The DUMB Aspects of Smart MetersBy Catherine J. Frompovich Recently, PASMA (Pennsylvania Smart Meter Awareness) issued two Press Releases days apart, which I think all utility consumers, regardless of where they live, ought to know about since the information deals with the probable unknown monetary side of Smart Meters, as discussed in Consumers to Pay Through the Nose for Smart Meters Every 6 to 7 Years, and the very scary issue of infrastructure security risks from hackers that Smart Meters pose, as laid out in Smart Meters Are A Security Risk to the Nations Power Supply, which tells how a member of the U.S. Congress, who is an electrician, is calling for new and greater scrutiny of Smart Meters to examine whether they compromise the Nations energy infrastructure. Below are both Press Releases, which PASMA has granted permission to reproduce. Analog (mechanical) electric meters, in service for decadesclose to a hundred years, typically lasted between 30 and 40 years before they had to be replaced, plus they were totally safe with no plastic parts that can ignite easily from hot sockets or arcing, and they were grounded. AMI Smart Meters, which are being retrofitted on to electric, natural gas and water meters, will have to be replaced anywhere from every 6 to 7 years (according to a utility company executive at a congressional hearing in October 2015), with consumers obviously, and unknowingly, being billed and forced to pay for new replacement meters each time one is installed at their dwelling. How much will it cost a customer who will have to pay for an electric, a natural gas, and a water Smart Meter for all three utility services into the house or apartment? Where are the savings? Has the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission taken that savings rip-off into consideration? Where are the savings when utility customers will be forced to purchase new Smart Meters every so often, i.e., Five (5) Smart Meters will be purchased in the time frame (30 to 40 years) that one analog meter would need to have been replaced? How is a rip-off of being forced to buy a new Smart Meter every few (6-7) years cost effective? Currently in Pennsylvania, PECO (an Exelon company) consumers supposedly are being charged $300 for the current installation-round of AMI Smart Electric Meters via their monthly bills. Are customers aware of that? PASMA challenges PECO to tell its customers how they are paying for Smart Meters. PECOs website states that in 2012, PECO began replacing safe analog meters with new fire-prone, EMF/RFemitting AMI Smart Meters in order to help customers understand how they use energy, plus how to save energy and money. Save money, when customers will be forced to pay for a new, updated technology for the Internet of Things, grid-complying Smart Meter every 6 to 7 years? Thats more like highway robbery than helping customers save money! What about surveillance issues, which Smart Meters will effectuate from being tied in to all smart appliances in the house that are connected to The Grid? PASMA thinks all utility customers should complain every chance they get to their state legislators (http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/home/findyourlegislator/) in Harrisburg about the forced-Smart Meter-purchase-rip-off coming to us every 6 to 7 years in to the future, which apparently will be parleyed into a money-making scheme for utility companies. If utility companies want to upgrade new meters with technology that snoops on people, then they should be mandated by the PA PUC to: 1) Provide safe, grounded, and non-EMF/RF-emitting meters and, 2) bear the costs of updating their infrastructure, technology systems and meters, not forcing consumers to finance and capitalize utility companies operating costs. Finally, a member of Congress, Rep. Donald Norcross (NJ-01) has expressed that there are more problems with utility companies Smart Meters than meets the eye, so he is calling for new and greater scrutiny of utility SMs to examine whether they compromise the Nations energy infrastructure. He issued a Press Release to that effect December 4, 2015. Phone: (202) 225-6501 Rep. Norcross candidly admits, As an electrician and now a member of the House Armed Services Committee and Emerging Threats Capabilities Subcommittee where I receive detailed classified briefings, I recognize the risk. Instead of guns and bombs, the bad guys can use computer keyboards to strike their targets. Furthermore, according to his Press Release, Rep. Norcross pointed to a Government Accountability Office report that shows certain smart meters on the market are susceptible to cyberattacks, as well as findings from the intelligence community of attacks overseas that caused disruptions to power supplies in multiple cities. Not only that, but PASMA contends that SMs are extremely vulnerable to various types of computer hacker attacks because they operate using microwave technology, which is very porous and insecure. Additionally, personal identity theft may or can become rampant from SM hacking. According to Rep. Norcross, Theres evidence our nations power systems could be vulnerable. And those weaknesses could be exploited by cyber criminals. We need to take safeguards to protect this vital infrastructure now, to stop hacking before it happens. As a nation, were so technology-dependent. Any attack on our power grid could be catastrophic. PASMA seconds Rep. Norcrosss statements and encourages the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission to take note, take the Norcross information under advisement, and heed what that member of