Consumers Need Lemon Laws to Cover Smart Meters DamageBy Catherine J. Frompovich Whats a Lemon Law, you may be asking. Well, its a state law (all 50 U.S. states have them) that provide[s] a remedy for purchasers of cars and other consumer goods in order to compensate for products that repeatedly fail to meet standards of quality and performance. [1] Theres even a federal lemon law, too, enacted in 1975 that protects citizens of all states. [1] However, there seems to be a conundrum regarding smart meters and the law, which is: NO party (or parties) wants to be held legally and financially liable for ALL damage caused by smart meter fires, explosions and other physical damage to a building that has been retrofitted with a smart meter, even though the utility will replace the smart meter! Furthermore, there are no warranties that come with smart meters, nor are they UL-approvedprobably because they are made with so many plastic parts, which are heat sensitive and prone to hot socket events. Additionally, no fire-detection or firewarning device is on a smart meter. How come there are ordinances requiring smoke alarms for all buildings but nothing to warn consumers when the smart meter on their house will blow or ignite? Utilities routinely farm out smart meter installation and that presents another legal problem as to who is responsible for smart meter damages: the utility or the subcontractor. Homeowners report that their homeowners policies insurance companies reject smart meter fire damage claims, which the utilities state are the homeowners faults! Wait a minute! Who installed the smart meter to begin with, and in many cases, without consumers/homeowners knowledge or informed consent. Heres a case in point that happened in Yardley, Pennsylvania, and which I wrote about: Smart Meters Fire Living Hell and Bureaucratic Messes. Pennsylvania Smart Meter Awareness (PASMA) just put out a Press Release, which was emailed to all members of the Pennsylvania State Legislature that explains why a Smart Meter Lemon Law is needed and asks for one to be introduced and enacted in Pennsylvania. Heres that Press Release, which I would encourage consumers in every state to use as a template to lobby your state legislator to introduce such a bill/legislation. Recently, a study of Smart Meters for electric, natural gas and water usage was undertaken at twonot one, but twouniversities, the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and the University of Chicago Booth School, which confirmed that Smart Meters are very unlikely to benefit the consumerthe basis for their roll out was to enable consumers to save money and utility consumptionplus not benefit the environment either. One classic example of fraudulent Smart Meter sales pitching is that consumers are not able to save money, and may be paying more like in Ontario, Canada. Bremen University published a study in July 2015 showing how time varying rates implemented through mass deployment of smart meters can lead to consumers demands and avalanches resulting in smart grid blackouts. Furthermore, the Bremen research team contends that the smart meter scheme has not been thought out thoroughly. What about the safety issues regarding Smart Meters fires, explosions, dirty electricity running through homes wiring, and non-thermal adverse health effects from the microwave technology that runs Smart Meters? In state after state across the USA and in Canada, Smart Meter fires, explosions, etc. have been documented by local fire departments and yet no one takes that problem seriously, e.g., a defective product that should be covered by a Lemon Law so homeowners can have legal recourse against utility companies who emphatically deny responsibility for the damage caused after retrofitting Smart Meters. Is that corporate criminal activity? Lemon Laws provide remedies at state levels for Americans who purchase cars and other consumer goods that repeatedly fail to meet quality standards and/or expected performance levels, especially in the area of safety. Smart Meters fall into the category of a forced-consumer-product thats a true lemon and should be taken off the market and replaced with safe, effective analog meters, which have proven themselves safe, cost effective and reliable for decades. PASMA calls upon the Pennsylvania State Legislature to enact Smart Meter Lemon Law legislation along with passing a Smart Meter Opt-Out Law to protect all Pennsylvanians from being ripped off by utility companies, and/or possibly burned out of their homes by unsafe, plastic parts Smart Meters. If huge utilities like PECO/Exelon in Pennsylvania are forcing unsafe products (smart meters) on consumers, then there has to be some legal recourse for damages from their products and services. Utilities are not Big Pharma, which gets away with murderliterallyfrom vaccine damage and are not held legally liable! Consumers must take back their power from being victimized by corporate lobbyists liaisons with federal and state government agencies. Where are Lemon Laws for Smart Meters? Reference: 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) Any chance of a class-action suit against any and all manufacturers w/ defective products? Be nice to just scrap the whole smart meter project in toto, but as part of the larger internet-of-all-things-unholy-and-creepy total surveillance agenda I see little hope of that in the near future. At least there needs to be improved safety measures- no more cheap plastic, better shielding, and Im sure a few (many?) other things regarding design and manufacturing, strict installation procedures, less frequent data transmission, NOTIFICATIONS before installation, no installation without homeowner authorization; ways to verify and certify proper working electrical system before installation and after; testing for accuracy of readings, and clear laws/regs regarding liability and insurance policies. And thats not even getting into the human health/quality of life aspects. In other words, do everything they dont want to do, refuse to pay for, and try to avoid at all costs. 