BC Smart Meters

[Kardrack]

For those that don't know, BC Hydro has been going around and installing Smart Meters on people's houses.  Digital meters that replace the analog ones we all have on a wall outside that measure electricity.  The problem with this is that they make a very powerful electromagnetic field that is more than ten times as strong than your cell phone and they monitor exactly what appliances you have on and when, and is therefore a hazardous surveillance device. 

You do have the right to refuse installation, no matter what the installer or BC hydro says to you. 

More information here http://www.hans.org/magazine/877/Form-Letter-to-BC-Hydro    here  http://www.stopsmartmetersbc.ca/html/   and this is a local newspaper where I first got my information.  http://www.terracedaily.ca/cgi-bin/show_articles.cgi?ID=8383&TOPIC=0

Get well informed before you are told they are installing a smart meter.

[Jeeper]

They can't tell *exactly* what appliance you are using, but they can tell when you turn one on or off and exactly how much power it uses.  They can tell exactly when you get up, go to bed, leave or come home by consumption at a specific time, unless you don't turn anything on or off at those times.

[mediar]

They are also hackable, and will probably end up costing BC Hydro (us) more in the long run...

[Kithop]

The '10 times more power than a cell phone' bit is fear mongering, pure and simple.

Inverse-square Law - you don't sit with your cheek pressed up against the smart metre. :p  I'd wager having a microwave or CRT ('tube') TV or monitor in the house puts out more EM that reaches you (fewer pesky attenuating walls in the way).  Not to mention all those lovely radio stations and other people's cell phone conversations passing through you, or gamma rays from space that go right through the entire Earth and keep on going, or the lovely strong dose of radiation that can burn you when you step outside (i.e. the sun). ;)

Not to mention, the kind of EM we use for communications is in the non-ionizing range.  You'd probably get a much bigger dose of EM, overall, just going outside in the sun or going to your local mall and having all those people's cell phones on and around you than you would in the odd blip here and there of traffic from the metre (it's not transmitting all the time).

The privacy bit with regards to what power you're using is a bit more interesting, but the point of it is to see, hour by hour, if you're using more or less than your neighbors, and what the average of the area is, so Hydro can adjust their base load generation and capacity accordingly.  See, if you don't generate enough power for demand, you get brownouts and blackouts, but if you generate too much, that excess power (and fuel), barring fancy recovery efforts and storage, is just wasted.  You want to generate the bare minimum possible to serve everyone adequately, so you're not wasting fuel (or water), and especially not building any more dams than you really need to.  I don't think the metres are accurate enough to be all 'oh, so and so is watching this program on TV!', just 'overall, the house used X kw/h from 8-9AM, and X*1.25 kw/h from 9-10', that kind of thing.

[Kardrack]

Kithop, you actually checked the links and read the info before saying that right?  Examined the graphs and whatnot?

[Kithop]

Yup!  Inverse square law key chunk:

"The intensity (or illuminance or irradiance) of light or other linear waves radiating from a point source (energy per unit of area perpendicular to the source) is inversely proportional to the square of the distance from the source; so an object (of the same size) twice as far away, receives only one-quarter the energy (in the same time period)."

A 1W cell phone barely inches from your face will put MUCH more juice into you than a 10W smart meter over 100x the distance away (think of how small the gap is between the phone antenna and your skin).

With regards to ionizing/non-ionizing radiation, this is going to be in the microwave band (I wouldn't be surprised if it were ~2.4 GHz or ~5 GHz), hence on the 'non-ionising' side of the graph.  Non-ionizing radiation, like cell phones and FM/AM radio, microwave ovens, etc., may excite water molecules in something and cause localised heating (this is how microwave ovens work, BTW), but they're not going to do much else.

I'm not sure what counterpoint you're trying to direct me at...?

In fact, BC Hydro themselves look to have actually put up a lot of the same info: Radio Frequency & Smart Meters

I have no problem disagreeing with the waste of taxpayer money these things may be, or the possible privacy concerns, but jumping on the method of wireless communication they use in this day and age is a bit misleading, I think.

