From Del. Glen Glass:
Dear Editor:
It is an honor and privilege to serve the citizens of district 34a. My goal is to give economic opportunity to the citizens of my district by supporting lower taxes, less regulation on small businesses, and lower energy costs.
The rain tax is an embarrassment to the state of Maryland and an economy-killer, hence my sponsoring a bill to repeal it. I am leading the fight against the dangers of smart meters and to give Maryland citizens the right to keep their electric analog meter without paying a fee. The current fee to opt out is $75, plus $11 monthly thereafter. These fees are unjust and serve only as a deterrent to opting out, forcing many into the hazardous smart meter system; those who opt out are paying to maintain the smart meter system.
Smart meters must be replaced every five years. We know they cause fires, health problems, higher bills, and are a BIG BROTHER invasion of privacy, monitoring our homes and lifestyles every fifteen seconds. Last year when the senate bill was killed, BGE installed a smart meter on my home without permission, causing my bill to double; mine was the only home to receive one in my neighborhood. During the Senate hearing last Tuesday on Senator McFadden’s bipartisan SM opt out bill I co-sponsored (SB9, HB516), Sen. Mathias testified that his bill tripled when BGE installed a SM.
BGE unabashedly displays its disregard for Maryland citizens, calling law enforcement on a single mother for refusing SM, installing them without permission, and having their installers tell the elderly and others the opt out fee is $75 monthly (not the $11 set by the PSC). It’s my opinion the Senate hearings reveal BGE’s sole intent is to increase profits and our electric bills by disrupting our lifestyles. Please call your Delegate or Senator to voice your concerns at 410 946 5000. Visit www.marylandsmartmeterawareness.org for more information.
Your delegate and servant,
Glen Glass 34a
How does a paranoid idiot like this get elected?
Simply put in Harford County you could run a monkey’s picture with an R next to it for political office, and it would get more votes than any qualified person with a D after their name. We would be much better off eliminating political party affiliation,at the very least, in all state and local elections. Many small cities and towns do it and it works. We do it for School Board positions. Then, have a runoff between the candidates who get the 2 highest vote totals in the general. Perhaps, voters might take a look at the candidates positions not their political party and vote accordingly. Off course, all the party loyal from both sides would never let that happen. It is all about power and the benefits that go with it.
If only there were qualified people with a D after their name in Harford County or almost anywhere in Maryland. If only. Peter Franchot is about the only one who comes close to making sense and in the last election he NEVER once mentioned the word Democrat in any of his ads. Smart man. He knows sleeping with dogs gets you fleas.
Exactly what we would expect to hear from Alex “R”
Actually my voter registration card says Democrat but I refuse to vote for most of the ultraliberal morons that get nominated in Thee People’s Republic of Maryland.
Regardless, of the “D” or “R”, the BGE initials are the ones being discussed. The “Smart” meters are generating about a 20% increase on the bills of the people I know. What or where is this increase coming from? A BGE technician told US, that the older equipment tends to wear and this wear has generated a lower bill. That the new meter is an actual reading using Digital components and that the wear in the older Analog meters gave readings in favor of the consumer. I told him he needs to sell his Kool-Aid on the other side of the street because me and my friends weren’t buying it. He just smiled and said, “Have a nice day”. If you believe the BGE BS, then you deserve the higher bill. With all their customers, a small increase adds up to millions of dollars per year. Who is pocketing it?????????
Kilowatts, not Kilowarrants: Government Can Obtain Smart Meter Data with Subpoenas Alone, https://www.aclunc.org/blog/kilowatts-not-kilowarrants-government-can-obtain-smart-meter-data-subpoenas-alone
“… Smart meter data can reveal very sensitive information about our personal life and daily activities from what time we wake up and go to sleep to how often we shower and eat. And as smart meters collect more data, the potential for its misuse will increase. That’s why the existing privacy rules and transparency reports required by the CPUC are so important. But these transparency reports and the revelations about the NSA’s collection of sensitive consumer data both bring an emerging privacy issue into sharper focus. Current laws allow the government—both federal and state—to get a hold of records on our personal lives without showing probable cause before a judge and obtaining a warrant…”
First of all, as our representative he doesn’t “give”anything to anyone. As far as SM, he’s a little late to the dance. I would like to have my SM taken off and replaced, but don’t think that will happen anytime soon.
