Posted on 07/07/2012 1:12:52 PM PDT by Windflier
Subject: Our Smart Meter battle has started in the Dallas, TX area...
Hello,
Last week, we received a Smart Meter installation notification letter from Oncor, and today I refused to allow an Oncor contractor access to our meter. I made many copies of the below letter and hand walked them to all my neighbors. If you have Smart Meter information available that will assist us with this battle, I would greatly appreciate it.
Thank You,
Rachel
http://www.unitedamericanos.com/
Copy of letter below:
Hello neighbor, On June 29th, 2012, we received a Smart Meter installation letter from Oncor at our home. We intend to REFUSE installation for the below reasons, and highly suggest you conduct research on the subject before allowing it to be connected to your home as well. We have provided an example letter that must be sent certified to two separate locations and we have provided you with two links for your research at the very bottom of this letter.
To: (2) Letters – 1st Certified letter YOUR energy provider/ 2nd Certified letter to Oncor
Name of Your Energy Provider
Street Address
City State Zip
Date of letter
From: (Your Address)
NOTICE OF NO CONSENT TO TRESPASS AND SURVEILLANCE, NOTICE OF LIABILITY
Dear (Energy Provider) and all agents, officers, employees, contractors and interested parties,
If you intend to install a “Smart Meter” or any activity monitoring device at the above address, you and all other parties are hereby denied consent for installation and use of all such devices on the above property. Installation and use of any activity monitoring device is hereby refused and prohibited. Informed consent is legally required for installation of any surveillance device and any device that will collect and transmit private and personal data to undisclosed and unauthorized parties for undisclosed and unauthorized purposes.
Authorization for sharing of personal and private information may only be given by the originator and subject of that information. That authorization is hereby denied and refused with regard to the above property and all its occupants. “Smart Meters” violate the law and cause endangerment to residents by the following factors:
1. They individually identify electrical devices inside the home and record when they are operated causing invasion of privacy.
2. They monitor household activity and occupancy in violation of rights and domestic security.
3. They transmit wireless signals which may be intercepted by unauthorized and unknown parties. Those signals can be used to monitor behavior and occupancy and they can be used by criminals to aid criminal activity against the occupants.
4. Data about occupant’s daily habits and activities are collected, recorded and stored in permanent databases which are accessed by parties not authorized or invited to know and share that private data by those who’s activities were recorded.
5. Those with access to the smart meter databases can review a permanent history of household activities complete with calendar and time-of-day metrics to gain a highly invasive and detailed view of the lives of the occupants.
6. Those databases may be shared with, or fall into the hands of criminals, blackmailers, corrupt law enforcement, private hackers of wireless transmissions, power company employees, and other unidentified parties who may act against the interests of the occupants under metered surveillance.
7. “Smart Meters” are, by definition, surveillance devices which violate Federal and State wiretapping laws by recording and storing databases of private and personal activities and behaviors without the consent or knowledge of those people who are monitored.
8. It is possible for example, with analysis of certain “Smart Meter” data, for unauthorized and distant parties to determine medical conditions, sexual activities, physical locations of persons within the home, vacancy patterns and personal information and habits of the occupants.
9. Your company has not adequately disclosed the particular recording and transmission capabilities of the smart meter, or the extent of the data that will be recorded, stored and shared, or the purposes to which the data will and will not be put.
10. Electromagnetic and Radio Frequency energy contamination from smart meters exceeds allowable safe and healthful limits for domestic environments as determined by the EPA and other scientific programs.
I forbid, refuse and deny consent of any installation and use of any monitoring, eavesdropping, and surveillance devices on my property, my place of residence and my place of occupancy. That applies to and includes “Smart Meters” and activity monitoring devices of any and all kinds. Any attempt to install any such device directed at me, other occupants, my property or residence will constitute trespass, stalking, wiretapping and unlawful surveillance and endangerment of health and safety, all prohibited and punishable by law through criminal and civil complaints. All persons, government agencies and private organizations responsible for installing or operating monitoring devices directed at or recording my activities, which I have not specifically authorized in writing, will be fully liable for any violations, intrusions, harm or negative consequences caused or made possible by those devices whether those negative consequences are justified by “law” or not..
This is legal notice. After this delivery the liabilities listed above may not be denied or avoided by parties named and implied in this notice. Civil Servant immunities and protections do not apply to the installation of smart meters due to the criminal violations they represent.
Notice to principal is notice to agent and notice to agent is notice to principal. All rights reserved.
