There has recently been a lot of controversy over the
subject of smart meters. Concerns that they cause health issues like headaches,
anxiety and even cancer are causing quite the stir. So what is a smart meter? A
“smart meter” is really an advanced meter that gathers your energy usage and
sends it wirelessly to the utility company. Usually by means of updated gird
systems, and hub centers. Here in Michigan DTE is calling these grids “SmartCurrents”.
Much like I noted in my post on Vehicle Mileage Taxes and using a GPS to track
your driving offering navigation services and other services to drivers, Smart
Meters are being purported to be beneficial as well. They help you to better
monitor your electrical usage and will supposedly lead to lower energy bills.
That’s what the energy companies and supporters of Smart Meters say anyway.
Smart Meters are being pushed as “green” however if you
think about the amount of work it takes to change out entire communities from
older model meters to these smart meters or the technology that goes into
making them, they are really not all that green. Plus, I don’t know about you
but I don’t think microwave radiation is green. Don’t tell that to any of the companies
supporting and pushing their new advanced metering and mesh networks though.
There is plenty of evidence out there to support the
conclusion that smart meters put out a toxic and high levels of microwave
radiation. Just a quick search on Google turns up tons of websites discussing
the effects of radio frequencies and smart meters on health. The World Health
Organization has classified RFs as a carcinogen and the high EMF (electromagnetic
fields) that these meters put out are also known to cause a range of health
issues like, anxiety, headaches, insomnia, memory loss, confusion, mood
swings.
Beyond the controversy over whether or not microwave
radiation from smart meters is good, bad or indifferent to our health there is
the issue of privacy. Just like the Vehicle Mileage Taxes and the government wanting
to track where we drive, smart meters have their own privacy invading, big
brother is watching agenda. Your smart meter can tap into the radio frequency
of new “smart appliances”. That’s right, pretty soon your stove will be able to
talk to the electrical grid and to other appliances in your house. The idea is
that since smart meters are suppose to track peak energy usage times(and up the
price you pay for energy during those times of day) smart appliances would be
able to talk to the gird and each other in order to “save you money”. Your
stove for instance, can tell the fridge to lower its temperature until dinner is done cooking.
In an article on Grist, Colorado based grid set up company Tendril
CEO Adrian Truck said “When consumers buy a new fridge they’ll make a phone
call or go online and register their new appliance with the grid,” says
Tendril’s Tuck. “If they do that, the appliance will start to receive pricing
information and download algorithms to modify its behavior.” Whoa! I am
sorry but I don’t like the idea of my refrigerator downloading anything. The
thought of appliances being linked into this new mesh network and communicating
with each other sounds pretty freaky if you ask me.
Now of course the people
supporting this whole thing will tell you they’ll never use the information
gathered through smart meters against you. They aren't going to monitor you.
Why on earth would they do that? Frankly I think, just with having a GPS in my
car that tracks where I drive, having meters that can communicate with my
appliances and send information about my energy usage through a wireless grid
is not only creepy but an invasion of privacy. The controversy is endless, so I
urge you to research it yourself and come to your own conclusion on smart
meters and whether or not you want one on your home. That is if you can stop
them.
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