Most of those of us who are continuing to resist having a dangerous transmitter installed on our homes received a form letter from BC Hydro today. It is Hydro’s most recent act of intimidation, in an effort to scare people. I hope that everyone will calm down and realize that, just as they’ve been doing all along, BC Hydro is deceiving us with incomplete information and misrepresentations. Please do not sign anything. Allow us time to speak with our lawyer to get his sage advice and for us to prepare an appropriate response. In the meantime consider these points.

Bottom Line:
BC Hydro CANNOT add a monthly fee to anyone’s bill:

  • until they submit an application to the BC Utilities Commission (BCUC) and;
  • unless their application is approved.

We advise that this knowledge be circulated to everyone so that they can tell BC Hydro they WILL NOT be paying an unauthorized fee that Hydro arbitrarily chooses to add.

BC Hydro is calling it a “choice.”  They have sent the following LETTER and RESPONSE FORM to all BC Hydro analog holders in the province.  It contains an “enrolment form” and deadline information relating to projected FEES for opting out of a smart meter.

CST’s  CLARIFICATION and RESPONSE

To customers of BC Hydro:

What we’ve received is yet another form letter from BC Hydro announcing their intention to put a smart meter on our homes. Everyone who has an analog meter is receiving or will receive this letter. Hydro believes that this announcement will push more customers to accept what they do not want or need. Many are understandably upset and confused by this latest ultimatum.

From the wording in the letter, BC Hydro would like you to believe that you have no choice but to accept the smart meter or pay a significant amount to do otherwise. They are saying they will even be charging for a non-functioning smart meter with the transmitter turned off. This is their intention, but not the reality.

B.C. Hydro must apply to BCUC (BC Utilities Commission) for approval of their fee structure to justify it. If BCUC approves, these fees could go in immediately, with no concern about the fact that our class action is ongoing. If our class action wins, then the fees would no longer be charged.

Until that decision is made by the BCUC, Hydro cannot, within the law, go forward with what is stated in the letter.

CST’s lawyer submitted our application for the smart meter class action against BC Hydro on July 25th. BC Hydro chose not to respond, and are holding their objections until further into the process. This isn’t significant and the class action is proceeding. The next step is for the judge to certify our class action, based upon evidence from our lawyer and Hydro’s. We are not waiting for a counterclaim from Hydro, as the deadline for a counterclaim was 21 days after our application was made, and Hydro has chosen not to respond at all.

In the Notice of Civil Claim you will see what we have presented.

BC Hydro must apply to the BC Utilities Commission for approval of their fees, justifying them. This they haven’t yet done. The whole opt-out issue is waiting for BC Hydro to make a counterclaim so that the action can be heard and decided by the BCUC.

With the class action, we intend to fight for a no-fee opt-out for everyone in the province, not just the 5% of us that Hydro estimates still have their analog meters.

The class action addresses the proposed fees that are extortionary. Why should we pay not to have something harmful put on our homes? For many people, just as Energy Minister Bill Bennett predicted in an interview, these charges could force many into accepting the smart meter — most likely those who are most vulnerable, families with small children, the elderly and the disabled.

BC Hydro continues to force people to take meters despite their refusals.

There are many thousands of British Columbians, either with an analogue meter still in place, or with a wireless smart meter (radiating device) already installed against their wishes, who continue to refuse, because they believe strongly that their human rights are at stake.

In the class action, regardless of our reasons: health, safety, privacy, cost or security . . . we don’t have to prove the smart meters are dangerous or invasive. Our rights to have these concerns is enough. As more join with us across the province we have every faith we will win this.

We are asking for participation from as many BC residents as possible, with or without a smart meter. The human costs are too high to simply accept BC Hydro’s unethical proposals and plans.

If you haven’t already decided to participate in the class action, here is the participation form and a Q and A that people are finding useful when explaining the action to others: http://citizensforsafetechnology.org/CLASS-ACTION-Lawsuit-PACKAGE,85,3344

We have an excellent lawyer and he deserves to be paid. The class action participation form in the above-mentioned CLASS ACTION Lawsuit PACKAGE has information about choices for donation amounts, among them “other.”  Thank you for any amount that you feel willing to contribute.

In addition, here is a link to the movie “Take Back Your Power” which explains why this issue is worth supporting. http://citizensforsafetechnology.org/TAKE-BACK-YOUR-POWER-The-Documentary,85,3379

Further considerations:

  • Why is the monthly fee for a radio-off meter $20.00 while the cost of keeping an old meter is $35.00?  They both have to be read manually so, if anything, the cost of reading would be the same.
  • Re BC Hydro’s statement about an enrolment deadline i.e. “Please confirm your choice of meter by December 1, 2013” etc.

Hydro has not even applied to the BCUC, so there is no way increases can come into effect for several months.

  • Those signing the “BC Hydro Meter Choice Program Enrolment Form” are signing a new contract with BC Hydro. In doing so, they are agreeing to pay monthly fees from this time onward.
  • Look at the fine print:  BC Hydro is collecting your personal information on this form to confirm and administer your choice of a radio-off meter.  The information is collected to further BC Hydro’s mandate under the Hydro and Power Authority Act and the Clean Energy Act. etc.
  • According to BC Hydro’s numbers of people who wish to retain their analog meters (60,000):  60,000 x $35.00 = $2,100,000/month x 12 = $25,200,000/year.
  • Is every BC Hydro customer going to receive a credit of $9.00/month, the built-in cost for reading meters?

The letter also says that the “options” are government policy. We have not seen any change in the Clean Energy Act nor a policy document regarding these, only a statement by Bill Bennett, Energy Minister. Nowhere does it state uncategorically that the meters with the “radio-off” will not radiate, and that the transmitters will continue to be turned off until the recipient agrees to turn it on.

By keeping our analogs which have 30+ years of life expectancy, we are saving BC Hydro from spending $555 on a hunk of plastic that will not last more than 1/3 of the life of the analog.

We strongly advise against signing this new contract. Do not give in to this latest threat.