(Your Signature)
Dr. Johansson’s letter re: Smart Grid/Smart Meter dangers to CPUC 7.9.2011
http://www.scribd.com/doc/59738917/Dr-Johansson-s-letter-re-SmartGrid-Smart-Meter-dangers-to-CPUC-7-9-2011
Smart Meter Removal Has Begun
http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/41988?utm_source=CFP+Mailout&utm_campaign=6b3c6efed8-Call_to_Champions&utm_medium=email
If you haven't yet had a smart meter installed by your electric provider, perhaps this is a way to stop them from doing so.
Good for him, my house was new with one of these, I didn’t have a choice. No one should consent.
It is possible for example, with analysis of certain “Smart Meter” data, for unauthorized and distant parties to determine..........sexual activities
Wow looks like the sales of battery powered vibrators will pick up.
I think you’re freaking out over nothing.
You should worry when you, or they, start installing “smart* *appliances* in your home.
Until then, what can they do? There’s NO WAY to selectively enable/disable/control individual power draws. All they could to is cut you off completely. And they aren’t gonna do that.
FWIW, and FRegards
If you live in California you have the right to refuse and have a mechanical meter installed. Check with a Republican member of your legislature; there may be means to fight this through legislation or the courts.
>> Wow looks like the sales of battery powered vibrators will pick up.
If your wife (hopefully) or significant other (sigh, that’s where society is going) needs a line-powered vibrator, I’d say there are home issues of a higher priority than “smart metering” that need your attention. :-)
Can’t you revoke the consent given by someone else?
Someone please explain to me how you discern sexual activity with the information gathered by a smart meter. I am sorry, but paraniod crap like this gives the tea party a bad name.
Lately I’ve been hearing local chatter suggesting that my electric company has switched from 60Hz to 40Hz and that its causing problems.
I don’t even know if such a thing is possible or whether I would even notice. Hopefully some knowledgeable FReeper has some info.
I do know that myself and plenty of my neighbors are noticing dimming lights and what seems to be an extraordinary rate of electric appliance failures.
Sadly for us they installed our smart meter about 4 years ago before we realized what it really was. Not to worry we will be moving to a mountain retreat soon and will make sure we do not have a smart meter and we are also planning an alternative off grid power system for backup. At some point the govt will start shutting off power for one reason or another. Everyone should be thinking about this.
You do have a battery powered BS meter don't you?
Some people will permit invasions into the kitchen, bathroom, garage, living room with dictates as to the type of television you own, the wattage or type of lightbulbs you use, the temperature you set your thermostat at, the size of your toilet tank, the flow capacity of your showerhead, etc. BUT if they believe that SOMEONE may be compromising their bedroom activities as "bedroom police" SUDDENLY they become concerned over too much government in their lives.
Everything else they shrug off as "for our own good".
I know when someone isn’t saying squat to a serious question.
>> I’ve been hearing local chatter suggesting that my electric company has switched from 60Hz to 40Hz... Hopefully some knowledgeable FReeper has some info.
ROFLMAO! Okay! I’ll see if I can help.
It’s horse-hockey. Pure, plain, and simple.
For only one, small (but obvious) engineering point: most electricity is generated one way or another by Big, Expensive. Rotating. Machinery of some sort.
To make this Big. Expensive. Machinery rotate 33% slower is, well, intractable.
But here’s an easy test for you to try. Can you lay hands on an old-fashioned electric clock? The kind that ran off an electric motor and made hands spin around? Those clocks depend on 60Hz power for their timekeeping. If your utility has slowed to 40Hz, the clock won’t keep time. IT’ll be slow. And by *how much* slow, you can calculate the line frequency of your ElecCo.
But you’re wasting your time if you try this, because they are NOT reducing the line frequency. I guarantee you.
Another point: what exactly would they be SAVING by reducing line frequency? ANSWER: nothing.
It measures voltage and frequency, among other things.
Unfortunately here in Texas, with our bought-off governor, the concept of privacy DOES NOT EXIST.
No one in our 2/3rds REPUBLICAN legislature has lifted a finger with regard to “Smart Meters”. They are being shoved down our throats, thanks to RICK PERRY, and if we refuse, we get to see the business end of a Constable’s side arm.
I get jealous of California. They STILL don’t pay sales tax on Amazon (we just got signed up for it - thank you state government), and they don’t don’t even pay sales tax on Net10 Wireless cell phones (we do, of course).
