Smart Meters are Coming To Your Neighborhood. What Should You Do?
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Smart meters are being rolled out all over the United States. Sometimes you have a choice about whether to keep one off your house or not, but it's getting more and more difficult to get away from them.
Here are some thoughts about the risks of smart meters as well as what you can do to protect yourself from any side effects that they might cause.
In my post “What the Electric Company Doesn't Want You to Know – Smart Meters EXPOSED”, I told you that I didn't know much about Smart Meters until I got the notices in my mail about their upcoming installation in our city.
I found out that these Smart Meters have some problems:
– Health
– Fire
– Privacy
– No proven energy savings
– Exorbitant Costs associated with opting out
– Personal Safety Issues
– Legal and Constitutional Issues
Sigh.
I started reaching out to others and reading a ton to figure out what my options were.
One of the people whom I turned to is Lloyd Burrell. Lloyd runs the incredibly helpful website called Electric Sense. He himself became very ill due to EMF (electromagnetic frequencies) and so he set out to get healed and to teach others about the dangers.
Should You Be Concerned About Smart Meter Health Effects?
Smart meters are a great ‘polarizer' of opinion. Either you’re totally indifferent about them, which many people are, or you’re dead against them.
A growing number of people fit into the latter category.
Some people are so against them they’re willing to go to what might seem extraordinary lengths to protect their property from the installation of a smart meter.
There are been a few high profile cases.
Notably that of Jennifer Stahl and Malia “Kim” Bendis, two Naperville moms, who refused point blank to have smart meters installed on their homes. Things came to a head when both mothers were arrested in their own homes, in front of their families, for refusing to allow the local electric utility to install the smart meters on their homes.
In another case, Thelma Taormina, a lady from Texas took advantage of her Second Amendment rights when employees from her local utility tried to forcibly install a smart meter on her home in Harris County. The utility employees reportedly physically assaulted Mrs Taormina, which prompted her to brandish a firearm to defend her property.
These are not isolated incidents.
What’s All the Fuss About Smart Meters?
This might all seem like a storm in a teacup but there are some very serious issues behind smart meter installations.
To understand these issues you need to understand how these smart meters work. They work in different ways. That’s to say different utility companies utilize different technologies. But generally speaking smart meters and smart grid systems track and record details of customers’ energy usage, be it water gas or electricity, and transmit this information back to utility companies wirelessly.
In some parts of the world, smart meters are mandatory.
There are various issues at play here.
Problems with Smart Meters
Infringement of privacy is one of them. Smart meters relay detailed information about times and amounts of utility usage. Your utility company will know when you’re home or away and have detailed information on your consumption habits. This raises all sorts of questions about not just privacy, but security, safety and householder health.
It’s this last point which is the most perplexing. Because smart meters are synonymous with electromagnetic field (EMF) pollution.
EMF Pollution
EMFs are these invisible forces that exist in our environment. EMFs have existed since electricity was invented. But concern began to grow with the advent of the wireless revolution.
Cell phones, cordless phones, computer tablets, WiFi, Bluetooth, smart meters, what do all these devices have in common? EMFs. That’s OK because these EMFs are safe, right? It’s not what the studies say.
What Do The Studies Say?
When you buy a cell phone or use a wireless router, it’s probably never occurred to you that you’re exposing yourself to any kind of danger.
Why would you? Everyone's got a cell phone and wireless, right?
Well, wireless smart meters emit pulsed microwave radiation 24/7. The official line is that these low-level non-ionizing EMFs are safe. That’s to say there is so little power involved that there is no thermal effect (i.e. no heating) and therefore you’re OK.
However, there are now thousands of studies that show very clearly that there are potentially very serious adverse biological effects that can arise from these low-level exposures. And I’m talking about serious peer reviewed studies, that’s to say studies that have been replicated by different scientists and scrutinized in depth.
One of the most serious reviews of this scientific literature that has been carried is the BioInitiative Report, published first in 2007, again in 2012 and updated just a few weeks ago. The BioInitiative Reports are published by an international working group of scientists, researchers and public health policy professionals. The BioInitiative Working Group is sounding the warning alarm.
Microwave Radiation
Wireless smart meters emit radio frequency or microwave radiation. This radio frequency radiation is able to penetrate walls, metal, and concrete. It can also penetrate our bodies. The biological effects linked to these exposures are numerous, DNA damage, disturbed immune system, blood brain barrier damage, oxidative damage, and more.
