I don’t want a smart meter either | Gippsland Times

Posted on August 28, 2012 by Stop Smart Meters Australia

I write in support of Mrs Allitt’s letter last week headed “We don’t want or need smart meters” (Gippsland Times 21/8). We are told that we have no choice. Well, we do have a choice. This is Australia, not Syria. You can object on the grounds of health issues and property risk of damage due to the installation of these smart meters.I have never been consulted as to whether I need or want a new meter, at a cost to me. I would like to know who is making an absolute fortune out of this stupid half-baked program.  This is just another “government home insulation” situation. It is not really well thought out and has high risk to health and property, which has been well documented. You can object and there are many websites that will give you good direction. Just Google “smart meter objections” or go to http://www.nosmartmeters.org. I will certainly be placing a notice on my switchboard, which is a good place to register your refusal. There are good examples on the web sites.

via I don’t want a smart meter either | Gippsland Times.

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Not so reassuring – Wimmera Mail Times

Posted on August 26, 2012 by Stop Smart Meters Australia

I was pleased CitiPower and Powercor corporate affairs manager Hugo Armstrong endorsed the importance of seeking accurate information, in his letter, published in the Mail-Times on August 6.

I refer Mr Armstrong to page 13 of his organisation’s publication titled, ‘Everything you should know about smart meters’.

The opening paragraph of the Health and Safety section states that ‘ARPANSA is the Australian Government Agency that sets safety standards for the two kinds of electromagnetic fields (EMF) associated with your electricity supply and smart meter’.

The publication goes on to say that ‘One kind is the extremely low frequency (ELF) electromagnetic field caused by the current in your power lines’.

The document subsequently assures us that independent testing found that ‘both EMF exposures from smart meters were a tiny fraction of the safe levels set by ARPANSA’.

This sounds very reassuring.

There is, however, one slight problem which I would like to bring to the attention of Mr Armstrong: there are no standards in Australia for ELF electromagnetic fields.

We did indeed have interim guidelines set in 1989 by the NHMRC, but this document was rescinded in accordance with its policy of reviewing documents published more than 10 years ago.

The ‘independent testing’ by EMC Technologies in respect of radio frequency fields from smart meters – which at this end of the electromagnetic spectrum are specifically microwaves – unfortunately also suffered from systemic faults.

A sample size of only 16 sites was used to assess the safety of a system which potentially might affect more than five million Victorians.

The study also failed to address the problems of additive and cumulative exposure to radiation as a consequence of exposing Victorians to mandatory irradiation from wireless smart meters.

The World Health Organisation classified radio frequency EMF as a Group 2B possible carcinogen on 31 May 2011.

There are also a large number of scientific studies which indicate that exposure to EMF has the potential for other adverse effects.

These include cellular DNA damage, disruptions to cellular functions, and disruption of tissue structures.

ARPANSA standards for radio frequencies allow CitiPower and Powercor customers to be exposed to about 4600 times more radiation than do the precautionary limits of a country such as Austria.

However, ARPANSA standards also state that people should not be unnecessarily exposed to radiation, even if falling within their standards, providing this can be achieved at reasonable expense.

One must ask why CitiPower and Powercor Australia chose a wireless system for their smart meters.

Surely it would have made more sense to piggy-back onto NBN fibre-optic cabling, thereby eliminating all microwave radiation as well as arguably providing a more cost-effective long-term solution?

Janobai Smith                                                                                                                              Stop Smart Meters Australia

Via: Not so reassuring – Wimmera Mail Times

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Hope for our New Zealand friends across the Tasman!

Posted on August 24, 2012 by Stop Smart Meters Australia

 

 

New analogue meters are an option in NZ

Just had a call from a chap at Contact Energy offering me a new analogue power meter.

The company wrote to me about two weeks ago to say a Smart Meter would be installed. Subsequent phone calls, while politely and professionally handled, didn’t show much chance of an alternative.

I pressed on.

Today I got a call saying Contact Energy will install an Actaris SMO ACE1000 power meter that has no wireless capabilities at all.

As you can see from the photo below, it has a display much like an older car’s odometer.

The news came with a polite heads up that I may not be able to take part in any special offers the firm may have as I won’t have a smart meter. I assume a special offer could be “turn on an extra light now – it’s the half price power hour”.

I was also advised that should I change my mind and want a smart meter installed later on, then I will have to pay for it.

If you want an analogue meter installed, this page is your evidence that it is an option – at least if you are a Contact Energy customer in New Zealand.

My advice is to not get emotional with power companies when refusing a smart meter as you will be talking with a call centre person who – with all due respect – often don’t have the option of making decisions. They take messages.

Put your request in writing – email worked for me. Be polite, remain firm and clear. Don’t get into a debate (because you can’t have a debate with a corporation), don’t argue. Just keep it simple and insist on an analogue power meter (I am told Contact Energy has plenty of them in stock).

Send any supporting documents to help your case. This PDF appears to have helped me.

Remember, there is no law that requires you to have a smart meter – listen here.

Good luck.

 

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I honestly thought the concern about smart meters was over rated….

Posted on August 23, 2012 by Stop Smart Meters Australia

I honestly thought the concern about smart meters was over rated and so I naively took the DPI website’s so-called safe smart meter readings as fact and got mine installed.

Over a week or so after this I could hear a low humming noise in my left ear when going to sleep, similar to the sound of a computer starting up but higher pitched. This has progressively got louder and louder to the point that I wake up in the morning feeling like my ears been next to a mobile phone all night.

