Stop Smart Meters Australia receives copies of numerous letters addressed to power distributors from people who are refusing installation of smart meters. We thought this letter, addressed to United Energy and copied to Minister O’Brien and Service Stream, deserves sharing…….
Letter to United Energy (September 2012)
It is perhaps the biggest single public policy failure in the energy sector of the past decade – mandated smart meters which are being introduced in Victoria.
With the cost of the roll-out now estimated at more than $2 billion – more than twice the initial estimated cost – it has added another lucrative profit source to the activities of the power distributors.
And the backlash has been so intense that the Australian Energy Markets Commission omitted any reference to “smart meters” in its 192-page report released yesterday. The report outlines a series of measures to overhaul the electricity market by boosting so-called demand-side participation – that is, measures to encourage lower demand at times of peak electricity prices.
The report is littered with the term “better metering” and even “interval metering” as a means of introducing “more innovative pricing options” to the electricity market, to cut the need for a new round of capital spending.
The issue of smart meters has become so toxic politically that the NSW government, for example, refuses to countenance a mandated roll-out, fearful of a tabloid newspaper-generated backlash, such as occurred in Victoria, even though the federal government is threatening penalties if it doesn’t go down this path.
And as Victoria has found, there has been no advantage in being the “first mover” in introducing smart meters, since technology has moved on since it launched this program several years ago now, especially since many so-called smart meter functions are little more than a smartphone app these days – especially with the national broadband roll-out.
The power industry knows it can save billions of dollars in spending by cutting demand during the peak usage times of early morning and the evenings, but for most households the amount of money likely to be saved is so limited that it is barely worth the effort.
Rather, the savings are more readily demonstrated for larger commercial and industrial users, which should be the focus of much of the efforts to manipulate power demand.
Brian Robins, Sydney Morning HeraldEarly last week, Origin Energy, Australia’s pre-eminent energy retailer, launched an online energy-use monitoring portal Origin Smart to much fanfare. All good – but what about the privacy and security of the data being collected and made available?
Origin Smart has all the characteristics of an information store that will be a target for hackers.
Knowledge is power and information about customers’ electricity usage is a saleable commodity. Information about electricity usage for business, government, defence and national infrastructure is of value to hackers and terrorists. (Origin Energy hasn’t made it clear whether Origin Smart will be available only to residential customers.)
Victorian customers can access the portal from any internet-connected computer. The portal does not utilise two-step authentication – that is, a second layer of security (such as being sent a password by text message) that makes a security breach less likely.
By contrast, most Australian banks and many online services, including Google and Dropbox, do use two-step authentication.
Failure to utilise these additional security measures is a potential flaw that makes Origin Smart more of a target than it needs to be.
At the most basic level, Origin Smart is collecting critical information about customers putting it all into internet-connected systems and making it available to customers from any internet-connected computer around the world.
More concerning is the fact the Origin Smart: Initial Privacy Consent provides a list of organisations that customers agree, when signing up to the service, to allow access to their data.
That list includes:
… relevant contractors which may include installers, mail houses, data processing analysts, IT service providers and smart energy technology providers, debt collection agencies and credit reporting agencies, relevant Government authorities…
Why would I want to share my half-hourly electricity usage data with a debt collector? Or a credit reporting agency for that matter?
Is Origin Smart being set up as a dual-purpose portal that will allow a range of companies to log in and access the complete energy usage history of one or more customers? No-one as yet is saying so, but it would be reassuring to have such issues clarified.
The Origin Smart Terms and Conditions indicate customer information will be sent to a “third-party smart energy technology provider” located in Colorado, USA.
The Australian government should be very concerned that potentially most (Origin Energy currently has 4.4m customers nationwide) of Australia’s residential, business and corporate energy usage is being sent to the USA – a country that does not have strict privacy and security rules.
Are we in danger of inadvertently paving the way for the largest personal data breach in Australian history? And all without having been attacked by Anonymous, by cyber-terrorists or a potential enemy nation carrying out an act of cyber-warfare.
Origin Energy has stated it will send customer data to a company in a country that does not require that company to keep the data secure and permits the company to on-sell the data to whomever they please. I’m gobsmacked.
Mark Gregory, Senior Lecturer in Electrical and Computer Engineering at RMIT University
Full article available at: https://theconversation.edu.au/is-origin-smart-sleepwalking-into-a-shocking-personal-data-breach-9236
On August 28, 2012, the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal issued a decision approving a representative complaint (akin to a class action) against BC Hydro on behalf of “those persons allegedly diagnosed with electromagnetic hypersensitivity and who have been advised to avoid exposure to wireless technology”.
The Tribunal found that the complaint brought by the Citizens for Safe Technology Society properly alleges a breach of the Human Rights Code in that it alleges a disability, adverse treatment in respect of a service customarily available to the public, and a nexus or connection between the disability and the adverse treatment. By way of the Complaint, the Citizens for Safe Technology Society seeks:
On May 31, 2011, the World Health Organization recognized that radiofrequency electromagnetic fields are a Class 2B possible human cancer risk. The emissions generated by the Microwave Device fall under this classification of emissions and risk.
The Citizens for Safe Technology Society is currently fundraising to bring a tort action against BC Hydro so as to prohibit the imposition of microwave emitting smart meters on BC residents regardless of whether they have electromagnetic hypersensitivity.
Now have we all forgotten how governments work?
A long time ago Governments said smoking is not harmful and took the advice of tobacco companies and promoted smoking as good for you and reaped in mega billions of dollars and still are today.
At the same time the government also promoted asbestos as a safe building material at the advice of corporations, e.g, the James Hardy Corporation.
