November 22, 2018

This month BC Hydro made it clear by mailing out a large number of letters to customers with Analogs, that “Radio Off” meters will be replacing them.   BC Hydro claims there is only 1% of British Columbia with Analog Meters, however the phone lines were jammed for weeks now, as people try to talk with BC Hydro Smart Meter department.

Maple Ridge was one of the hotspots this week,  where a resident that had an Analog meter due to their health and concerns, arrived home to see that BC Hydro was attempting to remove the Analog and damaged the Hydro Meter Box.  The brand new Itron Smart Meter was left on the ground and the installer drove away, leaving them without power.

Another Maple Ridge resident refused BC Hydro entry to do to install a smart meter. He threatened a fee of $65, power being tuned off and the police being called.   The resident explained that they opted out of the smart meter program and are being charged $35.00 a month by BC HYDRO to come read our meter every 2 months.   The installer laughed and called the RCMP.   ” A RCMP Officer come to my gate to ask what happened as the installer told them I refused to let them on the property to do his work.  The police officer said he would talk with the BC Hydro Installer and get back to us if there was any follow up.”

Local MLA Lisa Bears is not accepting any meetings with concerned Analog owners. “She is not answering any emails or phone calls” said Maple Ridge resident.

A Victoria resident had tried to arrange an appointment with Hydro, but the next day when the owner was away, Hydro switched the meters without turning off the power first, and damaged computers and other items in the home.  BC Hydro said they were sorry, but apparently did nothing else.  It would have been nice if they stuck to the arranged time set with the clients to avoid the unnessary damage.

BC Hydro seems to be doing this the wrong way.  Sure they have a mandate to aim to accomplish their set goal of having 100% of the homes with Smart Meters by the year 2020, but really Hydro, you still have a year to go, and force is not the way to win over your customers trust.   People are appreciating that the Radio Off option was put in place, mind you it took alot of voices and alot of pressure to get that in place, however who’s to say it will remain that way.  People are aware now and more cautious then before.   Technology is expected to make things better, not worse.  Smart Meters was something that could have been done in with wires, safe and secure, and likely avoiding a majority of the issues they created by being wireless.

 

A note from StopSmartMetersBC Newsletter :  

A member has told me that someone in an MLA’s office said that they are receiving huge numbers of emails and letters about the smeters, and being forced to have one despite all of the problems.  Please keep writing.  Please, even if you get smetered, because if we keep up the pressure, maybe one day, perhaps when they need our votes for the next election, they will do something.  The costs will eventually become obvious and this should get their attention.

If you write to the Attorney General about ITRON’s plans to use the smeters illegally, please copy your MLA, Premier Horgan and Energy Minister Mungall [http://www.stopsmartmetersbc.com/z/bc-contact-e-mail-lists/].