Your point is?
I had a smart meter installed and my bill went down, splain that Glen?
You are one of the few…..
Glen never did release the copies of his bill he claims doubled. Wonder why?
Where does he live? who has the address we can get BGE to release the bills Glen refuses to share with us.
The headline to this news release is the first time I’ve even seen the word “smart” anywhere near the phrase “Del. Glass” !
,,,and speaking of “an embarrassment to the state of Maryland” !
Doug104 knows of what he asks!
This letter may have set Harford County back 20 years…..
Of course your bill doubled you know it’s winter time and everyone’s rates went up.
The amount of foil lining his house also doubled.
Glen, please stop with the smart meter syndrome B.S. Are you jealous because they are called “smart”?
Glen, you are a nice guy, but you are SO out of your league attempting to represent us in District 34-A
Please take off your tin foil hat and stop wasting our tax dollars on your salary and hotel in Annapolis!
BTW, Glen lives in a “modest” home on Fords Lane in Perryman (next to Steve Johnson’s McMansion).
My bill had a huge spike the first month after a smart meter was installed, but that’s because they’d been estimating my usage and the worker entered the actual reading before he removed the old meter.
Thank you Del Glass. I’ve installed a meter cam so that I can catch the bastards when they try to change my meter.
Another elected official trying to get votes and create a name for himself by preying on those without common sense or logic. It’s like accusing the car dealer of stealing your gas by replacing your fuel gauge. Invasion of privacy? How stupid does he think we are? How can BGE send us a bill if they don’t know how much electric we are using. Smart meters have two values – 1 they eliminate the need to have people drive atound and check meters and record data by hand. I personally enjoy the fact that I don’t have some random person creeping around my property. 2 – with more granular data, BGE can make better choices about how the manage the power they generate, how much they buy and sell back to the grid. Do they pass those savings to us? Not really but this isn’t a discussion about a fee market for electricity ( which doesn’t really exist, energy choice is a joke )
Oh, My Sweet Summer Child….
There are plenty of documented cases where these meters can cause problems. If you don’t think that a cyberwar could target these things, then you have either put your hand in the sand or you have a severe case (as do many of the other posters here) of rectal-cranial inversion. The NSA and Baltimore City are already swiping data from our cell phones and our landlines. Why wouldn’t they go after this data set as well? One utility company in Saskatchewan has already ordered all their meters pulled after they had eight fires blamed on these things.
BGE wants profit – they are an arm of Chicago-based Exelon. They don’t care about the people here, as long as the stockholders are happy. The smart meter that I found on my house this past week was installed despite our family opting out. And it is loose, and has an acrid smell. We’ve had one appliance short out since its installation. But by all means, if you want to live with these conditions, go ahead. Just don’t crow any superiority dance over it.
And no, I am not a Republican stooge. I am a card carrying Democrat and a proud union member in Baltimore City Schools, with a masters degree and a liberal voting and donation record. Please try to do some research before you just spew in the future. Thank you.
Delegate Glass’ allegations are TRUE! Of the more than 16 homeowners, that I have relations with in the Baltimore Area, 14 of them have also noticed an increase in their bills. These meters we’re installed in late summer and early fall, so you can’t blame it on winter rates. Now, I think Delegate Glass has exaggerated the increase of the bill, as the people I know all have noticed about a 20% increase. BGE says the matter is due to older meters’ parts wearing down, such as springs and such. This does not explain the increase on residents that have been using Digital Meters for years though, as 5 of the 14 have had digital meters before the installation of the new “Smart Meters”. I have no explanation for the increases, but I know the fee for opting out is ridiculously high and even upon opting out, your bill will go up more from the fee than from the meter switch…….
Don’t worry… they only want to install the meters so they can improve efficiency, reduce the number of meter reader employees and ensure the top executives receive fatter bonuses. I’ve heard that some of those poor devils are having to get by on domestic caviar… can you imagine? They probably bought stock in the meter manufacturers before initiating the changeover. Remember when oil spiked and they whined they had to jack electric rates to compensate? Funny, when oil comes back down a gallon of gas does too… BGE’s main purpose is to convert your money into their money. Why help them?
