Updated:\u00a0MARCH 21, 2018 \u2014 1:06 PM EDT<\/p>\n
Andrew Maykuth, Staff Writer<\/p>\n
A Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission administrative law judge has ruled that a New Hope customer who says a Peco smart meter made her sick can\u2019t force the utility to replace the wireless device, but she can pay to move the equipment away from her house.<\/p>\n
In a recommended\u00a0decision<\/a>\u00a0posted Tuesday, the PUC hearing examiner, Darlene D. Heep, said\u00a0that Peco had successfully rebutted Maria Povacz\u2019s claims that radio waves from the meter had caused her health problems.<\/p>\n But the judge said, \u201cThe preponderance of the evidence does suggest that some other aspect of the Peco smart meters is inimitably perceptible by and contrary to the health and well-being of the individual, Ms. Povacz.\u201d<\/p>\n While not allowing Povacz to reject a smart meter, or replace it with an old analog electric meter that must be manually read, the judge said the customer could pay to relocate the smart meter away from her house. Peco would be required to move its power line to the new meter location.<\/p>\n The decision was among three long-awaited rulings posted Tuesday in cases brought by customers who said Peco\u2019s wireless smart meters caused their health problems. The customers had asked to opt out from having the devices, which the utility says it is required to install under a 2008 state law that allows no exceptions.<\/p>\n Heep\u2019s determination that \u201csome other aspect\u201d of the meter caused Povacz\u2019s ill health seems unlikely to lay the issue to rest.<\/p>\n In two other cases that were argued along with Povacz\u2019s claim, Heep dismissed the complaints of\u00a0Cynthia Randall\u00a0<\/a>and\u00a0Paul Albrecht<\/a>, who live in Roxborough, and\u00a0Laura Sunstein Murphy<\/a>\u00a0of West Bradford Township, Chester County. The judge said the customers had not established that the use of smart meters constituted unsafe and unreasonable service.<\/p>\n Edward Lanza, a Harrisburg\u00a0lawyer who had argued the cases along with Steve Harvey of Philadelphia, expressed disappointment with the decisions and said he planned to file exceptions.<\/p>\n The recommended decisions will be reviewed by the five-member PUC, which makes the final decisions.<\/p>\n Peco installed 1.7 million smart meters on its system, and\u00a0scores<\/a>\u00a0of utility customers objected, alleging the meters were unsafe or invaded their privacy. The three cases, filed in 2015 and 2016, were among a\u00a0small number<\/a>\u00a0the PUC allowed to move forward because the customers said the devices emit electromagnetic frequencies that caused their health problems.<\/p>\n Customers who object to smart meters have few options available other than\u00a0completely disconnecting<\/a>\u00a0from Peco\u2019s system and generating their own power.<\/p>\n