It’s finally happened –
Smart Meters are coming to Revelstoke, with numerous
people receiving letters indicating the controversial
machines will be installed at their homes.
The meters, which are supposed to modernize BC
Hydro’s transmission grid, have been met with opposition due
for a variety of reasons ranging from health to cost to
privacy concerns.
“To me it’s mostly a health issue with the radiation
from the meters,” said Frank Lemay, who paid to have a flyer
warning about the risk of smart meters placed in this week’s
Times Review. “Then the cost, of course. The cost to
install, the cost for people to have them – people are
paying a lot more money for hydro.”
The Coalition to Stop “Smart” Meters has listed a
number of reasons to oppose the devices. It claims the
meters will lead to higher costs to consumers; as well as
pose health risks due to the microwave radiation the devices
emit.
“And it is not just cancer that is of concern,” the
coalition’s website stopsmartmetersbc.ca states. “A growing
percentage of the people in British Columbia have developed
electrohypersensitivity and suffer from uncomfortable and
even disabling physical reactions from involuntary exposure
to wireless devices.”
On top of that, it cites privacy concerns and that
the devices will allow BC Hydro to track detailed activity
in the home, such as what appliances are being used and when
people are home.
BC Hydro says the smart meters will make the system
more efficient, provide more accurate readings and reduce
waste. It says the amount of radiation emitted over a
20-year-period is equivalent to one 30 minute cell phone
call, though those numbers are disputed by the Coalition to
Stop “Smart Meters”.
At the Union of British Columbia Municipalities
conference last Fall, 55 per cent of delegates passed a
motion calling for a moratorium on the installation of the
devices. At the time, Mayor David Raven told the Times
Review he didn’t think the meters were “that big an issue.”
“There’s much more serious things that I’m worried
about.”
Last week he said council was “starting to see a
swell of opposition to them.”
BC Hydro made a presentation to the board of the
Columbia Shuswap Regional District last Thursday and he
recommended BC Hydro do more community interaction here
about the meters.
Two letters were included in the council package for
April 24, one from Lemay and the other from Wanda Watson,
who expressed concern about reports of rising costs, health
issues and privacy issues.
“We live in a democracy as far as I know and we are
extremely opposed to these meters being imposed on us
without our permission,” she wrote in a letter. “There are a
number of communities in B.C. that have declared a
moratorium on these meters, pending further study, and I
would hope that our mayor and city council would at least be
willing to offer us the same protection.”
Councillor Linda Nixon said she had heard from
several residents and would bring up their concerns in
council. She said her husband has worked around transmitters
for years and she wasn’t personally concerned about the
meters.
“I think that if people are perceiving there’s a big
concern about them, maybe it just needs some more education
from BC Hydro and an openness on their part,” she said.
“This is a hot potato elsewhere in the province so we need
to be aware of it and help facilitate people having a voice.
We can’t tell BC Hydro what to do as council but we can
certainly encourage them to communicate with people.”
Lemay said
he wants to organize a meeting and bring people to
Revelstoke to talk about Smart Meters.
“I’m going to get people to wake up and get the
information on this, not just what you see on the news,” he
said. “Invite everybody to get the real facts. That’s what
I’m going to do.”
Try any
Q-Link or
cell chip
for 3 months, absolutely
RISK-FREE If you do not feel Q-Link improves your
focus, energy, or well-being, simply return it for a full
refund.
Airtube headsets have
30 a day refund.