Is this like that deal where you have to install the meter so you can then take it off???
The installer for my meter told me the opt out fee was $75 a month.
I do not like the smart meter. It allows for BGE to monitor time of use as well as turn off the electricity remotely. I see this as an invasion of privacy. Something we fought so dearly for in the past.
Clearly the general public does not recognize the slow erosion of privacy rights. Soon it will be too late.
Sam Smith,
So you do not like paying the cost for the service and would rather all other customers in the BGE service area subsidize your bill? Electricity is more expensive during the day because of greater demmand (competition with office facilities drawing more power during daytime hours only for instance). I’m sorry Sam that you want a free ride, but I don’t like subsidizing other’s bills. I would prefer that we give everyone the ability to make smarter decisions to lower their bills, such as only using dish washers and laundary after dark. Use a programmable thermostat to reduce workload during peak demand hours.
It’s a concept called personal responsibility.
Chris,
What you don’t understand is that the meters have nothing to do with being “smart” and everything to do with time of usage billing. Under the old meters BGE could only determine HOW MUCH electricity you used for the month. During peak times when demand is higher BGE has to buy power on the open market to satisfy the consumer demand. Now with the new smart meters BGE knows exactly how much power you are utilizing PER HOUR on any given day.
What will follow will be “time of use” billing like they have in the UK. Now BGE has the data to prove how much power you are drawing and will bill you accordingly for it. Gone will be the days of running your AC on a very hot day because the time of use rate will be outrageous. Even if the weather cooled and you cut back your power usage on mild days, you will still be BANGED for your usage on the really hot day. With the old meters you could control usage on a monthly basis, now you have surrendered that to the power company.
Congratulations, as you have been hoodwinked and didn’t even know it!
I’m not being hoodwinked, that is exactly what I am saying is going to happen and SHOULD happen. You SHOULD pay the actual cost of your electricity and that ACTUAL cost occurs depending on what time of day you use it since there is greater demand during different hours. You’re trying to get something for free and screw the power company, while that might be best for you, it’s wrong and selfish and we all pay more because of it because I am going to make the sacrifices to use my electricity at different times to reduce my billing.
That’s my personal responsibility.
We fought so that BGE couldn’t see when we were using our electricity? Are you really so hard up for ’causes’ that you think that’s an invasion of privacy?
I wish my life had few enough problems that I could see this as an issue.
It is $75 per month for 3 months, followed by $11 per month charge.
This will be far less than the billing errors and time of usage billing soon to follow.
Smart Meters put people out of work. This is a way for BGE to increase profits and employ fewer people.
BGE is a regulated utility, which means if they reduce their cost they have to lower their distribution rates because the Public Service Commission approves their rates based on evaluating their business costs. I guess all users of BGE should be cheering the loss of a job by a meter reader. Kind of macabre.
The meter readers did not lose their jobs. They were offered other positions within the company.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/williampentland/2011/05/03/not-so-smart-meters-overbilling-californians/
“The utility, Pacific Gas and Electric Company, admitted yesterday that about 1,600 so-called “smart meters” had charged customers for phantom power. The meters, manufactured by Landis+Gyr, malfunctioned when they get too hot.”
With the old spin electric meter I had a $40 device that showed me my real time electric use so I could find out and adjust any energy hogs in the house. With the new SMART (ASS) meter you cannot see real time use to make adjustments only a look back of what electricity was used. In addition our alleged electric use has gone up despite replacing all our light bulbs with LED bulbs, making a concerted effort to use less electricity, picking Con-Ed as a supplier with the lowest cost and freezing this winter. There is definitely something up with a meter that you cannot check real time usage on and and bills show an increase in usage despite using less in the house.
I agree, you used to be able to walk to the side of your house and see how fast the meter was spinning and based on that get a sense of how much power was being used in the house. If it was spinning fast you knew something was using a lot of power and then could go check to see what that might be. Like maybe an electric heater or Air Conditioner. Now you cannot figure out anything from the digital display. Apparently you need a computer running all the time to monitor your electric use and then the information is a day old.
