Smart Meters

Smart Meters
Smart meters are digital display, electric utility meters that transmit information wirelessly to the utility companies using RF (radio frequency) signals.  

Analog meters are the "old style" of meter (with the small dials on the front) and do NOT transmit or communicate wirelessly.

Some states have implemented an "opt-out" process that allows customers to continue using an analog meter on their homes.

Smart meters are harmful to humans and pets, and they also cause fires and explosions and can be used for surveillance.  

This page focuses on the health effects of devices that transmit using RF (radio frequency) signals.  Here is a partial list:
  • Tumors and cancer
  • Neurological damage, memory problems
  • Genetic and hormonal changes, sperm damage
  • Degradation of immunity
  • Detached (or torn) retinas (seeing flashing lights in your eyes)
  • Eye pain, vision problems
  • Migraines, pressure in the head
  • Agitation
  • Damages DNA
  • Tinnitus (ringing in the ears)
  • Nausea
  • Disturbance of voltage-gated calcium channels
  • Numbness
  • Dizziness
  • Pregnancy complications, miscarriages
  • Damages the blood-brain barrier
  • Heart palpitations
  • Inability to sleep, insomnia, fatigue
  • Tingling, burning skin, rashes
  • Involuntary muscle contractions, spasms, cramps
Note: A more complete list of health effects can be found in the next column under the 1971 report by the Naval Medical Research Institute.

The following information is from an article titled "Smart Meters--Not So Smart; How Dangerous and Expensive Became "Smart"--An Expose' of the Smart Grid."

Across the U.S. installers continue to replace comparatively safe analog (mechanical) utility meters with digital “smart” meters for electrical, gas and water services. Most of the new meters are wireless two-way transmitters that pulse signals to communicate continuously between your home, school, or workplace and utility companies miles away. The new meters are part of a nationwide project dubbed Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI). Most folks call this evolving make-over the “smart grid.”

The AMI “smart” meter records electrical consumption data and sends the information wirelessly to energy system managers. “Smart” meters can be programmed to read and transmit data monthly, or up to every fifteen seconds. Data may be relayed by systems similar to mobile phones or Wi-Fi. 

AMI is nested within the American Recovery and Investment Act of 2009, and the federal government has shoveled an estimated eleven billion dollars into incentive programs for utilities that participate. 

To see a chart showing the total federal grant awards for every state, click here.

AMI is calibrated to expose all Americans to three new and powerful sources of microwave radiation: “smart” meters, “smart” appliances, and a ubiquitous network of antennas on utility poles and cell towers in urban and rural neighborhoods. Neither the federal government nor grid profiteers have undertaken a single public health study about the long-term health effects of exposure to electromagnetic radiation (EMR) from “smart” meters. Yet medical literature is now loaded with peer-reviewed studies about the non-thermal biological effects of exposure to EMR. 

Peer-reviewed studies report DNA damage, abnormal genetic and hormonal changes, sperm damage, pregnancy complications, weakening of the blood-brain barrier, disturbance of voltage-gated calcium channels (for example, in the heart), degradation of immunity, and certain types of cancers.

Especially worrisome, says AAEM, is mounting evidence that inescapable electromagnetic fields exposure from smart meters places children at particular risk for altered brain development and for impaired learning and behavior. These concerns are corroborated by the blockbuster BioInitiative Report 2012. Produced by twenty-nine medical and public health experts from ten countries, the BioInitiative Report offers a meta-analysis of over eighteen hundred new scientific studies showing that chronic exposure to both ELF and microwaves poses a serious health hazard. 

In addition, some residents within AMI mesh networks may also have “Medusa” meters on their property. One investigator reports: “A utility whistle blower told us about a special smart meter—a mini cell phone tower. This collection device receives data and more radiation from five hundred to seven hundred surrounding meters and uses the customer’s premises to serve as a relay station to transmit other neighbors’ data along the mesh network to collection points. These Medusa meters are deployed upon properties without the owner’s knowledge or consent. The utilities select a property for this meter based upon easy meter access to the street, no locked gates or dogs and good customer payment history. . . Utilities reward good customers with a Medusa meter and bathe their homes with additional toxic radiation.”

Source: January 19, 2015, report titled "Smart Meters--Not So Smart; How Dangerous and Expensive Became "Smart"--An Expose' of the Smart Grid. Click here.

World Health Organization

The World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) lists radiofrequency electromagnetic fields as a Class 2B carcinogen.

This is the first time in history that a known carcinogen has been mandated (by the government) to be placed on all homes, schools and buildings.

Source:  World Health Organization press release issued May 31, 2011.  Click here.

Smart Meters Cause Massive Changes to the Heart. July 25, 2018.

An expert in smart meter microwave transmission power has published new research showing that, contrary to the official government narrative, the radiation emitted from smart meters directly interferes with normal heart function.

To come to this conclusion, Warren Woodward connected himself to an EKG monitor while lying near an Elster smart meter, which was connected to a high-frequency analyzer that measures microwave frequencies.

As it alternated between normal readings of 00.1 and 00.2, a monitor display showed that Woodward’s heart patterns were normal and symmetrical. But during times when it spiked to 139.3 – this being the time when the smart meter initiated data transmissions – Woodward’s EKG pattern changed dramatically in response.

In other words, when the smart meter was not sending high amounts of power, Woodward’s EKG readings were normal and natural. But when it kicked into higher output mode, the changes were “massive.”

