Change in smart meter policy pleases residents

Change in smart meter policy pleases residents

'I’m glad they are being reasonable'

JULY 13, 2013

BY JASON HEWLETT
DAILY NEWS STAFF REPORTER
AND VANCOUVER SUN

The province made the right decision when it opted to back down from its policy that homeowners must have smart meters, say hold-outs contacted Friday.

“I’m glad they are being reasonable,” said Celista resident Eva Lyman. “I would have had to go to some kind of off-grid situation, which would have been expensive and hard.”

Lyman is one of several area residents who were opposed to the province’s move to smart meters. She took things a step further, locked up her old meter and put signs around her property demanding the meter not be changed.

She received several letters from B.C. Hydro telling her she had to upgrade to a smart meter, but ignored them, said Lyman.

Energy Minister Bill Bennett announced Thursday that the province is willing to compromise with the estimated 60,000 people like Lyman who have held out against the smart meter program.

Bennett said B.C. Hydro is now considering an option where it would install digital meters that don’t transmit any radio signals. He said this would be for those customers who have expressed significant concerns about the radio signal emitted by the meters.

But Bennett was clear the change in direction does not mean he now believes there’s a legitimate issue.

“Every single bit of scientific research that I’ve seen would indicate there’s absolutely no problem here,” he said.

Bennett added that people who wish to get a radio-free smart meter will likely have to pay an extra fee to have the meter modified, and will also likely have to pay on a regular basis to have someone manually conduct meter readings.

Lyman believes the signal emitted by smart meters brings her discomfort. She suffered a brain bleed a couple of years ago and the radiation raises her blood pressure and causes heart arrhythmia. She said the province’s compromise is a better option.

Sandy Crane isn’t sure if he and his wife, smart meter opponent Petrina Gregson, will take part in the compromise.

“We’d have to look at it,” he said, adding at least the province has compromised.

New Democratic Party energy critic John Horgan said he supports an opt-out program for smart meters, and has no problem making people pay if they want the special non-transmitting meter.

B.C. Hydro spokeswoman Cindy Verschoor said 96 per cent of smart meters have now been installed across the province.

Verschoor said Hydro doesn’t know how much it will cost to allow people to opt out. She added the opt-out program would likely also be offered to those who already have a smart meter installed in their homes, and no longer want a meter that transmits a radio signal.

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