So, while California forced an opt-out - our lackeys in state government, including David Dewhurst at the top of the list (a Perry bitch), made sure that we wouldn’t get that option.
...and there’s even a thread today about Texas succeeding from the US - LOL, with this bunch the only reason they could come up with for leaving the US would be to take the honor of being the 32nd Mexican state.
If you’re not noticing transformers, electric motors and such burning up... they didn’t switch.
Going to 40Hz would *guarantee* transformers, motors, etc burn up - within a very short time (like minutes to an hour or two).
Thank you. I was leaning toward disbelief based on the fact that my electric company doesn’t operate in a closed grid. Seems like any change would cause conflicts within the grid as a whole.
60 ~ 40Hz? Nope. We’ve been using 60 cycles since the beginning. Europe uses 50Hz. My iPad charger is rated for 50 & 60 and their corresponding voltages. Nothing else. You appliances and everything else would have serious issues with another cycle rate unless specifically designed for it.
Since our empty nest mrs p6 and I moved to a really nice apartment complex a couple of years ago. I assume we have no choice BUT is there a way to ...obfuscate the readings and confuse the meter?
For example when my company built it’s HQ they screwed up the HVAC. At least 4 units were required but the owner said do it with 3.
There were always problems.
At night, when I am usually the only one there the a/c ran continuously. It would get so cold I could see my breath. The a/c even ran in the coldest of winters.
Some of us complained and management put portable sensors in every room to prove we were wrong.
After a couple of days I gathered the sensors every night when I arrived and put them in the refrigerator or freezer.
Admittedly it didn’t really solve the problem. Management told us to deal with it.
BUT it had them so confused for over a year it was worth it!
Finally they realized undersizing the units was costing them money and things are much better now.
My voltage starts at around 118V in the morning and drops off to about 113V in the heat of the afternoon. It's a little bit of a brownout, but hasn't seemed to do any damage yet.
I'm not 'freaking out'. I simply passed on something of interest to the community. Accept or reject at your leisure.
You got me. I just copied and pasted. Perhaps some editing is in order for anyone who chooses to use this letter.
>> Seems like any change would cause conflicts within the grid as a whole.
OH yeah. Big time!
To say nothing of Mom ‘n Pop refrigerators, vacuum cleaners, dishwashers, septic pumps, and other motor driven appliances that would underperform, or fail.
And that doesn’t include entire industries that would grind to a halt.
There’s nothing magical about 60Hz line frequency (witness other countries, who use 50Hz). But once you standardize on the frequency, all hell breaks loose if you change it, particularly for electric motor applications.
And — to reiterate an earlier point — changing the line frequency (alone, unilaterally) buys the electric company nothing. So why would they do it?
“All they could to is cut you off completely. And they aren’t gonna do that.”
I beg to differ. You mean that making sure ball fields are reconnected first—for baseball games—before reconnecting houses that have been disconnected from storms—has not occurred? Answer: it has, and people have died because of it, in this last week alone.
So, yes, ‘they’ would do that, to political enemies or anyone they care to selectively go after.
I know there’s a heavy load in the triple digit heat we’ve been having in southern Michigan. Everybody is using AC all at once. My electric company is also in the middle of hanging new lines on new poles in the area.
I haven’t noticed the dimming today.
I find that statement incredible. No one can force you at gunpoint to accept the installation of a smart meter, or any other private company's device.
At best, all they can do is refuse to provide service to your property if you refuse. If I'm wrong on this, then we're in deeper trouble than I ever imagined.
>> So, yes, ‘they’ would do that, to political enemies or anyone they care to selectively go after.
Better go solar, then. Not for economics or “aaving the planet”, but to ensure continuity of your own supply.
I think you’re being paranoid, but what do I know?
"The Schoellkopf station complex eventually met with a very unusual fate. In 1956, it was almost completely destroyed by a massive rockslide from the towering cliff above. Following this catastrophe, 11 of the generators in Station No. 3A were rebuilt for 60-Hz operation, but Stations No. 3B and 3C were completely abandoned. "
The same thing happened here. At 40Hz, all of my fonts are 1/3 their normal size.
This letter is about 20% misinformation and 80% utter BS. Those who are concerned about this issue should A) educated themselves on the technical issues involved and B) re-read their agreement with their electrical utility provider as it should spell out the consequences of taking actions described in this letter, which will most likely result in termination of electrical service.
No one has an innate “right” to electrical service, it is provided under terms of an agreement between the utility and the consumer, and just like any other purchase, is subject to legal regulations. There are more productive avenues than tilting at windmills that will accomplish nothing.