Brief periods of alteration to normal heart rhythm aren’t much to worry about. But when these irregularities are ongoing, the heart can end up working too hard, resulting in fatigued cardiac function.

Dr. Gilberto Leon, a holistic medicine doctor from Chandler, Arizona, warns about this. He says that changes to the heart caused by smart meters are anything but symptomless or “silent,” and that major damage can take place without people even realizing it.

The constant bombardment of microwave radiation from smart meters represents “an unnatural sequence of events that we’re not programmed to respond to,” he says. Long-term exposure to smart meters, he says, can be extremely damaging to normal myocardial function.

Source: July 25, 2018, article published on newstarget.com. Click here.

Comments from Dr. William Rea, Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgeon, Environmental Medicine

Dr. William Rea shares insights about electrical hypersensitivity gleaned from nearly thirty years of working with environmentally ill patients.

Rea opened by saying that human beings are all antennas with different levels of sensitivity.

He has observed a high correlation with sensitivity to metals like zinc, copper, stainless steel, titanium, molybdenum, manganese, and magnesium.

Metal implants like dental fillings, metal jaws, shoulder joints, etc. will contribute to electrical sensitivity, because they act as antennas.

Source: WEEP News article, January 31, 2012. Click here.

Wireless smart meters typically produce atypical, relatively potent and very short pulsed RF/microwaves whose biological effects have never been fully tested. They emit these millisecond-long RF bursts on average 9,600 times a day with a maximum of 190,000 daily transmissions. 

Imagine what is happening to the human body!! 

(See Myth #6 from the utility companies in the right-hand column.)

American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM). July 12, 2012. Recommendations regarding Electromagnetic and Radiofrequency Exposure.

The American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM) has published a paper titled "Electromagnetic and Radiofrequency Fields Effect on Human Health" (includes smart meters).  Here is an excerpt:

Because Smart Meters produce Radiofrequency emissions, it is recommended that patients with the above conditions and disabilities be accommodated to protect their health. The AAEM recommends: that no Smart Meters be on these patients’ homes, that Smart Meters be removed within a reasonable distance of patients’ homes depending on the patients’ perception and/or symptoms, and that no collection meters be placed near patients’ homes depending on patients’ perception and/or symptoms.

Source: American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM), July 12, 2012. Recommendations regarding Electromagnetic and Radiofrequency Exposure. Click here.

Genetic damage, reproductive defects, cancer, neurological degeneration and nervous system dysfunction, immune system dysfunction, cognitive effects, protein and peptide damage, kidney damage, and developmental effects (from RF exposure) have all been reported in the peer-reviewed scientific literature. 

Source:  American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM) position statement titled Electromagnetic and Radiofrequency Fields Effect on Human Health. Click here.

Comments from Jerry Flynn, a retired Canadian Armed Forces captain with specialized training and 22 years of experience in Electronic Warfare and Signals Intelligence. 

Flynn has worked with U.S. and NATO armies in this specialized capacity. He writes:

“Pulsed non-thermal radiation, which is emitted by smart meters, is far more damaging at the body’s cellular level to all life forms than any other technology ever devised by man. Militaries of the world have known for more than 50 years that RF/microwaves are the perfect weapon. Today, democratic governments are knowingly and callously authorizing untested (for safety) smart meters to operate (emitting pulsed non-thermal radiation) at the most lethal frequencies known to man.”

Source: April 20, 2016 article titled "Smart Meter Dangers, Who Knew and Did Not Sound the Alarm?" Click here.

Comments from Dr. David O. Carpenter and 50 International Experts

We, the undersigned are a group of scientists and health professionals who together have coauthored hundreds of peer-reviewed studies on the health effects of electromagnetic fields (EMFs). We wish to correct some of the gross misinformation found in the letter regarding wireless “smart” meters that was published in the Montreal daily Le Devoir on May 24. Submitted by a group Quebec engineers, physicists and chemists, the letter in question reflects an obvious lack of understanding of the science behind the health impacts of the radiofrequency (RF)/microwave EMFs emitted by these meters.

The statement that "Thousands of studies, both epidemiological and experimental in humans, show no increase in cancer cases as a result of exposure to radio waves of low intensity… " is false (1). In fact, only a few such studies — two dozen case-control studies of mobile phone use, certainly not thousands, have reported no elevations of cancer, and most were funded by the wireless industry. In addition, these reassuring studies contained significant experimental design flaws, mainly the fact that the populations followed were too small and were followed for a too short period of time.

Non industry-funded studies have clearly demonstrated a significant increase in cancer cases among individuals who have suffered from prolonged exposure to low-level microwaves, transmitted notably by radio antennas. The effects were best documented in meta-analyses that have been published and that include grouped results from several different studies: these analyses consistently showed an increased risk of brain cancer among regular users of a cell phone who have been exposed to microwaves for at least ten years. Children and youths are especially vulnerable (2). For example, the 2009 Hardell-Carlberg study reported a consistent association between use of mobile or cordless phones and two types of head tumors, astrocytoma grade I-IV and acoustic neuroma. The authors found an especially high risk for persons that started use of mobile or cordless phones before the age of 20 years, although based on low numbers."

Source: June 11, 2012, article titled "Smart Meters: Correcting the Gross Misinformation." Click here.

Comments from Dr. William Rea, Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgeon, Environmental Medicine

Dr. William Rea shared insights about electrical hypersensitivity gleaned from nearly thirty years of working with environmentally ill patients.