In 2011 the World Health Organization classified the type of microwave radiation emitted by smart meters as a possible human carcinogen. Brain tumors, cardiovascular disease, ADHAD, Leukemia and a myriad of other diseases are linked to these exposures.
What Should You Do?
Should you opt-out?
Or should she allow the Smart Meter to be installed and then shield it?
Opting out comes at cost. For Adrienne, it's a one-time fee of $69 plus approximately $10 a month.
How does this compare to the cost of shielding? It’s difficult to say exactly.
Shielding is a long involved process, which requires specialist equipment and materials. The starting point is to obtain measurements with a radio frequency meter. There are several RF meters on the market, all of which are not suitable. You need an RF meter with a good degree of accuracy and sensitivity. Ideal choices are the Cornet ED78S or the Acoustimeter AM10. Then you need to take readings. It's important to be methodical and to write down your readings in a logbook.
Every Cloud Has A Silver Lining
You’ll soon realize, as soon as you switch your RF meter on, that the smart meter is not the only problem. Your cordless phone, WiFi, your burglar alarm, many homes have numerous wireless devices all emitting just as much RF radiation as your smart meter, if not more. This is the positive side of the smart meter issue; it encourages you to clean up the electro pollution in your home.
In terms of actual shielding, it’s difficult to shield fully. The only way to shield RF radiation 100% effectively is with a Faraday cage type structure, that’s to say creating a sealed enclosure. It’s often difficult to fully enclose your smart meter because of where it’s installed, against your wall or a neighbor’s wall. So this usually means shielding your home with special shielding paint or wallpaper. The way to proceed with shielding is to shield then take readings with your RF meter, then shield again if necessary and take readings again and so on.
The Real Choice
Even if you do opt-out of having a smart meter installed on your property you will still be zapped to a certain degree by the radiation from your neighbor’s smart meters and by the smart grid. The reality is you don’t have any real choice. Once smart meters are introduced in your neighborhood you will be exposed. This is the injustice of the situation.
What You Can Do
Take Action
The smart meter roll out is jolting people into action. I encourage you to take action.
Minimize Exposure
Minimize your exposure by opting out, but also get wise on this issue.
1. Evaluate
Have a good look round your home. Do you really need all those wireless devices? Can you change a laptop from WiFi to ethernet? Turn off WiFi at night?
For the devices that you can't give up, get EMF protection for as many as you can, or otherwise mitigate the exposure from them.
Defender Shield has solid products at a reasonable cost.
2. Get a Meter
Buy or rent an RF (radio frequency) meter, then you will see what you’re exposing yourself to.
This EMF meter is a good option that you can use to evaluate and mitigate your exposure.
TriField EMF Meter Model TF2
This EMF meter is the one we have in our home. It's a bit more expensive than some, but it's the one most often recommended by EMF specialists.
It measures not only radiation from 4G and 5G, but also from Cell Towers, WiFi routers, Bluetooth, AC Powerlines, and Smart Meters.
3. Get a Smart Meter Shield
Hopefully, you don't have a smart meter, or if you do, you can try to get it removed from your house. If you aren't able to do that, here's a Smart Meter Shield that can help protect you from the EMFs it is emitting.
4. Research
Don’t take my word on all this. Do your own research. You might want to join or form an activist group locally to make others aware of the problem and get the utility company to change its policy.
Get smart about smart meters, use the smart meter roll-out as an opportunity to do something positive.
What do YOU plan to do?
Since falling prey to a violent reaction to his cell phone in 2002, Lloyd Burrell has spent over 10 years researching the effects of electromagnetic fields (EMFs) on health.
His website https://www.electricsense.com offers solutions to the growing number of people whose health is being compromised by exposure to wireless and similar technologies.
You can download his EMF protection Free Report from his website.
Wow, I’ve been living in our house with a smart meter for 10 years. Same year it was installed we adopted our son at 6 months old. After he turned one he had night terrors for 4-1/2 years several times a night and when he napped. Three years after it was installed I had atrial fibralation. After that I have had continual problems with balance, headaches, fatigue, immune problems, hormone issues even though we eat a healthy diet. At age 5 my son was diagnosed with ADHD, Sensory Integration, behavior issues, and attachment disorder. I have spent thousands of dollars trying to get answers to why I can’t get better. Also my husband has tinnitus and it is getting worse. I am so upset and will be working on getting this disgusting thing out of our home.