I would speculate that business for firemen and doctors treating chronic headaches will be booming with the implementation of these meters.
Another SaskPower smart meter explodes in Saskatchewan:
http://globalnews.ca/news/1477802/saskpower-smart-meter-explodes-in-colonsay-sask/
COLONSAY, Sask – A Saskatchewan man says his new SaskPower smart meter exploded early Saturday morning. Brad McNairn told Global News the meter blew up around 1 a.m. at his Saskatoon home. There were no injuries and damage was limited to the meter and the surrounding area.
Family blames smart meter for fire that killed 74-year-old, http://www.wfaa.com/story/news/local/dallas-county/2015/02/03/74-year-old-killed-house-fire-dallas/22786269/
Smart Meter Causes Dumb Fire, A General Electric smart meter after it burst into flames at a home in Illinois. Image courtesy of Shirley Bayliff, http://www.wired.com/2012/09/self-combusting-smart-meters/
http://www.rgj.com/story/news/2014/09/13/reno-sparks-fire-chiefs-call-smart-meter-probe/15580069/
‘… one of the fires in Reno burned a man’s face. The meter burst into flames when he flipped a breaker switch, scorching him. He put out the flames with a fire extinguisher and was treated at a local hospital…”
If you produce 1 million of anything electrical you will be able to site 100 cases of fires or malfunctioning equipment. We are not perfect and cannot build a perfect machine free from errors that fall into reasonable statistical norms. How many automobile recalls do we have annually? There is a certain inherited risk in living. The only folks who don’t seem to accept that are personal injury attorneys and people that believe everything is a conspiracy.
Might your bill go up? Possibly a small amout. Will it double? There is not a chance. While the USS Maryland is sinking we have legislators worrying about arranging the deck chairs. There is no data to show that smart meters are dangerous, cause fires, or are retrieving personal data ecept on Facebook! If there is where 34A’s research is coming from I hope you will be open to someone who understands that we need to put creating jobs and developing a robust private sector economy in Maryland as our number one priority. Our state is too dependent on government jobs! The federal government at some point soon will have to begin to reduce growth or begin to reduce its spending and size. When that inevitable eventuality hits, our state economy will be devestated. We are 18 trillion dollars in debt and climbing. The spending cannot go on forever. We need folks in office who understand this and will develop revenue streams that come from more people paying taxes and not people paying more taxes. Glen is a very nice guy but his refusal to work on issues other than smart meters may show voters that he does not have the ability to triage the problems we face. It doesn’t do any of us any good to have a digital or analog meter on our house that we watch being foreclosed on by the bank because we lost our job.
Mr. Blizzard if a bill goes up due to the introduction of between 13,000 to 190,000 high frequency transient spikes on the lines of your house as a result of the “smart” meter” wireless signals being inadvertently transmitted through your house wiring and then being misread by the “smart” meter who cares if it goes up a little bit or doubles or triples? You are still paying for something that you have not used. Please explain why the meters are over billing customers all over the country in your opinion?
http://www.takebackyourpower.net/news/2015/02/13/utility-commissioners-private-emails-reveal-conspiracy/
“FAT CAT IS OUT OF THE BAG: Evidence has now been made public of illegal actions and collusion between former California Public Utilities Commission president Michael Peevey and utility PG&E, as criminal investigations continue.
As part of a federal and state investigation into what appears to be systemic corruption involving former senior executives at PG&E and the California Public Utilities Commission, 65,000 emails have been publicly released, revealing collusion and conspiracy.
Former commission president Michael Peevey and former PG&E Vice President Brian Cherry are wishing investigators would have been kept in the dark. The pair privately discussed problems with so-called “smart” meters, violating their own rules of procedure while admitting to health harm and overbilling problems – which several thousand Californians had been warning about since 2008.
Details continue to surface, as press and researchers continue to delve into the mountain of collusion.