Rea opened by saying that human beings are all antennas with different levels of sensitivity, and finding safe places for sensitive people is like trying to "reinvent the cave."

He has observed a high correlation with sensitivity to metals like zinc, copper, stainless steel, titanium, molybdenum, manganese, and magnesium. Metal implants like dental fillings, metal jaws, shoulder joints, etc. will contribute to electrical sensitivity, because they act as antennas.

Source:  WEEP News article, January 31, 2012. Click here.

Comments from Dr. Vini G. Khurana, Associate Professor of Neurosurgery

Adverse neurological effects have been reported in people who sustain close proximity to wireless meters, especially under 10 feet (3 metres).

A wireless smart meter produces radiofrequency microwave radiation with two antennas in approximately the same frequency range (900 MHz to 2.4 GHz) as a typical cell tower. But, depending on how close it is to occupied space within a home, a smart meter can cause much higher RF exposures than cell towers commonly do. If a smart meter is located on a common wall with a bedroom or kitchen rather than a garage wall, for example, the RF exposure can be the same as being within 200 to 600 feet distance of a cell tower with multiple carriers. With both cell towers and smart meters, the entire body is immersed by microwaves that go out in all directions, which increases the risk of overexposure to many sensitive organs such as the eyes and testicles. With a cell phone, people are exposed to microwaves primarily in the head and neck (unless using speaker mode), and only when the device is turned on or in standby mode.

Wireless smart meters typically produce atypical, relatively potent and very short pulsed RF/microwaves whose biological effects have never been fully tested. They emit these millisecond-long RF bursts on average 9,600 times a day with a maximum of 190,000 daily transmissions and a peak level emission two and a half times higher than the stated safety signal, as the California utility Pacific Gas & Electric recognized before that State’s Public Utilities Commission. Thus people in proximity to a smart meter are at risk of significantly greater aggregate of RF/microwave exposure than with a cell phone, not to mention the cumulative exposure received by people living near multiple meters mounted together, pole-mounted routers or utility collector meters using a third antenna to relay RF signals from 500 to 5,000 homes.

A technical study performed by Sage Associates in California indicates that RF levels from various scenarios depicting normal smart meter installation and operation may violate even the out-of-date US public safety standards which only consider acute thermal effects. This can happen when a person stands close to the meter to read the power consumption, or touches it, or shades the meter face with a hand to better read it. Emissions are also increased by reflective materials, such as stainless steel, other metals and mirrors, which can re-radiate stronger that the otherwise unaltered background. Microwaves are absorbed and dissipated by partially conductive materials, such as cement and special RF shielding paints and fabrics.

In addition to the erratic bursts of modulated microwaves emitted by wireless smart meters transferring usage data to electric, gas and water utilities, wireless as well as wired smart (powerline communication) meters are also a major source of ‘’dirty electricity’’ (electrical interference of high frequency voltage transients typically of kilohertz frequencies). Some scientists, such as American epidemiologist Sam Milham, believe that many of the health complaints about smart meters may also be caused by dirty electricity generated by the « switching » power supply activating all smart meters. Since the installation of filters to reduce dirty electricity circulating on house wiring has been found to relieve symptoms of EHS in some people, this method should be considered among the priorities aimed at reducing potential adverse impacts. Indeed, the Salzburg State (Austria) Public Health Department confirms its concern about the potential public health risk when in coming years almost every electric wire and device will emit such transient electric fields in the kilohertz-range due to wired smart meters.

Source: June 11, 2012, article titled "Smart Meters: Correcting the Gross Misinformation." Click here.

Effects of Non-ionizing Radiation on Mold

The research is fascinating on this topic. At the forefront is Dr. Dietrich Klinghardt, MD., PhD., noted for his successful treatment of neurological illness and chronic pain. In his video, Dr. Klinghardt talks about a mold plate experiment which compared a mold plate shielded from electromagnetic fields to an unprotected mold plate exposed to ambient electromagnetic fields.

The unprotected mold plate showed a dramatic increase in the number of biotoxins produced – more than 600 times. Dr. Klinghardt concludes that indoor mold contaminants as well as other biotoxins are highly sensitive to electromagnetic fields. EMFs therefore easily step up neurotoxin production and have a major impact on the immune system.

Dr. Thomas Rau, medical director of the Paracelsus Clinic in Switzerland, shares his assessment of the microbial connection with EMFs in an interview featured on the website Electromagnetic Health. Not only do the artificially produced electromagnetic waves cause toxic mold to grow faster, they suppress the production of beneficial microbes.

Toxic mold in homes grows much faster under the load of high electromagnetic loads. They grow much faster in a disturbed milieu.

There are other studies that highlight the connection between electromagnetic radiation and microbial multiplication.
  • Researchers at NYC’s Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University found evidence that certain types of fungi have the ability to use radioactivity as an energy source for growth.
  • Russian scientists report that EMR induces growth in a certain yeast strain. (See Effect of Radio-Frequency Electromagnetic Radiation on Psychological Features of Saccharomyces Cerevisiae Strain UCM Y-517.)
  • A completely different study shows a similar relationship between this strain and EMR. (See Preliminary Results on the Non-Thermal Effects of 200-350 GHz Radiation on the Growth Rate of S. Cerevisiae Cells in Microcolonies.)
Source:  July 10, 2015, Article by It-Takes-Time. Click here.

