No smart meters: Local resident Eric Candelaria has concerns about the province's about the new smart meters and put up signs telling B.C. Hydro employees to stay off his property.
Burnaby resident Eric Candelaria wants B.C. Hydro to keep its smart meter off his house.
He has put signs around the meter on his home near Royal Oak Avenue, telling B.C. Hydro employees they do not have permission to be on his property to install the new meter, only to check the current one. He has also sent a letter to B.C. Hydro.
Candelaria says he is opposed to smart meters because of the cost, where the money goes and the technology being used.
"The bottom line is, the way that they're handling it with no public review and not listening to anybody, it feels a lot like the HST, to be honest," he said, adding his other concerns include safety, privacy and how billing will be handled.
B.C. Hydro has replaced about 10,000 electromechanical meters in Burnaby with digital smart meters thus far, according to the company.
Candelaria first became aware of the smart meters from articles addressing where the money for the project was going. He grew more concerned when he heard the provincial government and B.C. Hydro were ignoring the Union of British Columbia Municipalities' vote for a moratorium on the mandatory installations.
Candelaria, who works in the Internet technology sector, said wireless technology is still not as reliable as hard-wired technology, and he questions what the end costs of the smart meter project will be.
Read more: http://www.burnabynow.com/health/Resident+refuses+accept+meters/5538655/story.html#ixzz1aaMrtCkr
UPDATE: 12/10/11
Smart meter opponents launch B.C. initiative
Saanich electrician Walter McGinnis, who speaks for the group Stop Smart Meters, says the public is demanding a say in the installation of the meters.
"This is just a desire to be included in the decision making processes of the province, otherwise known as democracy. People want to have chance to have a say in a democratic fashion," said McGinnis.
The Stop Smart Meters campaign will gather names of volunteers before submitting an application to Elections BC to register an official initiative campaign, he said.
If approved, the group would seek to trigger a referendum on the meters by collecting signatures of registered voters on a provincewide petition, much like the campaign that eventually led to the end of the province's HST.
The group is opposed to the meters for a wide range of reasons, including the possible health effects of the wireless technology, the cost of the program, and concerns about privacy and hacking of the systems.
No comments:
Post a Comment