Naper smart meter controversy goes on
BY BILL BIRD wbird@stmedianetwork.com
April 19, 2012 9:54PM
The controversial — and increasingly contentious — issue of smart meter installation in Naperville continues.
A federal judge in Chicago on Thursday declined to immediately issue a preliminary injunction sought by the grassroots Naperville Smart Meter Awareness Group. Its members had asked that the city be ordered to allow home and business owners to halt installation of the wireless, digital smart meters and keep their existing analog electric meters should they choose to do so.
The group’s lawsuit was filed shortly before smart meter installation began. Nearly 40 percent of all homes and businesses have since undergone the installation process, according to a prepared statement issued Thursday by the city.
“Since the original filing of the case, the lawsuit has been amended to add nine plaintiffs who are Naperville residents and (city) utility customers,” the statement read in part. “The parties appeared in court today because the (Naperville Smart Meter Awareness Group) filed a motion for preliminary injunction, asking the court to order the city to offer citizens the option to keep their analog meters while the case proceeds.”
U.S. District Court Judge Edmond E. Chang on Thursday “denied the request, referencing the group’s delay in requesting injunctive relief,” the city statement read in part.
Chang then set up a “briefing schedule,” wherein the city by May 3 must formally respond to the motion for a preliminary injunction. The group will file a response by May 17, with a status and motion hearing set for May 31.
“The city’s got to respond in 14 days” to the request for a preliminary injunction, said Doug E. Ibendahl, the attorney representing smart meter opponents. “And that means the judge is taking it seriously.”
City officials have asked Chang to dismiss the lawsuit in its entirety.
“This lawsuit simply fails to state a case,” Naperville Legal Director Margo L. Ely said. “It is an attempt to utilize the court system to overturn a lawful, legislative decision by the City Council. This is not an appropriate use of our judicial system.”
Claims by opponents “that smart meters can monitor private activities in homes (have) no merit,” Ely said. “The city’s Smart Grid Initiative does not implicate any constitutional or other legal rights.”
The Naperville Smart Grid Initiative is an upgrade of the city’s $360 million electric network. It aims “to provide more efficient, cost-effective and reliable service to customers and empower them with more information on their energy usage,” according to the city’s statement.
Smart meters “measure energy use in near-real time, and securely and safely transmit this data remotely to the city’s electric utility on a daily basis, giving customers a new level of awareness and control over their energy use,” the city statement continued. “While customers may choose a non-wireless meter alternative to the standard wireless smart meter, they do not have the option to keep the current analog electric meters.”
Enmity appears to be festering between Ibendahl and Ely in the case. Ibendahl said Thursday “was a very positive day for us” in court, and said the city was being disingenuous with its statement.
“I can’t believe how dishonest these people are,” Ibendahl said of city officials. “It is beyond shameful, the way the city is trying to ‘spin’ this.”
Ely replied Thursday that the ruling was “not the only time the smart meter opponents have lost an argument.” She said the city recently won a round when Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan declared municipal officials did not violate the Illinois Open Meetings Act by not opening Smart Grid Initiatve steering committee meetings to the public, as smart meter opponents had alleged.
“In addition, a complaint filed with the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency regarding smart meter radio frequency emissions was determined to have no merit and dismissed,” Ely said. Additionally, smart meter opponents lost appeals at the DuPage County Circuit Court and Illinois Appellate Court levels when they sought an order to place a non-binding, smart meter referendum on the ballot last March, Ely said.
“The opponents have now lost battles before multiple authorities outside of the City Council,” she said.
“Mr. Ibendahl has been quoted several times in the press making inflammatory statements” about city officials, Ely said. “He has previously said we’re engaged in illegal activity. He cannot deny that, and I believe it is inflammatory.”
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