So we all smoked like troopers and put asbestos in homes and buildings
that we all work and live in.
Now it is proven that smoking causes lung cancer and other diseases it is also proven that asbestos causes asbestos and other related diseases but while you and I are or could be dying from these diseases the government has its head in the sand about smart meters and is listening to these power companies and the lies that these companies are telling to protect their bottom line and at the same time the government will be reaping in billions of dollars so they all have a vested interest in these smart meters and it doesn’t mater one bit to the government that we will all suffer in the long run from these smart meters and the disease that they will cause and as you all know we will have to prove that these thing made us sick and then treat us like tobacco and asbestos victims they the government will label us all liars and only after thirty years or more when most of the population fall to these smart meter then they the government will legislate in parliament the they the government are not liable for this out come.
It is in our interest to protest these meters out of existence and you do this by word of mouth and on the steps of parliament in your capital city.
P.S
I do know that a Wi-Fi affects children I have autistic child at home and since I have turned off the Wi-Fi router in our home my son is like a different child no more aggravation four to five years I ran this stupid thing and I never once got it what it was doing.
I don’t want such a meter on my home they can stick it on the power pole if they like or where the sun doesn’t shine.
Anthony
TORONTO, June 18, 2012 /CNW/ – Women’s College Hospital says family doctors must learn to detect the symptoms of exposure to wireless radiation.
The hospital released a statement saying the symptoms include disrupted sleep, headaches, nausea, dizziness, heart palpitations, memory problems, and skin rashes. These symptoms are now labelled Electro-magnetic Hyper-sensitivity, or “EMS”.
“Health-care practitioners need to better understand EMS so they can help their patients,” said Dr. Riina Bray, medical director of the hospital’s Environmental Health Clinic.
Dr. Bray says the world is becoming dominated by wireless internet, cell phones and cell towers, and there can be a broad range of health impacts.
The hospital’s Environmental Health Clinic has begun holding educational workshops on the subject for doctors.
Last year the World Health Organization placed microwave radiation from wireless internet and cell phones on an official Cancer watch-list. Since then several schools have removed their wifi systems and the Catholic teacher’s union in Ontario has called for a moratorium on wifi installations in classrooms.
Yesterday, on the news, Mr O’Brien was seen supporting and promoting power companies’ push to sell the ‘benefits’ of HLAN (home energy monitoring) to electricity customers. Whilst it is understandable that the power corporations would do that (they desperately need a reason for the massive cost of smart meter roll-out), it is very worrying to see a Minister promote the very system that had UK Parliamentarians so concerned, that they eventually stopped the mandatory roll-out there.
In the UK, it was argued that “wireless transmission of personal data, with information about the DEVICES you use, WHEN you use them and WHAT you are doing with them at any given moment, will be available to energy companies and any potential hackers. WIRELESS IS EASY TO HACK. In a wireless “Smart Grid”, your ENTIRE HOME will become a NODE ON THE INTERNET. That means your home and electricity usage will suddenly become available to HACKERS, who can use the data to analyse when certain people are at home, eg YOUNG CHILDREN.”
It is unjustifiably reckless behaviour by the Victorian government to be pushing a system that is certain to undermine the privacy of our homes and the safety of our children within them.
Kevin
“Man conquered the Black Plague, but he has created new problems – EMF pollution”
The Russian National Committee on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection has agreed to provide a detailed report for the world containing clear information on the most important Russian research results in RF/EMF radiation over the past 50 years.
RF/EMF researchers and environmental activists, Eileen O’Connor, Director for the UK Radiation Research Trust charity and Sissel Halmøy, Chairman for the International EMF Alliance and Secretary General for the Citizens ́ Radiation Protection in Norway recently returned from a trip to meet with top scientists at the Russian Federation.
Halmøy said: “According to the RNCNIRP, the following health hazards are likely to be faced by children who use mobile phones in the near future: disruption of memory, decline of attention, diminishing learning and cognitive abilities, increased irritability, sleep problems, increase in sensitivity to the stress, increased epileptic readiness. Action must be taken immediately to adopt biologically based guidelines to protect children.” Current standards are based more on engineering needs than biological studies.
O’Connor said “The Russian report is a gift to the world. The UK Radiation Research Trust will present the report in the Autumn to the Rt Hon Iain Duncan Smith MP and will be forwarded to the UK Chief Medical Officer, Professor Dame Sally Davies.”
She added “Russian scientists are advanced in their knowledge on RF/EMF radiation and have extended the hand of friendship and are willing to share their expertise and knowledge. I hope decision makers from the western world accept this great honour and work together.”
Russian research offers crucial and important aspects of developmental relevance that conveys a sense of urgency for the global RF/EMF framework. Without it, national governments may not be able to ensure the health of future generations are protected, especially that of our children.
Russian warnings exists urging pregnant women to avoid using mobile phones entirely along with children under eighteen. Likewise, Germany, India, the United Kingdom, Israel, Finland, Belgium and Toronto, Canada, have issued health warnings for children to not use mobile phones, or for emergency use only. Unfortunately, most children, parents, doctors and teachers are not aware of this important information.
Furthermore, in May 2011 the World Health Organisation and IARC issued a classification stating that radio frequency – electromagnetic fields are possibly carcinogenic to humans (group B). This warning is issued not only for mobile phones and phone masts, but for Wi-Fi, smart meters, wireless computers and all applications of technology on the RF/EMF Spectrum (radio-frequency radiation to electromagnetic radiation.)
Full article at: http://iemfa.org/images/pdf/Professor%20Yury%20Grigoriev.pdf
Stop Smart Meters Australia 