2013 Documentary film by Josh del Sol titled "Take Back Your Power"

Josh del Sol’s award winning documentary investigates so-called “smart” utility meters, uncovering shocking evidence of in-home privacy invasions, increased utility bills, health & environmental harm, fires and unprecedented hacking vulnerability… and lights the path toward solutions.

Excerpts from the website:

Based upon my review of peer-reviewed literature over the past few years, one of the studies that helped convince me that exposure to low-level electromagnetic fields (EMFs) could indeed be harmful included “Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity: Evidence for a Novel Neurological Syndrome.” One of the authors of that study was Andrew A. Marino, Ph.D. 

The authors concluded that “EMF hypersensitivity can occur as a bona fide environmentally inducible neurological syndrome.”

The abstract of this paper by Dr. Marino can be found here.

Recently, it is my understanding that Dr. Marino submitted an “expert report” as part of a case before the Pennsylvania PUC. In this proceeding several consumers have alleged that their health is being negatively affected by smart meters installed by PECO Energy Company .

The conclusions reached by Dr. Andrew Marino and presented in his expert report (dated August 8, 2016) are as follows:

“First, [there] is a reasonable basis in established science for the Complainants’ concern regarding risks to human health caused by man-made electromagnetic energy in the environment, including the type of electromagnetic energy emitted by smart meters. These health risks are heightened in the very young, the very old, and in those with preexisting diseases or disorders.

Second, electromagnetic hypersensitivity is a documented neurological condition in which the affected person experiences musculoskeletal, immunological, and/or neurological symptoms that noticeably flare or intensify upon exposure to man-made electromagnetic energy in the environment. About 5-10% of the general public are self-reported to suffer from this disorder.

Third, the Complainants were forced into the almost impossible position of conducting experiment[s] on themselves to prove to PECO’s satisfaction that their claims of a link between their symptoms and electromagnetic energy from smart meters were sufficiently credible as to warrant some remediable action by PECO.

Fourth, there is no justifiable reason for PECO to doubt the reality of the Complainants’ symptoms, to question their intentions in seeking relief, or to not respect and implement the advice they received from their physicians that exposure to smart-meter energy should be avoided.

Fifth, chronic exposure to the electromagnetic energy from smart meters causes risks to human health that go far beyond the capability of the energy to trigger hypersensitivity reactions in sensitive persons. A large literature in experimental biology indicates that man-made electromagnetic energy, including that from smart meters, causes biological effects involving every essentially physiological process that occurs in living organisms. A large literature in nonexperimental biology shows that man-made electromagnetic energy, including that from smart meters, is associated with a plethora of human diseases. People who suffer from pre-existing conditions are particularly vulnerable, and all the Complainants suffer from such conditions.

Sixth, PECO’s claim that the FCC has pronounced smart meter safe is spurious because the FCC has made that statement only with regard to the heating and cooking effects of electromagnetic energy. The Complainants have made no claims that smart meters are like microwave ovens.

Seventh, PECO has claimed that expert committees have pronounced smart meters safe, but PECO has not acknowledged the blatant conflicts-of interests that infect such committees nor the serious limitations on their reports, such as the failure to address much of the relevant literature.

Eighth, PECO proposes to expose human beings to smart-meter electromagnetic energy over their objection under conditions that would not be acceptable to any institution in the United States where human experimentation can lawfully be performed. Consequently, coercing the Complainants to endure the risks and uncertainties of such exposure is unwarranted, unjustified, and would amount to involuntary human experimentation by PECO.”

Regarding the exposure guidelines of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Dr. Marino states that:

“According to the FCC, smart meters and cellphones are safe when manufactured according to the presently mandated emission levels. But the FCC defines an emission level as ‘safe’ if it doesn’t result in adverse biological effects caused by heating or cooking of the exposed subject. Nowhere does the FCC say that smart meters are safe with regard to physiological changes [caused] by physical processes other than heating or cooking. That claim is unsupportable and counter-scientific, and has not been made by the FCC.”

To the contrary:

“There is a very large data base of empirical studies in experimental biology that demonstrates beyond reasonable doubt that biological effects can occur at levels of man-made electromagnetic energy actually present in the environment.”

Source: 2013 Documentary by Josh del Sol titled "Take Back Your Power." Click here.

Expert Witnesses Used by Utility Companies

Utility companies used "expert witnesses" to support their claims that smart meters are not harmful. One of the organizations that provided "expert witness" testimony is a company called Exponent.  

It is well known throughout the world that Exponent is a "bought and paid for" expert witness firm used by corporations to deny the health effects caused by their products. 

To learn more about Exponent, read the book "Doubt is Their Product" by David Michaels. 

Here are two excerpts from the book:

The practices perfected (by the tobacco industry) are alive and well and ubiquitous today. We see this growing trend that disingenuously demands proof over precaution in the realm of public health. In field after field, year after year, conclusions that might support regulation are always disputed. Animal data are deemed not relevant, human data not representative, and exposure data not reliable. Whatever the story—global warming, sugar and obesity, secondhand smoke—scientists in what I call the ‘‘product defense industry’’ prepare for the release of unfavorable studies even before the studies are published. Public relations experts feed these for-hire scientists contrarian sound bites that play well with reporters, who are mired in the trap of believing there must be two sides to every story. Maybe there are two sides—and maybe one has been bought and paid for.