Congress, who just happens to be an electrician, warns about Smart Meters. Additionally, PASMA heartily recommends the PA PUC revisit its SM implementation orders to PA utility companies with 100,000+ customers and grant Opt-Out status to those informed and concerned consumers, who want to protect their health from Non-thermal SM adverse health effects and keep their analog meter or AMR meter, which does not produce EMFs/RFs or dirty electricity, but sends billing information to utility companies without meter readers having to visit every meter. Catherine J Frompovich (website) is a retired natural nutritionist who earned advanced degrees in Nutrition and Holistic Health Sciences, Certification in Orthomolecular Theory and Practice plus Paralegal Studies. Her work has been published in national and airline magazines since the early 1980s. Catherine authored numerous books on health issues along with co-authoring papers and monographs with physicians, nurses, and holistic healthcare professionals. She has been a consumer healthcare researcher 35 years and counting. Catherines latest book, published October 4, 2013, is Vaccination Voodoo, What YOU Dont Know About Vaccines, available on Amazon.com. Her 2012 book A Cancer Answer, Holistic BREAST Cancer Management, A Guide to Effective Non-Toxic Treatments, is available on Amazon.com and as a Kindle eBook. Two of Catherines more recent books on Amazon.com are Our Chemical Lives And The Hijacking Of Our DNA, A Probe Into Whats Probably Making Us Sick (2009) and Lord, How Can I Make It Through Grieving My Loss, An Inspirational Guide Through the Grieving Process (2008) I had a standoff with NIPSCO over the AMR Meter they wanted to forcibly install on my home. I was told that I could refuse one. Then, after evicting an installer once, I was blessed with a brand new one while I was at work one day. The consumer agent for the Indiana State utilities commission basically told me that they do not work for the safety of the consumer, but must allow the utility companies to do as they please with their equipment. The alternative is to produce my own electricity or go off grid (in which case a visit from the DHS would ensue). Thats what government is and has always been, legal crime. I have said it before and will say it again we live in an ocean of EMF, and smart meters dont contribute anything out of the ordinary. If you are anti-smart meter then you are anti pretty much of every modern technology that makes your life comfortable. Living in the country I was glad to get a smart meter and be done with the monthly hassle of letting in the meter reader. After we got the smart meter guess what nothing happened the dog lived to a ripe old age of 19; the cats are doing fine; fish in our pond are flourishing. I am convinced this anti-smart meter paranoia is orchestrated by Monsanto to divert attention from their GMOs, which are proven deadly. My bill jumped up about 30%+. The plastic backing with out grounding is a huge fire hazard and has caused many house fires already. Smart meters are a way of increasing customers bills with out having to go through the state commission as required by law. Troll. GMO shill. Big picture, little picture GMOs have the potential to create an enormous disaster so far after over 50 years of EMF no one can conclusively say there is a problem. Let me repeat so even you understand it: Fukushima is a real threat; GMO food is a proven threat; vaccination reactions are a proven issue medical deaths are a proven threat EMF is NOT A PROVEN THREAT. As a matter of fact there is a direct correlation to lifespan increases as EMF exposure increased. Today there is more EMF than ever and human lifespan is at record high. So is cancer, Ignoramous. EMF is proven to be a threat in the article links I gave you ! And you still cant understand it ! Wow !! O.K. I cant make any headway against a head strong Imbecile. The other things you brought up are indeed a threat to our lives and I never disputed that ! Give me your phone number so I can burn it into your head ! EMF at high levels smart meters produce no where near a dangerously high level of EMF. As I said before, human life span is at record levels and so is EMF draw your own flippant conclusion since you feel more comfortable acting like a 3 year old instead of adult debating. You are the three year old, who cant discern factual studies, from multiple sources ! And ignore the published results from peer reviewed publications too boot ! You are flippant,obnoxious and conflagratory. There is no debate when facts are excluded ! Like I said, EMF higher than ever and so is human life span. No Proof ! You are spreading B.S. Where are your facts ! Can you sight a study that states what you do ? I didnt think so. Cancer deaths have never been higher in the United States. I already know you cannot research a thing so now I will prove that you dont have a lick of reading comprehension either! Like I said ! After more than 25 years of intensive study, the Swedish government has established a safety limit for exposure to elf magnetic fields at 2.5 mG (milli Gauss). The Swedish standard is generally accepted throughout the world and means that if someone consistently experiences exposure which exceeds the standard, that person could be at risk in developing health problems which can range from headaches, fatigue and dizziness, to skin rashes, miscarriage, leukemia and cancer. 2 Heres a reply to your ranting: These anti-smart meter people probably are reincarnations of the same people that predicted all sorts of death and mayhem when cars first starting using the roads. 