Emotional Victory in PUC Ruling on SDG&E Smart Meters
Blogger and activist Susan Brinchman had been lobbying for opt-out rights for 1 1/2 years.
Occupy San Diego: Smart Meters Are Causing Harm
Susan Brinchman at Occupy San Diego: Smart Meters Are Causing Harm
Updated at 5:50 p.m. April 19, 2012
Sue Brinchman of La Mesa says she wept upon hearing the news she’s sought for 18 months—that San Diego Gas & Electric customers can restore their old analog meters and get rid of their wireless “smart meters.”
The opt-out plan was given final approval Thursday by the state Public Utilities Commission.
“I hung up and teared up, letting go some emotions that have been pent up since December 2010,” she said Thursday afternoon.
The opt-out plan was requested by the San Diego-based Utility Consumers Action Network, and also applies to Southern California Edison customers.
Among the strongest advocates of the plan was Brinchman, director of the Center for Electrosmog Prevention, who in August 2011 posted the first of nearly two dozen blogs on Patch.com.
Her first was headlined Living Nightmare: How SDG&E Smart Meter Led to Headaches, Hearing Loss.
Tentative approval of the arrangement was given last month by an administrative law judge.
Among the strongest advocates of the plan was Brinchman, director of the Center for Electrosmog Prevention, who in August 2011 posted the first of nearly two dozen blogs on Patch.com.
Her first was headlined Living Nightmare: How SDG&E Smart Meter Led to Headaches, Hearing Loss.
Tentative approval of the arrangement was given last month by an administrative law judge.
“I have already called SDG&E to demand that they remove both the smart gas meter and the smart electric meter from my home,” Brinchman said. “For once, they responded kindly and did not tell me [the smart meters] were mandatory.
“I look forward to sleeping in a bed, which I haven't done for a year and a half. I will actually be able to go into my own bedroom and get the clothes in there, enjoy that place that used to be a place of comfort and rest, not a source of nightmarish headaches and pain.”
Brinchman (pronounced BRINK-man) says she hasn’t even seen the room in months because of a splitting headache due to its proximity to her smart meter.
“I will be able to pick the tangerines from beside the house where the meter is without getting sick,” she said via email. “My aching back, sore from the couch, may simmer down. My ringing ears may quiet; the sleepless nights may end and sleep prevail when I am exhausted.
“I look forward to sleeping in a bed, which I haven't done for a year and a half. I will actually be able to go into my own bedroom and get the clothes in there, enjoy that place that used to be a place of comfort and rest, not a source of nightmarish headaches and pain.”
Brinchman (pronounced BRINK-man) says she hasn’t even seen the room in months because of a splitting headache due to its proximity to her smart meter.
“I will be able to pick the tangerines from beside the house where the meter is without getting sick,” she said via email. “My aching back, sore from the couch, may simmer down. My ringing ears may quiet; the sleepless nights may end and sleep prevail when I am exhausted.
Although glad that the opt-out was approved, she said she is very disappointed that the PUC is allowing the utilities to charge for the swap-out and that the plan took so long, “while people suffered.”
SDG&E told Brinchman that they’d be out within two weeks to do the change to analog meters.
SDG&E told Brinchman that they’d be out within two weeks to do the change to analog meters.
“They also confirmed that the $75 change-out fee can be paid within three months, though I had to ask about that.
“The nightmare is starting to be over for me and many others. Not all, though, and that isn’t right. I won’t be done till these microwave-emitting smart meters are banned, and the CPUC truly regulates on behalf of the people of California.”
She added:
“The nightmare is starting to be over for me and many others. Not all, though, and that isn’t right. I won’t be done till these microwave-emitting smart meters are banned, and the CPUC truly regulates on behalf of the people of California.”
She added:
None of this would have been happening if they did their jobs. That is upsetting. But instead of feeling like we can do nothing, this shows that “people power” works; it is the only thing that does.
We can’t let the corporations or government bureau-"rats" ruin our health or run our lives. The people who came before us worked too hard for us to allow that. I have hope that people will open their eyes, opt-out (even at a cost) and join me and the other activists to demand that the wireless smart grid be dismantled.
No, we aren’t done yet. But today is the beginning of the end of the use of wireless, radiation-emitting smart utility meters for everyone.
PUC President Michael Peevey said: “As we move toward a more advanced electricity grid, smart meters will offer customers real benefits. However, if a customer does not want to have a smart meter, our decision today gives them that option.”
SDG&E customers who choose the analog model will have to pay $75 up front and an extra $10 monthly. Consumers in the “California Alternate Rates for Energy’” program would be charged $10 initially and $5 more per month.
Those charges will cover the SDG&E’s extra costs for carrying both types of meters, and can be adjusted in the future when the utility’s cost-recovery requirements are determined.
The commission also approved 19 measurements for determining the effectiveness of smart grid technology being rolled out by the utilities, including the number of smart meter malfunctions during power outages, increases in the number of consumer complaints over accuracy of the new devices, and the number of smart meters replaced annually before the end of their expected useful life.
SDG&E customers who choose the analog model will have to pay $75 up front and an extra $10 monthly. Consumers in the “California Alternate Rates for Energy’” program would be charged $10 initially and $5 more per month.
Those charges will cover the SDG&E’s extra costs for carrying both types of meters, and can be adjusted in the future when the utility’s cost-recovery requirements are determined.
The commission also approved 19 measurements for determining the effectiveness of smart grid technology being rolled out by the utilities, including the number of smart meter malfunctions during power outages, increases in the number of consumer complaints over accuracy of the new devices, and the number of smart meters replaced annually before the end of their expected useful life.
“Residential customers of both utilities may now officially request that the smart meters be removed from their residences,” said a posting on Brinchman’s site.
The site notes that the Southern California Edison plan will allow customers to “opt-out to the last type of meter they had before the smart meter, which may, in some cases, not be an analog meter, but a digital, electronic meter that may also produce RF microwave radiation emissions.”
A second phase to both proceedings will occur in June, said the site, “which will consider whether to allow entire local communities and customers in multi-family dwellings to opt-out as a group, and to possibly revise costs.”
Brinchman’s group said lawsuits involving the fees are expected because PUC Code Section 453 forbids charging extra fees related to safety and services.
“CEP’s position is that this is an incomplete, interim plan that will provide some relief, but does not address exposures from neighboring meters, and that a zone of safety should be allowed to be established around one’s home, for those who request it,” the group said.
“CEP’s position is that there should be no customer fees for the opt-out and that SDG&E and its investors should cover all costs; that commercial meters should be included in the opt-out; all banks of meters replaced with analogs, and that ultimately, the wireless and all RF-emitting meters should be banned and removed, replaced with safe analog meters.”
City News Service contributed to this report.
http://lemongrove.patch.com/articles/emotional-victory-in-puc-ruling-on-sdge-smart-meters#youtube_video-8142278
Ms. Brinchman, a job well done here in florida we are being told we could not opt out we called the fl.puc and they said we could but living in a condo the other owners have had smart meters installed what els are u supposed to do to fight the system any suggestons
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