Editor: This is my feedback on the letter “Smart meters ‘a necessary step’ for BC Hydro,” (The Times, April 8), by Greg Alexis of BC Hydro.
Smart meter radiation power is designed to cover a two-mile distance, and with a close proximity to the walls where people sleep or work, it makes them harmful, especially when considering the cumulative radiation source effect.
Pulse radiation is acknowledged by many sources as being more damaging, compared to regular sine waves.
In dense communities, the number of meters per square mile makes any safety claims a cynical joke.
The smart meter rules in B.C. left all of us with:
• A BC Hydro tariff which exempted it from any liability of doing any harm to home property;
• Smart grid enforcement in a shape of blitzkrieg implementation actions, with no return on investment mentioned in the “business case;”
• The government ignoring the Union of B.C. Municipalities’ decision to apply a moratorium to the so-called smart grid project. Two “choices” were given at the very beginning: either like new meters, or leave the province. Only strong opposition made government rethink its brutality;
• B.C. Utilities Commission ordered not to interfere with smart grid directives. It was literally blocked from doing its job of providing safe and fair options for the utility company customers; and
• The technology forced on people, with a cynical expectation that people would be either indifferent or mesmerized by the key word of deception, “smart.”
Punitive fees to keep analogue meters are penalties, not a fee. The only aim is to create a condition that many will not be able to afford to pay them, and thus submit to “authority.”
People with smart meters still have them read manually. They do not pay any fees.
So for the same service, those with analogue meters are charged high fees. There is no logic, no justice, no sound rationale.
Smart grid has a diversity of implementations, yet BC Hydro chose to ignore concerns about wireless options.
In B.C., we not only crossed the line where democracy was damaged, yet on the technological side the least beneficial option was chosen.
We all make mistakes, yet it is a sign of leadership and maturity to accept the existence of man-made issues, and take further responsibility, accountability and courage to fix them instead of staying in denial.
The government ridiculed our claims about health and safety.
The government failed to give true democratic options.
Now it is a high time for the government to accept the truth, and take right steps to correct the issues.
Michael Volansky,
Surrey