Most smart meters do only one thing: send a meter reading to the utility every 15 minutes. The rest of what the letter claims is imaginary.
Google “General Patraeus appliances watching you” and/or youtube “CIA to spy on Americans using household items”.
Okay, 60Hz wasn’t universally used like today. I stand corrected.
“I find that statement incredible. No one can force you at gunpoint to accept the installation of a smart meter, or any other private company’s device.”
It’s called an EASEMENT. You can try to fight it, and more power to you, but I have a good job and don’t have a few hundred K for legal bills - so I have to bend over and take it.
Believe me, I’m not too impressed by Perry and his ‘Republican’ bitches in our state government.
“At best, all they can do is refuse to provide service to your property if you refuse. If I’m wrong on this, then we’re in deeper trouble than I ever imagined. “
I didn’t get to this part. Yep, we can disconnect from the grid. But, unfortunately, where I live, I don’t have a place for solar panels (and windmills are a joke). Believe me, I have tried to figure out something - but no hope. It’s either BIG POWER or no power, where I live.
Now they can tax you for not using utility sourced electricity.
“Lately I’ve been hearing local chatter suggesting that my electric company has switched from 60Hz to 40Hz and that its causing problems.”
No, that didn’t happen. Maybe they’re messing around a bit with frequency, or voltage, but nothing like dropping to 40 Hz.
But then again, I live in Texas, so I certainly wouldn’t rule out anything from this bunch in Austin.
There are plenty of bad things they can do without cutting off your service.
They are already comparing customer’s energy use with their neighbors to try and shame them into using less. There will soon be financial penalties for using too much power or just using it at the wrong time of day.
Smart meters are here to stay but the use and distribution of the information gathered must be strictly controlled.
People should be concerned about this.
For the most part, there’s nothing wrong with smart meters as far as their function is concerned, but there were some that were manufactured with defects.
There are possible security concerns for this type of equipment that could be hacked, and also more concerns for government control. Right now, the power company charges you a flat rate, but in the future could charge you different rates at different times of the day.
My biggest objection is that billions of dollars in stimulus money were used to purchase and install these smart meters, and in addition to that, I believe the electric company is also allowed to charge the customer to install something they may not want or need.
“Most smart meters do only one thing: send a meter reading to the utility every 15 minutes. The rest of what the letter claims is imaginary.”
There actually is a bit more to it. For example, the next generation of appliances will have the ability to be commanded off by your ‘Smart Meter’, for cases like when the wind stops blowing in West Texas - and there are now patents on lockable (by the utility) receptacles that do the same. So it’s best to be your own electrician (like some of us here) so that you can defeat these lifestyle-changing features that our brave new world is bringing us.
The 15 minute reporting is also nothing to play down, being that resolution before the ‘Smart Meters’ was 30 days, or roughly 3000 times as long. What 15 minutes means is that anyone that can access your meter’s data will likley know the following:
a) When people go to bed at night
b) When people wake up in the morning
c) When people go to work in the morning
d) When people come home from work in the evening
e) When people leave to go on vacation
f) When people return from vacation
In Texas, as far as I can tell, there is ZERO PROTECTION of that information (unless someone knows otherwise). This information can legally be taken by a person that works for a utility, or is contracted to a utility, or to a policeman, to a university doing a study, or to anyone else that is interested in your ‘habits’, as the left calls them.
And also don’t think that what you will pay for electrical power won’t be based on when you use that power - its GUARANTEED, for sure. And guess what: Those high-cost times will be when it’s 100F outside.
BTW, I did have an actively controllable device on my electric water heater in the San Diego area back in 1982. The utility could cut power to my water heater to shed load at will.
“I get jealous of California.”
The grass is always greener. California has the highest taxes and most business unfriendly regulatory environment in the United States. It is run by the leftiest of the left, starring Governor Moonbeam 2.0.
We CA FReepers are jealous of Texas.
So there!
Ok, here’s the deal.
Some years back, a relative of mine got an electric bill with a surcharge of 300% for one month...owing to having been charged for electricity generated for his house by a generator after a storm. HIS house. In particular. That’s granularity.
Now, in that general area, people have died from a lack of electricity, because of this past set of storms. Ball park: restored. People: dead. How easy is that? After all, it takes either physically restoring lines and poles or resetting motherboards, right? Oh. Did I mention the people were older? Tsk. What a shame, right?
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