Many people believe that they are compelled by Victorian state law to allow smart meters to be installed in their homes.
There is no such law.
Victorian state law makes it compulsory for the five electricity distributors to “use their best endeavours” to install meters in every household and business by the end of 2013.
There is no law that forces the customer to accept the meters.
BRIAN CLARKE,
Castlemaine
Related article: http://www.moreland.vic.gov.au/about-council/news-media/news-and-notices/smart-meters-proposal.html
I have been very concerned about these smart meters because of the health issues and other safety issues. We have a bidirectional meter which we had to install when we put in solar in January. They were going to install it but held off as I was waiting for a reply as I was objecting to them. They told me that it is compulsory. Is that true?
There was a programme on TV recently about this smart meter and they never mentioned that recently in Seaford, approx 5 weeks ago there were 3 streets with homes who had major surges after the installation of a smart meter. All their electrical appliances have been ruined and initially the electrical companies negated the responsibility and thereafter approx 2 days it accepted it on ABC Radio.
I managed to have smart meter installation delayed at my house, but suddenly became sick overnight with palpitations, chest pain, insomnia, dizziness, inability to concentrate and memory loss and fainting spells. AFTER becoming sick I found out that the day I became suddenly sick was the day the smart meter roll-out was completed in my area and the smart meters were remotely turned on from base.
I can no longer drive, I can’t work (I’m a doctor), I have to go and sleep at my mother in law’s place (there are no smart meters there yet).
My life is completely ruined and the energy companies and members of Victorian Parliament completely ignore me. Two doctors have confirmed my disability is entirely due to my sensitivity to smart meters’ radio transmission and I am 100% sure of that as I can always tell accurately if I am in a smart metered area or not.
We are now planning to move to South Australia to survive. What is happening in Victoria is a complete breakdown of democracy and an affront to social justice of enormous proportions and implications.
What if this is happening to an old lady living alone? Where can she go? We are all morally obliged to speak up and do something about it, if not for ourselves, for the vulnerable amongst us that, if affected, could not do anything about it.
By DEAN LAWSON
Outspoken Wimmera anti-Smart Meters campaigner Di Bell believes months of in-depth discussion and debate has failed to unearth any convincing argument that the new household electrical devices are harmless.
Mrs Bell said despite extensive community lobbying, questions regarding the impact of the digital Smart Meters on consumer health, privacy and financial circumstances remained either unanswered or had unconvincing answers.
She said the State Government was pushing ahead with a statewide roll-out of the meters without the benefit of results of substantial long-term research.
Mrs Bell, a member of a national Coalition to Stop Smart Meters, said the Smart Meter introduction program sat somewhere between a contradiction of human and Australian rights and a mandate that was little more than ‘someone’s idea’.
“Through all the toing and froing between consumers, power companies and government departments there remains no satisfactory resolution. Questions being asked more than two years ago simply can’t be answered without long-term research,” she said.
“The impact of electro-magnetic radiation on householders remains unknown and the privacy of individuals also remains an issue. Then there’s the prospect of economic hardship surrounding issues that might emerge when time-of-use tariffs are introduced.
“Of course underpinning it all is the fact that we haven’t been asked. We’ve been told that this is happening regardless of what some of us think.”
Get the full story in the March 22, 2012 edition of The Weekly Advertiser.
via Meter campaigner not convinced by debate | The Weekly Advertiser.
A Public Health Awareness flyer can be found under our Help spread the word Page. This is a great one to share with your friends and neighbours, letter box drops or what ever.
Prompted by the resignation from parliament of former deputy premier Rob Hulls, a by-election is being held on Saturday 24 March in the state seat of Niddrie.
Stop Smart Meters Australia members in the Niddrie electorate have informed stopsmartmeters.com.au that the Democratic Labor Party (DLP) campaign material includes a policy against the forced installation of smart meters, with this policy being the most prominent on DLP candidate Michael Deverala’s How to Vote Cards.
We congratulate the DLP for taking this stand. We have also been advised that DLP Victorian Senator John Madigan fiercely opposes the forced installation of smart meters in Victoria on the grounds of health and civil liberties.
