spokeswoman Marion Harper said about six members had chosen to padlock their meter boxes, because they were concerned about exposure to radiation from the new meters.

She said since Preston Leader first reported on the association’s concerns in November, she had received several calls from worried residents.

“People have rung to say they already have them (smart meters), or they don’t want them, or to ask what can they do,” she said.

Ms Harper said she told those who phoned it was not illegal to refuse smart meter installation, as per legal advice from barrister Eugene White.

She said if people were prepared to padlock their meter box, she suggested cutting a hole in the front of the box so the meter could still be viewed.

Read the rest of the article via Residents block smart meters in Reservoir, Preston and Kingsbury | Leader Newspapers North Melbourne | Local Community News VIC | Moreland Leader | Hume Leader | Sunbury Leader | Preston Leader | Northcote Leader | Whittlesea Leader | Heidelberg Leader | Diamond Valley Leader | Herald Sun.

 

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I burst into tears because I can’t sleep….

Posted on January 15, 2013 by Stop Smart Meters Australia

Hi,  I had a smart meter placed on the wall of my bedroom approx 12 months ago. When it was installed I complained that I could hear “an electrical buzzing “. I called SP Ausnet and they told me it was fine. Upon my insistence they sent an electricin out to check if it was “faulty” – he reported that it wasn’t, however i wasn’t convinced and asked them to replace it with a new one. he did this but stated it wouldn’t make a difference. He was right – now 12 months later i have put up with this terrible electrical noise and it drives me crazy at night to the point that I burst into tears because I can’t sleep…. not to mention the migraines i have at least every 3 weeks which i have never had in the past. they are absolutely crippling and make me feel extremely nauseous. I don’t know what to do anymore. I recently went away for a week and I couldn’t believe the difference, i was beginning to think it was my imagination . Approx 6 months ago we had solar added to our roof and I wanted the smart meter removed but i was told that it had to stay because of the solar. I think the government is slowly trying to kill us… are they going to accept responsibility for all the problems this smart meter is causing – or is it going to take someone to die from all the radiation before they realize what a colossal mistake they have made. I don’t know what else to do now except continue buying migraine tablets to help my headaches – as for “current ” buzzing through my head at night – perhaps i need to take a strong sleeping tablet just so I know i’m not going crazy and get some peace!!!

Desiree

Posted in Smart Meter | Tagged , , , | 49 Comments

Updated BioInitiative Report reviews over 1800 new scientific studies

Posted on January 9, 2013 by Stop Smart Meters Australia

The BioInitiative 2012 Report updates five years of science, public health, public policy and global response to the growing health issue of chronic exposure to electromagnetic fields and radiofrequency radiation in the daily life of billions of people around the world.

The new report by the BioInitiative Working Group 2012 says that evidence for risks to health has substantially increased since 2007 from electromagnetic fields and wireless technologies (radiofrequency radiation). The Report reviews over 1800 new scientific studies. The BioInitiative 2012 Report has been prepared by 29 authors from ten countries, ten holding medical degrees (MDs), 21 PhDs, and three MsC, MA or MPHs. Among the authors are three former presidents of the Bioelectromagnetics Society, and five full members of BEMS. One distinguished author is the Chair of the Russian National Committee on Non-Ionizing Radiation. Another is a Senior Advisor to the European Environmental Agency. As in 2007, each author is responsible for their own chapter.

The great strength of the BioInitiative Report (www.bioinitiative.org) is that it has been done independent of governments, existing bodies and industry professional societies that have clung to old standards. Precisely because of this, the BioInitiative Report presents a solid scientific and public health policy assessment that is evidence-based.

The report covers EMF from powerlines, electrical wiring, appliances and hand-held devices; and from wireless technologies (cell and cordless phones, cell towers, smart meters, WI-FI, wireless laptops, wireless routers, baby monitors, and other electronic devices).  Health topics include damage to DNA and genes, effects on memory, learning, behavior, attention, sleep disruption, cancer and neurological diseases like Alzheimer’s disease.   New safety standards are urgently needed for protection against EMF and wireless exposures that now appear everywhere in daily life.

The BioInitiative 2012 Report is available at: www.bioinitiative.org.

 

Please also consider signing this petition: “Urgent Need for Biologically-based EMF Public Exposure Standards”

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/new-biologically-based-emf-public-exposure/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=system&utm_campaign=Send%2Bto%2BFriend

 

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