By Leslie Sheridan
As a resident of Lake County, a transplant from a county that is far ahead of Lake County on the issue of PG&E”s “Smart Meters” and as someone who has followed this issue closely for years, I feel compelled to request that Lake County and the cities within it consider an immediate moratorium on “Smart Meters” and pulsed microwave radiation infrastructure.
As such, I requested that this issue be put on the agenda of Board of Supervisors agenda to allow public comment. Denise Rushing agreed to do so and it is set for Tuesday at 1:30 p.m.
I am normally in support of technology furthering sustainable energy use, however, I am not in support of this technology.
Thankfully I am not alone, as countless citizens, cities and counties have risen up against PG&E”s plan to install Smart Meters and demanded that the California Public Utility Commission (CPUC) (the entity imposing this on PG&E,) enact a moratorium on “Smart Meters”:
– Camp Meeker, Cotati, Fairfax, the entire County of Santa Cruz and the City of Richmond requested immediate moratoriums on the installation of Smart Meters.
– The City and County of San Francisco, the City of San Rafael, the Marin County Board of Supervisors, the City of Sebastopol and the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors petitioned the CPUC and/or PG&E to suspend the installation of Smart Meters pending further investigation, with Marin County making it a crime to install them in unincorporated parts of the county.
– Mill Valley requested consideration of appropriate metering options for customers with electromagnetic hypersensitivity disorder (EHS).
Why? Concerns surrounding:
– Accuracy ? numerous claims of inaccuracy, gouging exist.
– Billing accuracy
– Control of usage data by PG&E invading personal privacy.
– Health effects from radio frequency (RF) emissions.
These devices emit frequent pulses of very-short duration but quite strong radio frequency radiation (RFR) throughout day and night.
The intensity of each pulse will be nearly 1,000 times the radiation emission of a typical cell phone”s output; the human body is bio-electric in nature and has not evolved to handle ongoing exposure to even very short exposures of that enormous magnitude, which would subject people to the potential for developing a variety of health problems.
Multiple layers of strong ongoing RFR signals from Smart Meters will be in addition to all the other RFR emissions to which we are already exposed.
– Ill-suited technology when better options exist
Remote reading of meters could be achieved via existing technology not involving wireless transmissions.
– Interference with other appliances/equipment.
– Job losses for meter readers.
– Liability for property owners.
– Safety ? incidences of explosions/house fires.
– Unevaluated impact on energy consumption, rather than energy savings.
Assemblyman Jared Huffman requested a study on the health effects, to determine whether FCC standards for Smart Meters are safe. He now has a bill in progress that will allow citizens to opt out of having them installed on their properties.
It is my hope that the Lake County Board of Supervisors and cities in Lake County join other counties and cities in requesting an immediate moratorium on Smart Meters.
I urge all concerned citizens of Lake County to attend the Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday at 1:30 p.m., as well as to write the CPUC and call PG&E and say no to Smart Meters.
Leslie Sheridan is a health consultant for Carpe Diem Health. Anyone desiring more information may visit www.seizehealthnow.com.
