SMART METERS ARE COMING AND MANY PEOPLE DON'T WANT THEM!
by Gulf Islanders for Safe Technology (GIST)
BC Hydro's plan to spend at least $1 billion to replace our
current electricity meters is making people angry and they are
questioning why the rush, and why no debate.
People will be travelling from all over the area to demonstrate
opposition to the Hydro plan at the Legislature, Wed. June1, at 12
noon.
At the same time, John Horgan, MLA, Energy Health Critic, and
Sue Hammel, MLA, are presenting petitions with hundreds of signatures
to the Legislative Assembly demanding a halt to the
"Smartmetering and Infrastructure" program, before the
session ends on Thursday June 2nd.
The purpose is to bring to the attention of government and the
public the many deficiencies in the plan as presented. Organizers
stress that these meters are not "green" as originally
claimed, nor do they save any energy, or money for customers and the
province, while in fact the reverse is true in that they waste energy
- and our money - in order to function.
The citizens' groups holding this event want to let Energy
Minister Coleman and Premier Clark know that the public was not a
party to this B.C. Liberal Party insider/Hydro decision that in fact
there has been no democratic, open community process concerning this
most comprehensive change in our publicly-owned electrical utility,
and that they will not allow the meters to be put on their homes and
apartments. The groups insist that this heavily-flawed plan be
abandoned until glaring health, privacy, security and operational
defects have been addressed fully.
Gulf islanders for Safe Technology, an ad hoc group formed to
oppose Hydro's heavily-flawed "smart" grid plan, together
with three other local, citizens' groups active in the area of
electromagnetic radiation health effects, are organizing this
demonstration.
Saanich Electrical contractor and spokesman for the EM Radiation
Health Alliance of B.C.,Walter McGinnis states that:
"In parts of
the continent where these radiating "smart" meters are
deployed, customers are complaining that electricity bills increased
significantly after the meters were installed. In addition the
radiation from the wireless meters is the same as from cell phones,
which many scientists have shown to be dangerous. The worst feature of
this type of meter is that many thousands have become ill following
their installation."
Further, as "Gulf Islanders for Safe Technology"
spokesman Chris Anderson of Salt Spring asks:
"Why is our
government continuing with this program when similar programs all over
North America have failed to save money or energy and are making so
many people sick? Why not use the $1 billion to help people really
save energy by insulating homes and installing better windows or more
efficient furnaces? This would create more jobs which would
really help our economy."
BC Hydro is planning on installing the radiating meters by
mid-July, spending money that has no oversight by the BCUC, even after
Premier McGuinty of Ontario, where smart meters are in place,
admitted there was no cost or energy savings.
The public has a short
time to make its concerns known to Mr. Coleman and Premier
Clark.
PRESS RELEASE FOR DEMO JUNE 1, VICTORIA
LEDGE