Oh no. I sure hope you are successful. One of my local friends had it removed from his house.
I have real concerns about the invasive so called “smart a$$ meters” sorry couldn’t resist. I live in Ohio and in a 12 unit condo building. On the back side of my living room wall 13 smart meters were installed. Since their installation in 2008 or 2009, I began having health issues. I have had numerous skin cancer surgeries including a stage 3 cancerous tumor removed, prior to the cancer my blood pressure that had always been remarkably fantastic rates began super duper rising to the point I am now on 2 blood pressure meds. I had NEVER experienced issues with anxiety or attention defeciet problems but for the past three years or so I have to battle anxiety and attention problems (no meds just natural remedies due to I do not care for narcotic meds). I am interested in forming a group of people in Ohio and to battle Duke Energy in forcing these 13 monsters to be removed. Not only for my health safety but for everyone who has this similar situation. Ohio has not been an opt out state but I am willing to do what must be done and to travel anyplace necessary to present factual evidence to Duke Energy, Congress, State Representatives, anyone who has power and knowledge with common sense and make them remove thses monsters. Whoever would like to join me, please email me at melaniesharp2011@yahoo.com we can win in numbers!!
I’m so glad you are doing this work. So hope you can feel better and get the team together that you need!!
I’m in Michigan also, got the same notices about the smart meter, I live in a mobile home park, we had one already for the water. I can only imagine the damage that having 2 attached to my home right on the other side of my head is doing. We have super thin walls and our bed of course is on that wall. I already have a ton of health issues I’m trying to get figured out, and have been feeling so much worse the past few weeks, it seems the timings right. Also I’ve developed somewhat of a breast cancer scare that I need to get checked out. All since this new DTE meter has been put in. How possible is it to prove that its making health issues worse? Also my husband is already an uncontrolled diabetic, I read this meter could make it worse. Sorry for the long post. I for sure can’t afford the extra money to opt out either!
Oh no!!! There are ways to talk to the companies about getting it off, but if you can’t afford the opt out I am not sure what to say. You could look into the options for getting things to mitigate the effects, but of course, they cost money too. Is there a way to get extra money perhaps? I will pray for you right now.
I also live in a mobile home park (Seniors). I’m so worried about everyone here. There are many with Pace Makers, other implants that keep them alive & numerous health issues. My Mom-96 yrs old with Dementia, & myself with Fibromyalgia & many sensitivities. I knew this was something I did not want. I was concerned about “the box” & looking for a way to try to minimize the effects. Just realized that we will BE SURROUNDED BY THEM!!!!!! Feel helpless! If I had the choice, & time to do, I would educate everyone here (over 150 residents) & start a class action suit, if possible. They told us that the installation will begin Feb 16th. Health, possible fires, privacy & the people loosing there jobs are devastating to me. So very sad ANYONE has this power over all of us!!!!!!!!!!!
Is there anything you can do to fight this? They just ruled against the fees in Michigan – not sure what this will mean but it’s worth checking out. There are organizations to help. https://www.mlive.com/news/jackson/index.ssf/2015/07/consumers_energy_fees_to_opt_o.html
https://stopsmartmeters.org/frequently-asked-questions/faq-smart-meter-basics/
It would not let me pin this on pintrest or share it to Facebook is there anyway you can email it to me and the first article about this?
Just did it – thanks!! Are you able to share it now? If not I would love to interact with you to hopefully find out why -thanks!
I guess now even gas customers are geting smart meters. :
here is the link to the article from California:
(page from NBC News is now gone – link removed by blog owner)
UGH!!!!
So, I just sent away a water department worker trying to install a meter that would allow the water department to read the meter from their truck rather than having a meter reader walk up and read by waving a hand held wand over the meter. Does the water “smart meter” also pose health and fire hazzards?
Oh my. I’ll see if Lloyd can come back and respond. Sheesh.
Teri,
What you’re describing would indicate that the water department is also using wireless technology…..taking readings with a radio frequency meter would confirm this. Depending on where you live in the world smart meter health concerns are not confined to just electric meters but all forms of utility meters…electric, water & gas.