Having cut their teeth manufacturing uncertainty for Big Tobacco, scientists at ChemRisk, the Weinberg Group, Exponent, Inc., and other consulting firms now battle the regulatory agencies on behalf of the manufacturers of benzene, beryllium, chromium, MTBE (methyl tertiary-butyl ether), perchlorates, phthalates, and virtually every other toxic chemical in the news today. Their business model is straightforward. They profit by helping corporations minimize public health and environmental protection and fight claims of injury and illness. In field after field, year after year, this same handful of individuals and companies comes up again and again.

As David Michaels said in his book:

Exponent’s scientists are prolific writers of scientific reports and papers. While some may exist, I have yet to see an Exponent study that does not support the conclusion needed by the corporation or trade association that is paying the bill.

Source:  Book titled "Doubt is Their Product" by David Michaels. 

Because Exponent is a product defense firm with a decades-long history of writing reports that support the position of corporations who are looking to deny the health effects of their products, their testimony should not have been allowed.

Global Indoor Health Network - Smart meters are harmful to humans and pets

Smart meters (on the left) are harmful to humans and pets. They are digital display, electric utility meters that transmit information wirelessly to the utility companies using RF signals. Analog meters are the "old style" of meter (with the small dials on the front) and do NOT transmit or communicate wirelessly. Some states allow customers to opt-out and use an analog meter on their homes.


List of 900 Research Papers on EMF/RF Radiation

Federal regulations protect the public only from the thermal (i.e., heating) risk due to short-term exposure to high intensity, cell tower radiation. The Federal regulations ignore the thousands of studies that find harmful bio-effects from long-term exposure to non-thermal levels of radiation.


Source: Dr. Joel Moskowitz, Ph.D. Detailed list of more than 900 scientific research papers on radiofrequency and electromagnetic radiation. Click here.


Smart Meters are NOT Mandatory (in the United States)

Despite what you are told by utility companies, smart meters are NOT mandatory. In many states, consumers spoke out and were able to get an opt-out through their public utility commission. An opt-out allows you to choose to have an electro-mechanical, non-transmitting, non-digital, analog meter. 

On February 1, 2011, press officer Thomas Welch of the U.S. Department of Energy press officer responded to questions about whether the federal government has made the installation of wireless smart meters mandatory. He wrote:

No. The Federal government, including DOE, does not have any role in regulating the installation of smart meters, nor does it have a policy about the mandatory adoption of smart meters.

On July 16, 2009, FERC issued a Policy Statement on Smart Grid Policy that acknowledged that EISA does not make any such standards mandatory and gave FERC no new authority to enforce such standards. Smart Grid Policy Statement, 128 F.E.R.C. ¶61,337, at 61,060–359 (Jul. 16, 2009).
 
There is no federal security mandate for smart meters, according to George W. Arnold the national coordinator for smart-grid interoperability at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. This agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce is said not to be involved in regulations but is only tasked with promoting standards among industries.

While both the 2005 and 2007 energy bills were codified into public laws, NO part of them creates a federal law pertaining to individual consumers or dictating that the public must be forced to comply with provisions of SMART Grid.” 

Smart Meters are NOT mandatory (in the United Kingdom)

The answer is the same in the United Kingdom.  Smart meters are NOT mandatory.

Nick Lomax, smart technology manager at the Energy Saving Trust, replies:

Energy suppliers are required to offer smart meters to all of their customers by the end of 2020, but it is up to the customer whether they choose to take up that offer.

There is no obligation or requirement to have a smart meter installed.

Source: May 2, 2017, article on thisismoney.co.uk.  Click here.

Some U.S. States are Rejecting Smart Meters

Some U.S. States have voted against the AMI (smart meter) program.

Here are a few excerpts from an article about the state of Virginia voting to reject smart meters.

Virginia regulators on Thursday rejected large portions of Dominion Energy's grid transformation proposal, including smart meter deployment and other modernization efforts.

The denial follows a trend of states balking at the cost of smart meters and a slowdown in the deployment of advanced metering infrastructure (AMI), which is often considered fundamental to the next generation electric grid.

Virginia regulators joined their counterparts in Kentucky and Massachusetts in denying smart meter proposals, part of a trend that has seen AMI deployment flatline at roughly 50% of electric customers. 

Source: January 18, 2019, article on utilitydive.com. Click here.

Smart Meters can Report False Readings 
(up to 582% higher than actual energy usage)

Some electronic energy meters can give false readings that are up to 582% higher than actual energy consumption. This emerged from a study carried out by the University of Twente (UT), in collaboration with the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (AUAS).

For quite some time now, rumours have been rife about electronic energy meters that give excessively high readings in practice. This prompted Prof. Leferink to investigate electronic meters, to see whether they can indeed give false readings. Together with co-workers Cees Keyer and Anton Melentjev from AUAS, he tested nine different electronic meters in this study. The meters in question were manufactured between 2004 and 2014.

The inaccurate readings are attributed to the energy meter's design, together with the increasing use of modern (often energy-efficient) switching devices. Here, the electricity being consumed no longer has a perfect waveform, instead it acquires an erratic pattern. The designers of modern energy meters have not made sufficient allowance for switching devices of this kind.

Source: March 3, 2017, article about published on sciencedaily.com. Click here.