[Kithop]

I'm not sure where you're getting the '10x a cell phone' bit, either...

From HowStuffworks, "Many cell phones have two signal strengths: 0.6 watts and 3 watts (for comparison, most CB radios transmit at 4 watts)."

And from BC Hydro, "Unlike other wireless infrastructure, smart meters use very low power signals - about one watt."

[Kardrack]

When I say at least 10x, I am looking at the second "corrected" graph on the newspaper article I linked everyone towards.  With the amount shown, it is a problem to me since my meter is on the other side of my bedroom wall that I have my bed against.  Now I suck at math so let me get out my calculator here.  Okay, withing 10 feet, I would be taking approximately 16x more than a cellphone next to my ear apparently.  Now, since my bed is next to a wall and my head is therefore less than 3 feet away from my meter, if it were to be a smart meter then I would be taking approximately 160x that of a cellphone at my ear.  Now extend that to over a period of 8 hours for being asleep, then add about 4 hours for when I lay in bed and read.

[Kithop]

...a graph that has no units listed in its Y-axis, and assumes the Smart Meter is 'Always On' when it's not - like Hydro said, it's barely a few minutes a day.

I love how they say it's been 'corrected to show the same units of measurement' when they don't even tell you what it is they're measuring or what those units are.  Is it watts/cm2?  Milliwatts?  dBm?  Magical fluffy bunnies per minute?

I'm sorry, but I don't trust the mass media on either side of this issue, but I do know my basic Physics.  1W radiated power even on just the other side of a wall is still about equivalent to a cell phone at the same distance.  If the cell phone is getting a weak signal and boosting its output to 3W, then it will be 'louder' than the meter.  The further away from the meter you are, the quicker the energy recieved falls off... the fact that they have '3 Feet' and '10 Feet' listed (and the huge drop between the two) looks roughly accurate, but the numbers and size of the bars themselves look WAY out, misleading 'Always On' bit notwithstanding.

[Kardrack]

Thanks for clearing that up but I still will refuse installation if it comes around.  It is considered a surveillance device so they require permission from me by federal law.

[Kithop]

You can delay it, yes, not prevent it entirely, AFAIK, and I'd think it falls under the same set of laws that allows BC Hydro employees onto your property for the purpose of looking at the meter.  This is the equivalent of having someone come in every hour to read the dial, rather than once a month... I'm not too sure what else you're worried about, but that's your call.

[Kardrack]

I can always build a locking box around my meter with a hole in it so they can see the measurements itself.  They can not legally remove the box as it is part of my property and they can not make me change it.  Also apparently there is that letter and you can print up a form to put next to the box that actually says they are not allowed to install one.

[mediar]

I can always build a locking box around my meter with a hole in it so they can see the measurements itself.  They can not legally remove the box as it is part of my property and they can not make me change it.  Also apparently there is that letter and you can print up a form to put next to the box that actually says they are not allowed to install one.

I am going to go out on a limb and say that you cant physically prevent BC Hydro from not accessing/changing their meter. Worse casnrio, they cut your service. If you deny access long enough they will cut it at the pole, or dig and cutt the underground cable, at your expenese of course. Carefull how far you want to take this.cess long enough they will cut it at the pole, or dig and cutt the underground cable, at your expenese of course. Carefull how far you want to take this.

[zenia]

I got the notice in the mail that they will be changing my meter to a smart meter. I don't care one iota. Even if I owned this house and was allowed to make decisions like that, I would still let them. I don't care if they are monitoring my daily hydro usage. I am not doing anything illegal like powering a grow-op. XD

[Temrin]

I got the notice in the mail that they will be changing my meter to a smart meter. I don't care one iota. Even if I owned this house and was allowed to make decisions like that, I would still let them. I don't care if they are monitoring my daily hydro usage. I am not doing anything illegal like powering a grow-op. XD

Exactly This :3