Sadly, Lloyd Burrell fails to mention one of nastiest problems with smart meters–the dirty electricity they generate. Solving the radiofrequency problem will NOT protect you from the dirty electricity and the horrendous magnetic fields generated through your home. Those who are electro-sensitive have as many health problems from smart (digital) meters, whether the radio is on or off. I am extremely surprised that this was not mentioned, and it is an unpardonable omission, because many people think that if they get the opt-out meter the electric company offers (which is usually a smart meter with the radio turned off), they will be safe. They will not. Same insomnia, heart palpitations, blood pressure spikes, ringing in the ears, anxiety–the list goes on and on. Please visit the Smart Meter Education Network’s website, in particular its page on dirty electricity.
Can you tell us what we can do about that? Or of course, if you want to contact me directly I would love to work with you on getting that information out.
Do you have a chart about dirty electricity and how much different objects produce? That would be very very helpful. Thanks for adding to the discussion. Feel free to link to your page.
It’s tough. There is nothing yet developed that will filter out all the voltage transients and harmonics. Lead, nickel, and mu metal will block the magnetic field, but of course putting this on all your walls would be cost-prohibitive, and the dirty electricty would still come out of all your appliances and appliance cords.
Our page on dirty electricity is at https://www.smartmetereducationnetwork.com/dirtyelec101.php We have gotten many accolades for the thoroughness of this page. I cannot reply to all you questions at this point, because, while I am in touch with people working on these things, nothing has yet been proven to be effective. Also, following the note from our last newsletter, immediately below, I will add my comments regarding the Stetzer filters, which are touted as protecting you from dirty electricity.
Important Note Regarding Dirty Electricity and Devices Designed to Protect You From Smart Meter Radiation
The Smartmeterguard is a device that you put over your meter to block the radiofrequency radiation. Note bene: This device does not protect you from dirty electricity (nor do its makers claim that it does). Dirty electricity is a magnetic field that travels through your home’s wiring and radiates out into the room. The only way to block a magnetic field is with lead, nickel, or mu metal. Unless you are very rich, lining your walls with these metals is not a possibility. The other way to cancel out a magnetic field is by using twisted 3-wire cable for your home wiring. (Note that much of the 3-wire cable that is sold today is untwisted and will not cancel out a magnetic field.)
Note that disconnecting your circuits from the copper water pipe to which they are grounded will also not remove the dirty electricity (it will, however, get rid of the dirty electricity that rides on your water pipes). For more information on these topics, do some web searches.
The Stetzer filters are not, in my experience, a good solution, although some say they have been helped by them.. This is my experience with Stetzer filters: They have a very strong magnetic field that goes out into the room. I can feel the magnetic field from these “filters” and I can hear a very high-pitched scream coming from them. Again, these high-pitched screams are what people complain about from dirty electricity with smart meters and the radio-off smart meter. You are using Stetzer filters to prevent this very phenomenon (dirty electricity), yet they are in fact creating dirty electricity because they are a mini-transformer. Yes, the reading on the Stetzer meter goes down, but that is probably for 2 reasons:
(1) The filters are getting rid of the narrow band of frequencies that meter captures.
(2) The Stetzer meter, while a useful tool for judging the amount of dirty electricity going through your wiring (within the band of frequencies it captures), does not measure the ambient magnetic field–that is, the magnetic field in the room. If you were to measure that, I suspect you would find that the filters are creating quite a field. There are ways to measure this ambient field. See the book by Karl Riley, Tracing EMFs in Home Wiring.
So I assume that the analog meters do not create dirty electricity? Do you have a source that states the most problematic sources of dirty electricity so my readers and I can prioritize? I would love that information. Sounds like that would help since it’s unlikely we can get away from all of it or get rid of the effects, correct?
Thanks so much!
I went round and round with SCE&G our provider in South Carolina last year trying to go back to an analog meter. They assured me that I dont’ have a Smart Meter, that I have an AMR meter. When I did some research it appears to be the same thing as a Smart Meter? AMR transmits a radio signal every 30 seconds to 1 minute. Have you come across any info on AMR meters?
They are still smart meters. Ugh. There are ways to get it off your house, but it won’t be as easy as keeping it off of your house.
Grrrr… makes me so mad because when I requested that an analog meter be reinstalled, they brushed me off to several people all of whom said the same thing….
I did go and look up my notes when I talked with them because this was a couple of years ago. Did find some info that may help others.