Health Effects of Radiofrequency Radiation in a report from the Naval Medical Research Institute (NRMI). October 4, 1971

In a 1971 report by the Naval Medical Research Institute (NRMI) titled: 

Biography of Reported Biological Phenomena (Effects) and Clinics Manifestations Attributed to Microwave and Radiofrequency Radiation 

This report lists numerous health effects caused by radiofrequency (RF) radiation and includes references to more than 2,300 published research papers on the biological responses to radiofrequency and microwave radiation.  Here is a partial list:
  • Heating of organs (skin, bone, genitalia, brain, sinuses, metal implants)
  • Changes in physiologic function (muscle contraction, alteration of diameter of blood vessels, changes in oxidative processes, liver enlargement, decreased sperm, altered menstrual activity and fetal development, decreased lactation, increased electrical resistance of skin, altered blood flow rate, EKG changes, sensitivity to light, sound and olfactory stimuli, changes in the eyes, necrosis, hemorrhage in lungs, liver, gut and brain, degeneration of body tissue, loss of anatomical parts, dehydration, death)
  • Central nervous system (headaches, insomnia, restlessness, EEG changes, cranial nerve disorders, vagomimetic action of the heart, seizures, convulsions)
  • Autonomic nervous system (fatigue, neuro-vegetative disorders, structural alterations in the synapses of the vagus nerve, inhibition of the sympathetic nervous system)
  • Peripheral nervous system (effects on locomotor nerves)
  • Psychological disorders (depression, impotence, anxiety, lack of concentration, dizziness, insomnia, loss of memory, chest pain, tremor of the hands)
  • Behavioral changes (reflexive, operant, avoidance and discrimination behaviors)
  • Blood disorders (changes in blood, bone marrow, hemolysis, sedimentation rate, blood glucose concentration, cholesterol and lipids, number of eosinophils, albumin/globulin ratio)
  • Vascular disorders (thrombosis, hypertension)
  • Enzyme and other biochemical changes (changes in activity of cholinesterase, phosphatase, transaminase and amylase, protein denaturation; toxin, fungus and virus inactivation; tissue cultures killed, alteration in rate of cell division, increase concentration of RNA in lymphocytes and decreased concentration in brain, liver and spleen)
  • Metabolic disorders (sugar in urine, increase in urinary phenol, alteration of rate of metabolic enzymatic processes)
  • Gastro-intestinal disorders (anorexia, loss of appetite, epigastric pain, constipation, altered secretion of stomach digestive juices)
  • Endocrine gland changes (altered pituitary function, hyperthyroidism, thyroid enlargement, increased uptake of radioactive iodine by thyroid gland, altered adrenal cortex activity, decreased corticosteroids in blood, hypogonadism)
  • Histological changes (changes in tubular epithelium of testicles, gross changes)
  • Genetic and chromosomal changes (chromosome aberrations, mutations, mongolism, somatic alterations, tumors)
  • Pearl chain effect (intracellular orientation of subcellular particles and orientation of cellular and other non-biologic particles)
  • Miscellaneous effects (sparking between dental fillings; metallic taste in mouth; changes in optical activity; loss of hair; brittleness of hair; sensations of buzzing, vibrations, pulsations about the head and ears; copious perspiration, salivation and protrusion of tongue; changes in the operation of implanted cardiac pacemakers; changes in circadian rhythms)
Source: Naval Medical Research Institute (NMRI) report from October 4, 1971. Click here.

Comments from Dr. Richard H. Conrad, Ph.D., Biochemist, on the health effects of smart meters

Opting out is not a solution. Even if a homeowner is allowed to opt out, they are still involuntarily irradiated 24/7 by neighbors’ smart meters.

Most Public Utility Commissions (PUCs)...have accepted the propaganda that has been fed to them. This propaganda is not merely biased, but includes willful omissions of facts, misleading claims and statements that are not true.

The smart meter industry and utilities are playing a shell game with the facts, and you are the ones who can call them on it.

The pulsed microwave emissions from wireless smart meters being used in grid modernization systems result in involuntary household microwave exposure, and:
  • are not adequately regulated by the FCC (this has been confirmed by the EPA)
  • have been classified as a possible human carcinogen by the WHO
  • have not been tested for human safety
  • have been the cause of unusual and severe insomnia, headaches, tinnitus and heart arrhythmias in thousands of persons
  • peer-reviewed research publications from all over the world have shown that similar emissions have potentially hazardous effects
  • smart meters utilizing wireless communications present an extremely dangerous combination of open portals, wireless hacking, power cutoff switches and adverse health effects
  • safe alternatives do exist.
The old analog electro-mechanical meters emit no RF, are safe, secure, private, accurate, efficient and reliable and should be the reference standard that any new system should match or exceed in all its parameters.

Safeguards

There has been an enormous amount of deception by smart meter manufacturers, utilities and installers, and also strong-arm tactics on the part of utilities and installers: using the police to force installation in Naperville (Illinois) and arresting homeowners who resisted; disregarding City Council bans on smart meters in California and continuing to install; disguising a smart meter as a mechanical analog meter; cutting off a homeowner’s power if they refuse a smart meter or refuse to pay opt-out fees or if they re-install their own analog meter etc. Therefore safeguards to prevent these violations of human rights must be included in legislation.

Excerpts from the Conclusion

To any honest scientist who reads the research literature, especially the results of European studies, it becomes clear that non-thermal levels of pulsed microwaves definitely pose a risk to human beings. Many non-thermal effects have been found that should raise red flags, but instead these are ignored by our regulatory bodies as if they simply do not exist.