Other encouraging news is that the Australian Labor Party candidate Ben Carroll and the Australian Christian Party candidate Frank Papafotiou both support an independent
investigation into the health effects of smart meters. While Stop Smart Meters Australia fully supports an independent investigation into health issues, this doesn’t go far enough. There is already overwhelming evidence of the harmful effects and dangers of the microwave frequencies emitted from smart meters, and we maintain that their forced installation needs to cease now and not wait another year or so until a potential review is concluded.
There is no Liberal Party candidate contesting the Niddrie by-election.
Liberal/National party backbenchers in marginal seats – be aware, smart meters WILL be an issue in the next State election if the forced smart meter rollout does not cease.
If anyone is in any doubt as to whether there are plans to control our individual appliances via Smart Meters……..read on (Comment Stop Smart meters Australia)
Article from: Western Power | Business Excellence Magazine
Western Power brings electricity to Australia’s fastest growing region. Fuelling that growth is costly; but the Perth Solar City programme is helping to solve the grid’s problems—and those of its customers too.
As the hub for Western Australia’s mining activity, lying close to the port of Fremantle, the city of Perth has been the recipient of a great deal of state and federal investment to ensure its infrastructure keeps pace with its strategic economic importance.
And Perth has a pleasant climate. It averages 2,900 hours of sunshine a year—that’s around eight hours every day, making it the ideal place to site solar panels. Around 1.7 million people live in the city; most of them have air conditioning in their homes and workplaces, many have pools—and with average summer temperatures in the high 80s Fahrenheit, these get plenty of use. When the temperature soars, AC equipment and pool pumps kick in, creating peak demand that is very challenging for the energy utilities to meet.
Of course Perth is not the only place in Australia (let alone the rest of the world) with similar patterns of use. Nevertheless the way this city is tackling its present and future energy use is making it something of a benchmark for best practice.
Australia has designated seven Solar Cities—regions that bring together industry, business, governments and communities to rethink the way they produce, use and save energy. Perth is the newest of these, launched in 2009, and had the advantage over the others of being able to harness ‘smart grid’ technology—which bins the old model where consumers simply waited with fingers crossed for their two-monthly bill. This model may have been modified by growing awareness that we ought to conserve power and buy low energy light bulbs; but the smart grid concept allows a real partnership all the way through, from electricity generation to the consumer.
Perth Solar City covers a large area to the east of Perth and includes over 120,000 households. It is delivered by a consortium led by Western Power, the regional network provider, and eight other members: Eastern Metropolitan Regional Council; the Botanic Gardens and Parks Authority; Living Smart; Mojarra Energy Management Systems; Prospero Productions; Solahart; SunPower; and Synergy (the electricity retailer). Between them these partners have already got around 14,000 households involved in the project.
The entire programme is highly customer-focused, says program implementation manager Andrew Blaver. “Traditionally energy management has been all about the supply side—about building generating capacity and networks to meet ever-growing peak demands. Smart grid gives us the opportunity to give customers what they want—to save money while continuing to be able to use their appliances—and at the same time, to reduce consumption at the peak times on our network.”
The key elements of a smart grid are smart meters—meters that can do much more than just record the amount of electricity a household has used—and the back office systems to manage them. In March 2010 Western Power signed a $5.33 million deal with Landis+Gyr (L+G) and Silver Spring Networks (SSN) to set up an initial smart grid trial. The new meters supplied by L+G can give the consumer the information they need to better manage their energy use. They measure electricity use in the home or business at half hourly intervals and transmit the information to Western Power. But better still they can allow the utility access to household appliances to make better use of them.
via Western Power | Business Excellence Magazine.
More than 3 months ago I had “smart meters” installed at my home in Yeppoon Queensland. Since then I have gradually suffered from heart palpitations and headaches on an ever-increasing frequency and severity. I feel sure it is because of these meters as the intensity and severity diminishes considerably the longer I am away from my home.
Of course, I am unable to prove any connection to the meters but I would like to have someone come and test my home for any sort of radiation or whatever it is that these things emit. Is anyone able to suggest anyone who is able to undertake this sort of testing?
How do I go about having these things removed?
Stop Smart Meters Australia 