Published: June 22, 2011

Dear Editor:

In July of this year, B.C. Hydro and Fortis will embark upon a $1 billion plus venture to replace every analog hydro meter in the province with a wireless smart electrical meter.

For consumers of electricity, who face up to a 50 per cent increase in their electrical utility bills over the next few years, this expenditure is needless and unjustified.

Gordon Campbell signed the Clean Energy Act in April, 2010. This act is not about clean energy; it is about creating more profit  and getting more control over the citizens of British Columbia.

Gordon Campbell pledged every home would receive a smart meter by 2012.

This act also exempts clean energy initiatives from scrutiny by the B.C. Utilities Commission and, therefore, there will be no public consultation usually guaranteed by the BCUC on such initiatives.

The B.C. Smart Meter program is another Liberal-insider deal; however, this one is by far the most corrupt and outrageous. I will leave it up to the readers to wade through the trails of people who will get millions of our dollars from contracts they have gotten, without competition, to purchase, distribute, and install these meters.

This article explains how these people lead directly to the doorsteps of Gordon Campbell and other high-profile Liberals:  thetyee.ca/Opinion/2011/03/07/SmartMeterProfits/print.html.

There is another important side to these meters. A few weeks ago, the World Health Organization listed the emissions of wireless devices such as smart meters as a potential carcinogen. Electro-magnetic radiation is in the same category as DDT as a potential health risk.

One would think this announcement by the World Health Organization would be enough for a government to put the brakes on a program that guarantees higher levels of exposure to a potential carcinogen.

In Europe, these wireless meters have been refused due to their potential health risks. Instead, telephone cables and fibre optic cables relay the information from the smart meters.

In B.C. the businesses that were awarded the contracts have no interest in serving the public and in ensuring that the public’s health is protected.

They have politicians and government bills on their side to ensure they will live the rest of their lives swathed in our money.

I have on a number of occasions expressed my opinion in this paper.

This is by far the most important issue I will ever write about; it is by far the most despicable, cruel, and corrupt undertaking by a government that I have ever witnessed.

The people who sanctioned this undertaking do not belong in government. They are risking the well-being of every citizen in British Columbia.

Take a few minutes to learn more about the health concerns over the proliferation of wireless signals.

For a good introduction to smart meters, please go to  youtube.com/watch?v=gR8tILAxhjI. For more information about health risks from electro-magnetic radiation, please go to  citizensforsafetechnology.org.

Vicki Lightfoot

Summerland

http://www.bclocalnews.com/opinion/letters/124381049.html