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The California Public Utilities Commission has instructed Pacific Gas and Electric Co. to present a way for customers to opt out of receiving wireless SmartMeters. The CPUC’s order follows consumer concerns over the alleged health risks posed by devices. Opponents have tried to block SmartMeter installation trucks, while 30 local governments throughout Northern and Central California have called for a moratorium on PG&E’s $2.2 billion meter program.
Despite the order, Commission President Michael Peevey noted that the complaints were localized. “Virtually every speaker who has addressed this subject has been a PG&E customer. We have not had complaints about radio frequency emissions or other concerns about smart meters from customers of other utilities in California. For example, PG&E’s neighboring utility in Sacramento – the Sacramento Municipal Utility District – has not had any sort of customer complaints of the kind we’ve been hearing from PG&E customers. Nor have the southern California utilities.”
Peevey adds, “Nonetheless, given the continued strong interest in this issue in parts of Northern California, I have spoken directly with PG&E’s president and asked him to bring to this Commission a proposal or a series of proposals that will allow customers with an aversion to wireless devices the option of being metered without the use of wireless technology.
In other words, I am directing PG&E to prepare a proposal for our consideration that will allow some form of opt-out for customers who object to these devices at reasonable cost, to be paid by the customers who choose to opt-out. I’ve asked to have it within two weeks.”
Whether or not such a proposal would actually go into effect is not a guarantee, Peevey warned. “Obviously, I cannot prejudge how this Commission will evaluate any such proposal by PG&E, nor can I predict what PG&E itself will propose. But I think it’s clear the time has come for some kind of movement in the direction of customer opt-outs.”
SmartMeter opponents were quick to say the opt-out suggestion wasn’t enough, claiming they could still be sickened by a neighbor’s smart meter. “We’re dealing with microwave radiation that’s an environmental toxin, and the opt-out is a first step. But then we need hearings on the health impacts,” said Sandi Maurer, founder of the EMF Safety Network.
A January report from the California Council on Science and Technology found that radiation from the meters did not threaten human health in any proven way.