I have spent a lot of money to get 2 walls painted with Y-Shield  paint and had earthing plates installed on these walls where the extremely high RF Readings were coming from my meter box.

Yet I can still hear this noise. It almost feels like some constant electro magnetic force has come alive in my house since the smart meter was installed.

Does anyone have similar issues or know of other actions to take to avoid this problem? I don’t have tinnitus as I have had this confirmed by an audiologist.

Andrew

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International Doctor’s Appeal 2012 – Physicians demand precaution now.

Posted on August 22, 2012 by Stop Smart Meters Australia

International Doctors’ Appeal 2012 – 10 Years after Freiburg Appeal: Wireless radiation poses a health risk. Physicians demand precaution now.

More than 1000 physicians signed the “Freiburg Appeal” in 2002. It was translated into many languages. As many as 36,000 people from all over the world support its warning about the dangers of wireless radiation. Today-ten years later-we as physicians call again on the international community. We are deeply concerned. Despite all warnings, more and more new wireless technologies are introduced into our lives: cell phone networks, TETRA, LTE, cordless phones, Wi-Fi, baby monitors, wireless meters, digital radio and TV, and many others. All of these wireless technologies overload the biophysical pathways of cell communication in living systems with increasing layers and densities of electromagnetic fields.

Full article at: http://www.avaate.org/article.php3?id_article=2290

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Glenroy Smart Meter Meetings – Friday 24 August

Posted on August 21, 2012 by Stop Smart Meters Australia

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Mount Alexander Council requests smart meters health safety guarantee!

Posted on August 20, 2012 by Stop Smart Meters Australia

Mount Alexander Council has passed a motion last week calling for the roll-out of wireless smart meters in the Shire to be made voluntary until a public statement can be provided, guaranteeing safety from non-thermal chronic exposure to RF radiation from smart meters.  The motion calls for the Council to write to the Minister for Energy and Resources, the Honourable Michael O’Brien, requesting this guarantee in the light of concerns regarding the potential ill health effects of smart meters.  The response from the Minister is to be brought to a future Council Meeting.

In addition, the motion calls for the Council to ask the Municipal Association of Victoria (MAV) to put forward a Notice of Motion at the next State Council requesting the MAV to investigate possible health problems associated with smart meters and, based on the outcome, to take appropriate action.

Stop Smart Meters Australia applauds Mount Alexander Shire Councillors on this initiative.  We look forward to more Councils lobbying the MAV!

Mount Alexander Shire councillors have shown that they truly are listening to residents’ concerns regarding the health safety of wireless smart meters.  We await the response from the Minister for Energy and Resources to their motion!

Click here to read a copy of the motion that was passed: Mount Alexander Motion 14.08.12

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A must read for all concerned about smart meters

Posted on August 19, 2012 by Stop Smart Meters Australia

Just last month, 40  highly respected EMF and radiation experts (doctors and  scientists) from all around the world have co-authored an article on the health effects of smart meters. It is a powerful and urgent warning to all mankind, but it is governments that have a duty to inform themselves and take the necessary steps to protect their people. Failure to do so will inevitably have dire consequences.  See:
http://maisonsaine.ca/smart-meters-correcting-the-gross-misinformation/

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Smart meter objections to councils – Frankston Times

Posted on August 17, 2012 by Stop Smart Meters Australia

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Within 30 minutes of installation I began to feel a severe pressure in my temples….

Posted on August 17, 2012 by Stop Smart Meters Australia

 

Just a short note on my experience as regards smart meters…

I was unlucky enough to allow installation of a smart meter to my home in July 2012.  Within 30 minutes of installation I began to feel a severe pressure in my temples as if someone had a clamp and was slowly tightening the screw. It was a very weird and unique experience and definitely unpleasant.

During the course of the next 4 days these strange symptoms were followed up by nausea and by day 4, dizziness, cloudy memory and disorientation (I couldn’t even count change). Funnily enough, after being away from home for 30 minutes or so the symptoms would alleviate and I would feel normal. On returning home the symptoms would again re-appear. Having never experienced a migraine and very rarely (like once in the last 5 years), having a headache, (lucky I know!), I was perplexed.

In desperation I troweled the internet for information. Surprisingly, entering smart meters and head pressure into Google, led me to this website. I also noticed that there was a meeting being held that week locally. By the Friday I had had an absolute gut full of feeling like crap and at the last minute decided to attend the meeting on the roll-out of these things. I listened with interest to the speakers but felt quite compelled to air my concerns after the speaker on the health effects on these things, had spoken of his experience. I told the crowd of 130 plus people of my experience following the install of the meter.

Being an open forum for all to participate, there were some pro smart meter devotees (a couple), who tried to expel the virtues of these devices but also divulged that the man was in fact an installer of the meters in our local area.

On hearing my concerns I was actively pursued by his partner who seemed quite concerned of my predicament and asked exactly where I lived. The next day I was more than happy to leave home for the weekend all the time dreading my return home. On returning home surprisingly my symptoms were non existent.

I rang my local supplier to investigate whether anything had changed and was told that the meter’s wireless connection was turned off until the roll-out was complete later on in the year. I can only surmise that although I did contact my supplier the day after installation and told them that I was sure that something wasn’t right, that I had slightly more pull in exacting some action by voicing my concerns in an open forum. If indeed that is the case, I wait anxiously to the full roll-out. The wireless component on these things, I am confident, causes a very detrimental reaction to my health and would be surprised if many others will not be affected.

Ken

 

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