The smart meter industry and utilities are playing a shell game with the facts, and you are the ones who can call them on it.

Source: Letter from Dr. Richard H. Conrad, Biochemist, to State Legislators. Click here.

Comments from Dr. Richard H. Conrad, Ph.D., Biochemist, Exhibit D: Smart Meter Health Effects Survey and Report

In order to ascertain the effect smart meter installation had on respondents’ ability to use common electronic devices: cell phones, wifi and computers, we looked at device use before and after smart meters. We found very clear evidence that smart meter exposure adversely affected respondents’ ability to use other RF devices without incurring harmful symptoms. In the survey, computer use is addressed in questions 4 and 29, wifi in questions 5 and 30 and cell phones in questions 6 and 31 (Appendix 7).

Computer Use:

Before smart meters, nearly 79% of respondents were using computers without symptoms while about 20% were using computers despite having symptoms from computer use. Following smart meter exposure, those able to operate a computer without symptoms dropped (from 79%) to 39% (about one-half of before), while those showing symptoms from computer use nearly tripled (from 20%) to 57%.

WiFi Use:

Before smart meters, about 40% of respondents were using wifi without symptoms. 11% were using wifi but with symptoms from it, and 17% were not using wifi because it had caused symptoms in the past. Following smart meter exposure, those able to use wifi without symptoms dropped (from 40%) to 18% (less than one-half of before) while those continuing to use wifi but with symptoms from it nearly tripled (from 11%) to 28%. The number of respondents who could not use wifi at all because of symptoms more than doubled (from 17%) to 41%.

Cell Phone Use:

Before smart meters 50% of respondents were using cell phones without symptoms, while 18% used cell phones but with symptoms. 14% of respondents did not use cell phones because of symptoms. Following smart meters, those able to use cell phones without symptoms dropped (from 50%) to 24% (about one-half of before), and those with symptoms from cell phone use more than doubled (from 18%) to 39%. After smart meters, those who did not use cell phones at all because of symptoms nearly doubled (from 14%) to 26%.

Obviously the inability to use these modern tools severely inhibits our respondents in their personal and economic lives. Their ability to live normal lives in the 21st century has been severely compromised. This change in ability to use these devices is directly correlated to smart meter exposure.

Source:  Dr. Richard H. Conrad, Ph.D. Biochemist, report for the Maine Coalition to Stop Smart Meters, January 2013. Click here.

Myths told by utility companies regarding the health effects of smart meters

Myths told by Utility Companies

The utility companies have used a campaign of mis-statements, mis-directions and mis-information regarding smart meters.

They have many different ways to spin the facts.  Six of those myths are presented here, but there are many others.

Myth #1: Only certain people are affected by smart meters.

Truth: 

EMF and RF radiation are harmful to all living organisms--humans, pets and plants.

In a study conducted by chiropractic physician Dr. Frank Springob, “smart” meter radiation exposure quickly produced almost instant blood abnormalities in human test subjects.14 Volunteers had their blood examined as normal, then stood within one foot of a transmitting “smart” meter for only two minutes. A post-exposure examination with dark field microscopy showed that all volunteers had developed one of these blood pathologies:

• Marked degradation of cells with some cell walls broken;

• Corrugated formation in which blood cells become crimped like bottle caps;

• A rouleaux condition in which the red blood cells clump abnormally together. Dietrich Klinghardt, MD, PhD, who practices medicine in Washington State, says, “It is our experience as doctors that everybody is equally electro-sensitive.” Dr. Klinghardt finds the same inflammatory markers in the blood of every EMR-exposed person, both those who feel bad from exposure and those who notice no preliminary ill effects.

Source:  WestonAPriceFoundation. Click here.

Myth #2: Some utility companies will claim they can't make adjustments remotely to individual smart meters.

Truth:  

Smart meters use wireless communication technologies to communicate with other remote devices to share data and respond to commands. The utility companies monitor the smart meters using computers, and energy usage is broadcast back to the utility companies over computer networks. So, utility companies receive data from smart meters, and they can also transmit “commands” to those meters (i.e., two-way communication).

Remote “adjustments” have been made to individual smart meters in other states, so it seems likely that all utility companies can make adjustments remotely to individual smart meters. For example, in Texas, the utility contractor could turn down the signal output for all of the smart meters in a specific area because one of the residents was being severely affected. He checked on this frequently and could make the adjustments while he was sitting in his car....using his laptop computer.

Myth #3:  The exposure level of smart meters is "lower than the average RF exposure of a cellular phone, cordless phone, microwave oven, Wi-Fi system to the human body."

Truth:  

The figures for RF exposure given by utilities are time-averaged numbers which hide the peak power of the “smart” meter, and disguise the fairly continuous nature of the pulses. “Smart” meters are unlike cell phones or WiFi in their bizarre pattern of sharp spikes of RF.

By time averaging, they can bring down the total peak level that they claim the meters emit. This is bogus science. If you time-average the strong millisecond pulses of a strobe light, they “equal” a low-wattage light bulb continuously on; but no one would legitimately make such a claim. Strobe lights have distinct neurological effects in many people—headaches, dizziness, and for some- epileptic seizures.

At least 90% of the RF emitted by the “smart” meters is NOT transmitting your electrical usage data, but is part of the “mesh network” talking to itself, and includes a lot of redundant “chatter” between your meter and other meters. This is for the convenience of your utility, and its effects on you (and other living things) apparently were not even considered when they were designing the mesh network.

