Sofia’s Story – Punitive power and the smart meter tyranny
Sofia is a sole parent, with a 14 year old daughter.
She became ill after a wireless smart meter was installed on her house 19 March 2013. Sofia hadn’t given permission for its installation. In fact, she wasn’t even aware that her original electricity meter had been swapped for a smart meter, as it occurred whilst she was on an interstate business trip.
It was only afterwards, when she and her medical advisors were searching for the cause of the sudden deterioration in her health, that she discovered the horrible coincidence. The smart meter had been installed in the worst possible position, inside her bedroom cavity wall, just centimetres from where her head lay as she slept at night.
Victorian smart meters, such as hers, emit microwave radiation 24/7. Network traffic can result in as many as 190,000 transmissions per day from a mesh smart meter. Authorities never alerted the public to this fact.
The technicalities of wireless smart meters were the last thing on Sofia’s mind when she ended up in hospital with swollen legs and an acute burning rash, all over her body. She had developed a burning sensation in her eyes, throat, mouth, and covering her face. That was just the start of the nightmare. Sofia was also suffering from unexplained headaches, insomnia, nausea, irritability, constant fatigue and short-term memory loss. To make matters worse, she experienced an acute deterioration of her vision.
Sofia was subsequently diagnosed with EHS (electro hypersensitivity), triggered by her smart meter’s microwave radiation. She has had to cease professional employment. She is no longer able to go about her normal daily activities in the community, without experiencing great pain from exposure to ubiquitous electromagnetic radiation. She is now on a Disability Pension.
All Sofia is asking for is the return of her safe, analogue meter. But do you think her power distributor, United Energy, or the Victorian State government are listening? All her pleas have been ignored and ridiculed. Even the Victorian Energy Ombudsman was unable to help her.
Finally, at her wits’ end, and in a state of unbearable pain, Sofia took matters into her own hands. Her smart meter was removed. As a result, her health slowly started to improve. In order to show good faith and a willingness to pay her electricity bills, Sofia continued to pay her electricity based on estimated usage.
On 3 March 2014, 8.30am Sofia’s power was cut off, without warning or written notification. United Energy, Sofia’s power distributor, refuses to reconnect her, unless a wireless smart meter is installed.
This is despite the provision of medical evidence verifying her condition. This is despite the fact that other Victorians, who have objected to a smart meter, have now received letters formally honouring their request to not have a smart meter installed.
It seems that the horrible quagmire which Sofia ended up in would never have eventuated, if only she had known enough in the first place to lock her meter box.
Her requests to speak to her power distributor’s management have been refused. Efforts by her Federal MP and Legal Aid have come to naught. A representative of the Victorian Department of State Development and Business Innovation lamely suggested that she move to the country to escape the radiation, leaving her 14-year daughter in the care of friends so she can continue with her schooling.
And this all is happening, despite the former Energy Minister stressing, in one of his interviews, that disconnecting power from people’s houses is INHUMANE.
Sofia and her daughter are still living without power and suffering immensely mentally and emotionally.
How callous and inhumane can United Energy be?
How could this happen to anyone living in a democratic country like Australia?
This YouTube clip about Sofia’s story was sent to Stop Smart Meters Australia by Paradigm Images Production: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVtEkwkk8Ec
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