It is perhaps justly ironic that we now see, made public, the private email correspondence of those who have teamed up to deploy technology which, according to a 2012 US Congressional Research report, facilitates unprecedented in-home surveillance…”
Hello…I can see that you have done a lot of homework on this subject but I question your sources of information. You are quoting “facts” from a website http://www.takebackyourpower.net that is hardly unbiased. Their entire existence depends on this being a controversy so I have to read with what they have to say with a grain of salt and look for more sources that will substantiate their claims. I am not dismissing that there is something to all of this but it seems to occupy the political existence of our delegate in 34A. I cannot respect or take seriously the claims he has made over the years of countless fires, brain cancer cases due to smart meters, or doubling or tripling of bills. Do I think there is corruption possible? Yes, but to make outlandish claims and spew misleading rhetoric only serves to discredit the arguments against the implementation of smart meters. Saying smart meters cause brain cancer because someone in Iowa had a smart meter attached to their house and died 6 months later of a brain tumor is not science. I could claim it was something in the water because the person also drank water. There is no credible scientific analysis linking health related problems to smart meters. Your cell phone is far more dangerous to your health than a smart meter.
With all of that being said I am interested in seeing further information you may have on the subject from sources that are not directly tied to making a living on keeping a controversy alive. I am not saying that this does not warrant a deeper look and investigation…especially in Maryland where government corruption is a thriving industry. I just think we need to put this topic into its proper context which is to investigate and manage the distribution of the meters. I am all for the elimination of the fee to opt out…on this topic I would Stand Tall with you and Mr. Glass.
Wow there are some tin foil beenies on to tight here.
I’m all for smart meters they will wake up the morons who spend 100 degree summer days leaving the AC on 70 degrees while running countless loads of laundry using hot water a well pump and the dryer all at the same time,while also leaving the pool pump on and baking cookie with the kids. If you are going to waste electric when it is needed most it should be expensive.
Smart meters give smart people the ability to control what they are paying for. Smart meters make dumb people poorer and there are apparently a lot of dumb people. Good move BGE.
Solar Saved Southern Australian States From Costly Demand Peaks, January 22nd, 2014
http://cleantechnica.com/2014/01/22/solar-saved-southern-australian-states-costly-demand-peaks/
“Victoria and South Australia have just finished a week which put the highest stress on the electricity grid since a similar heat wave occurred on 28th-30th January 2009. Despite the population of Victoria and South Australia increasing at least 7%2 since then, the electricity demand supplied by the grid during the heat wave was just lower than the peak usage reached on the 29th of Jan 2009.
Electricity demand from the grid in the recent heat wave peaked on Wednesday. There were initially warnings of potential load shedding1 from the grid operator after the usually baseload Loy Yang A3 brown coal unit and one of the Torrens Island gas units tripped offline on Tuesday. However, demand came in slightly lower than forecast and apart from some minor local transmission outages, demand was fully supplied.
Speculation has already started on the effect of solar on electricity demand during the heat wave, with the Electricity Supply Association (ESAA)3 and the Australian Solar Council4 each producing different estimates of the amount solar contributed to reducing demand. Peak demand is an important driver of the cost of electricity as both the network and the generation fleet is sized to meet the largest credible demand forecast…”
Mike Blizzard, you simply MUST be a shill for Exelon dba BGE. Your statements (“Might your bill go up? Possibly a small amout. Will it double? There is not a chance. While the USS Maryland is sinking we have legislators worrying about arranging the deck chairs. There is no data to show that smart meters are dangerous, cause fires, or are retrieving personal data ecept on Facebook!”) are inexcusable and outright false. There is a mountain of evidence from the U.S. ,Canada, and Europe that these meters save little to nothing for ratepayers and HAVE, indeed, caused more than a few building fires when they overheat, melt down, etc. Similarly, there is ample evidence of electric bills increasing substantially for those sheep who blindly agreed to having these meters installed. I could go on.