The World Health Organization classifies RF as a 2B carcinogen, same as DDT and lead. Military studies show pulsed radiation can cause serious health problems, including tinnitus, memory loss and seizures. Thousands of studies link biological effects to RF radiation exposure, including increased cancer risk, damage to the nervous system, adverse reproductive effects, DNA damage, and more.

Source:  StopSmartMeters.org.  Click here.

Myth #4: The RF exposure rates of smart meters is "far less than the FCC exposure limit."

Truth:

For the military in the 1950s and 1960s, for the wireless industry in the 1990s, and for utilities deploying “smart” meters now, these biological effects are not convenient to their purposes, and have been dismissed. “The FCC sets the guidelines,” has been the cry of utilities commissions. But those guidelines were set largely without regard to the subtler effects or the consequences of long-term exposure, and before much of this research was done.

The Bioinitiative Report, which is recognized by the European Parliament, The European Environment agency and the Breast Cancer Fund, scientifically documents evidence of health effects far below the FCC safety standards.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) RF radiation safety standards are for short term thermal effects (5 and 30 minutes), and are configured for a 6'2″ 200 pound male. The meters are assessed for safety compliance in isolation, not in a mesh network, in which they are designed to operate, or in combination with multiple meters, and other RF sources.

This statement by the utility companies neglects to consider many other factors. For example, the effect of "collector meters," the effects of "continual exposure," the combined effects of all RF devices in the area or the fundamental scientific properties of reflection and additivity. In addition, smart meters can produce excessively elevated RF exposures, depending on where they are installed.

Source:  StopSmartMeters.org. Click here.

In the late 1980s, the EPA radiation division, staffed with practicing biologists and epidemiologists, decided on a safe limit for human exposure. Before the announcement was made, industry intervened, federal funding for that division of the EPA was cut, and the FCC was given the task of setting the RF/microwave guidelines for the public. The FCC, made up of bureaucrats and engineers, had no experience or training in setting “health related” guidelines. Therefore, from the beginning, FCC guidelines were set at a limit that was too lenient to protect the general population.

Source: April 20, 2016 article titled "Smart Meter Dangers, Who Knew and Did Not Sound the Alarm?" Click here.

Myth #5: Smart meters emit less radiation than my cell phone or WiFi.

Truth:

The figures for RF exposure given by utilities are time-averaged numbers which hide the peak power of the “smart” meter, and disguise the fairly continuous nature of the pulses. 

Smart meters are unlike cell phones or WiFi in their bizarre pattern of sharp spikes of RF.

A “smart” meter is a device you cannot turn off or move, so your exposure to this source of RF is out of your control. The rate and intensity of the RF radiation is also not under your control, and we are coming to learn, it is not under the utility’s control. 

Information “off the record” from PG&E confirms our suspicion that at least 90% of the RF emitted by the “smart” meters is NOT transmitting your electrical usage data, but is part of the “mesh network” talking to itself, and includes a lot of redundant “chatter” between your meter and other meters. This is for the convenience of your utility, and its effects on you (and other living things) apparently were not even considered when they were designing the mesh network.

Source: StopSmartMeters.org. Frequently Asked Questions. Click here.

Myth #6: Utility companies say that smart meters have low RF emissions.

Truth:

The calculations used to arrive at the low RF exposure numbers that most utilities published are arrived at by time-averaging. 

Smart meters have an unusual, unpredictable pattern of RF emissions, usually referred to as “pulses”—sudden high levels of RF followed by no emissions. Each pulse is about 2 milliseconds (2/1000th of a second) long.

By time averaging, they can bring down the total peak level that they claim the meters emit. This is bogus science. 

PG&E’s own documents revealed that their meters pulse between 10,000 and 190,000 times per day.

Another PG&E executive told us “off the record” that at least 90% of the emissions from a “smart” meter are NOT user data, but mesh-network “chatter.” 

Source: StopSmartMeters.org. Frequently Asked Questions. Click here.

A wireless smart meter produces radiofrequency microwave radiation with two antennas in approximately the same frequency range (900 MHz to 2.4 GHz) as a typical cell tower. But, depending on how close it is to occupied space within a home, a smart meter can cause much higher RF exposures than cell towers commonly do. 

If a smart meter is located on a common wall with a bedroom or kitchen rather than a garage wall, for example, the RF exposure can be the same as being within 200 to 600 feet distance of a cell tower with multiple carriers. With both cell towers and smart meters, the entire body is immersed by microwaves that go out in all directions, which increases the risk of overexposure to many sensitive organs such as the eyes and testicles.

Wireless smart meters typically produce atypical, relatively potent and very short pulsed RF/microwaves whose biological effects have never been fully tested. They emit these millisecond-long RF bursts on average 9,600 times a day with a maximum of 190,000 daily transmissions and a peak level emission two and a half times higher than the stated safety signal, as the California utility Pacific Gas & Electric recognized before that State’s Public Utilities Commission. 

Thus people in proximity to a smart meter are at risk of significantly greater aggregate of RF/microwave exposure than with a cell phone, not to mention the cumulative exposure received by people living near multiple meters mounted together, pole-mounted routers or utility collector meters using a third antenna to relay RF signals from 500 to 5,000 homes.

Source: StopSmartMetersBC.com. Information from David O. Carpenter, MD. Click here.

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