SCEG told me that the radio frequency at 10 feet away from the meter is .1 He assured me a laptop using Wi-Fi is much higher. You want the readings to be below .5 mG to be considered “safe”.
Unfortunately our meter is installed outside one of our bedroom walls. We did have a tech from SCEG come and measure EMFs. It was VERY, VERY high right on the wall where the AMR meter is installed at 1 foot away it was 10.5mG. At 3 feet away it drops to .5.
So what we are doing in the meantime is staying away from that wall. Our bedroom is small, but our bed is at least 3 feet away from the meter.
Thought these notes might be helpful to others who are already “stuck” with an AMR or Smart.
Ugh. Did you have the radio frequencies measured in your home? I am looking into some options. I will ask Lloyd if he can come by to comment.
SCE&G (the electric company in SC) sent out someone to measure for us. Its a service they offer if you request it. Back then I was investigating causes for my irregular heartbeat and some other issues, so I told them it was for health reasons. I’m sure you can call your power company and give it a try. Not sure if he was supposed to, but the serviceman walked all around my house for me. My TV is super old and that was reading really high… as was our old circuit breaker (that was actually MUCH higher than anything else, even the AMR meter). Good news was that most everything dropped severely once you were a couple of feet away.
We have an old TV too – I heard the LEDs are much better. We were planning on getting one. Guess the time is now – thanks for the reminder. The smart meter would be right by my son’s head on the other side of the wall. I am glad to hear it’s better a few feet away. I’m thinking I will buy a meter to see what is going on. If you are interested in one you could ask the author of this post what one he recommends. He has done a lot of looking into them.
The utility company measured EMF at you smart meter not RF. There is a big difference. RF is microwave radiation and it is measured in uw/m2.
EMR or electromagnetic radiation basically consists of wired (electric and magnetic fields) and wireless (RF microwave).
So if they measure emf are they not measuring RF we all? Sorry but I am just trying to figure all of this out. Thanks!
These are good questions and it is an area that few people understand…at the moment. Take a look at our website https://www.stopocsmartmeters.com/what-is-electromagnetic-radiation-emr.html where it is explained under “Non-Ionizing Radiation: EMF and RF”
The electromagnetic spectrum includes gamma rays, x-rays, (ionizing radiation) on one end and microwaves, radiowaves, EMF (non-ionizing radiation) on the other end with visible light somewhere in the middle.
Basically, non-ionizing is made up of EMF and RF; wired or wireless. And there are 2 different ways to measure and mitigate the effects of the radiation.
I use a Trifield meter to measure EMF (both electric and magnetic fields) coming from wired items such as a coffee maker, fish tank, refrigerator. There is the electric field where the electricity flows down the wire and there is a magnetic field around the wire. Both of these energies drop quickly when you move away from the source….unless they are high power electrical lines putting out an enormous amount of power.
I use an Acoustimeter to measure and mitigate RF microwave from any wireless device such as WiFi, Bluetooth, cell phones, cordless phones, baby monitors are the WORST, AppleTV, routers, game consoles, iPads, tablets, etc. The radiation is designed to travel distances and it is difficult to eliminate other than finding wired alternatives.
Your power company came out and measured the EMF. They do NOT come out and measure RF from smart meters. Most are not trained to understand RF as it is only recently that utilities went into the communications business.
When I read in my electric company’s newsletter that smart meters were coming, I called them to ask how I could opt out. I was told that no one could opt out! They were going to install it whether we wanted it or not. I am not happy!!
Rosemarie: the only way to communicate with your utility company on this issue is in writing by registered post, on the telephone they’ll just dismiss you. If you can put together a case with the support of your doctor that the smart meter should not be installed on health grounds you have a fighting chance of stopping the installation. This website lays out the procedure for doing this https://www.electrosmogprevention.org/take-action-against-smart-meters-ca/file-a-discrimination-complaint-with-us-doj/
as if multiple notices in the mail aren’t enough…i received a certified letter from the electric company asking for my choice. i had called them on their first notice of option to decline the smart meter months ago (at a one time initial fee of $95 and $13/month penalty for a dumb one). i am wondering why they pursue me.
Oh my goodness. Sheesh. I would tell them you are refusing and then refuse to pay. I would be interested to see what they will do. I think the analogs are the smarter ones.