KottaMan…
Not a shill at all and agree with the fact that BGE should not be able to charge someone for not taking a new meter..where we disagree is the evidence of rampant fires and death and a trail of bloodshed that the Facebook news crowd seems to believe every day. If there is mountains of evidence and ample evidence why didn’t you bother to share any of it? Certainly you could share a molehill of evidence. The fact is that similar to the pseudo-science of global warming, there is no real evidence supporting your claims. Simply conjecture and rhetoric from websites that can only sustain themselves if there is a controversy. Why isn’t one major news outlet; be it newspaper, radio, or television picking up this story when there is so much money to be made if it were true? The only money being made is by fringe websites who feed the flames of sensationalism with opinion pieces designed to give you red meat and bring you back the next day wanting for more. They are making the money just like the AL Gore types. I am with you in fighting the charges, but ask yourself one question…WHY? Why would BGE put a smart meter on your house if they know it is likely to cause a fire to which they can be sued? They did not produce the meters so they could always go to another vendor or let somebody build a better meter…but these meters are safe enough to meet federal and state standards which you probably think are overbearing and strangle business production. There we would probably argue on the same side. I am not trying to put words in your mouth about government over-regulation, but most folks who don’t trust government and big business tend to also fight against an over-bearing government. I would side with you on that. We may just have to agree to disagree…you trust your sources of information, I have reason to doubt them because I choose to trace the money. Money unfortunately makes the world go round.
2/8/15
California: “PG&E reacted fast to ex-PUC chief’s complaint about size of his bill – When the state’s former top electricity regulator complained about a new Pacific Gas & Electric Co. “smart meter” at his vacation home, company executives reacted swiftly.
A handful of emails — part of more than 65,000 released two weeks ago by PG&E and the Public Utilities Commission — revealed that then-PUC President Michael Peevey had a beef about the size of his monthly bill in 2011: It had more than doubled after a wireless meter was installed.
Obviously something is wrong. I would like an explanation.
– Then-PUC President Michael Peevey in an email to his main PG&E liaison, then-Vice President Brian Cherry, about the size of his monthly electricity bill in 2011
“Obviously something is wrong,” Peevey wrote to his main PG&E liaison, then-Vice President Brian Cherry. “I would like an explanation.”
The release of these emails came as state and federal law enforcement officials have stepped up their investigations into the relationship between the utility and the PUC. Peevey’s and Cherry’s homes were searched recently by investigators. Neither has been available for comment…”
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-capitol-business-beat-20150209-story.html
2/9/15
Breaking News: Peevey and Southern California Edison met secretly in Warsaw Poland to plot strategy, http://www.amslawyers.com/Breaking-News/Breaking-News-Peevey-and-Southern-California-Edison-met-secretly-in-Warsaw-Poland-to-plot-strategy.shtml
1/30/15
Investigators Search Home Of Ex-CPUC Chief Michael Peevey
http://www.kpbs.org/news/2015/jan/30/investigators-search-home-ex-cpuc-chief-michael-pe/
1/15/15
[Washington, DC] PSC MISREPRESENTING PUBLIC TESTIMONY AGAINST PEPCO-EXELON MERGER, SAY MERGER OPPONENTS, http://www.powerdc.org/psc-misrepresenting.html
2/23/15:
[Arizona] “12 News obtains a whistleblower’s letter alleging APS rate increases could be challenged because of a cozy relationship with a state corporation commissioner. Our investigation found almost a dozen lunch dates with the electric company’s CEO”
http://www.americanfreedombybarbara.com/2015/02/major-arizona-corporation-commission.html
http://archive.azcentral.com/persistent/icimages/news/ACC_whistleblower_letter_02-18-15.pdf
So my wife and I had a smart meter placed three months ago on a new house (>1.5 yrs old) that is energy star certified with all new energy star appliances. We had a digital meter set up on construction. With the new smart meter by Landis + Gyr our use doubled and tripled
Dec ’13 139kWh – Dec 14 708kWh;
Jan’14 366kWh- Jan’15 854kWh.
We were told that it was because of Christmas lights, new lamps being plugged in and then when pressed to explain how that could triple our use the kind BGE rep just said “I don’t know what you have plugged in and what you do. The meter is correct and that’s it.”
I have no problems with privacy or any of the other issues. My biggest gripe is that our bills have gone up two to three times what they were before.
File a complaint with the Maryland public service commission. I did and got a response within 24 hours.
BGE actually will fix a problem if one exists.
thank you.
@Mike Blizzard, your replied “you trust your sources of information, I have reason to doubt them because I choose to trace the money.” My sources are news articles, with no financial incentives or axes to grind, from around the world on smart meters plus a national study done by the UK government. I would tend to agree with you that certain websites may have blinders on and be totally biased one way or the other. When I collect news articles, it is hard to deny the evidence, photographs, etc. of smart meter consequences including fatal fires here and overseas. The great danger in the latter cases is that by the time building occupants realize the structure is on fire at the exterior, it may well be too late for a successful escape. No one has smoke detectors on their building exterior.
@KottaMan – I am always interested in learning so I would be interested in articles you may have…we can’t always agree 100% but we can disagree with respect and an open mind to change if new information is brought to our attention. send me information to mikeblizzard2014@yahoo.com. Thanks for the debate…I look forward to currently helping to remove the cost and who knows what the future may bring. Always keep an open mind.
http://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/2011/09/04/power-surge-raises-questions-about-smartmeters
Power surge raises questions about SmartMeters, East Palo Alto electricity surge burnt out digital meters by Sue Dremann / Palo Alto Weekly
Photo: Scorched SmartMeters on Glen Way in East Palo Alto. Photo by Craig Dremann.
“When 80 PG&E SmartMeters caught on fire and burned out after a power surge in East Palo Alto on Aug. 25, the incident raised questions for some residents and utilities officials about the safety of the new digital devices.
The sustained electrical surge to more than 200 East Palo Alto homes and businesses lasted for about one hour and 20 minutes, until a PG&E crew shut off the power, according to a Menlo Park Fire Protection District incident report…”
On or around July 24, 2015 I received a call from BGE stating that I had a faulty electric meter. They said they wanted to send a technician out to service the meter. I said that’s fine but what is wrong with my meter? A service rep named Sandy told me they could not read my meter. So, I agreed to have a tech come out to service the meter.
At that point I was told that if the technician couldn’t service the meter, they would have to upgrade it, and I would need to decide now if I want the upgrade before she could dispatch a tech. I asked her to define “upgrade.” She said a Smart Meter. I then told her I do not want to Smart Meter, and she said well if the technician can’t fix your meter, they have to turn your electric off. I asked if I could call her back so I can research this further, plus I would need to find someone to stay at my house to wait for a tech.
On Aug 4th I come home to no electricity. I call BGE who proceeds tell me their Meter division shut off my electric due to a faulty meter. (Mind you, I have been receiving bills for the past 10 years and I have paid on time every time). Since this was around 6pm, I had to wait until the morning.
I receive a call from the Meter division who tells me I have to pay a $70 connection fee and they can send a tech out later to turn the electric back on. I told her my meter readings were just fine. What justification do you have to shut off someone’s electricity? She said,” they have a right to shut if off because the meter is faulty.” So I said fine, please send the tech out because we have an infant and a diabetic in the house, and we have no electric. She said OK, and proceeded to give me the same speech as before. In order to send the tech out I need to decide whether I want a Smart Meter. I told her absolutely not, as I have already opted out. She then tells me, if the tech can’t service the standard meter, and he can’t upgrade, he will then have to leave the electric off. I said that doesn’t make any sense.
Now here’s the kicker. Some time back, maybe 3 years ago. BGE came to me and said they need to upgrade my gas line. Unbeknownst to me they installed a gas Smart Meter. So the rep tells me the reason that my electric meter is faulty, is because I have a gas Smart Meter, and the two meters cannot talk to each other, so therefore they cannot read my electric meter and that makes it faulty. I’m no engineer, but this makes absolutely no sense to me.
She then tells me that if I opt for the standard electric meter, that they have to come by and take out the gas Smart meter as well. And if they determine they cannot fix my “faulty” meters than they will connect my gas or electric back.
Needless to say, my back is up against the wall so I had to agree to the Smart Meter. I am wondering how can this be legal? I was pretty much bullied into “opting” for the Smart Meter. My only choices were Smart Meter or no electric or gas. Does anyone know if I have any recourse here? Did they legally shut off my electricity?
Contact the PSC reps, they should have answers or try to help you.
That is pretty messed up!