{"id":3457,"date":"2011-08-20T09:37:36","date_gmt":"2011-08-20T16:37:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/?p=3457"},"modified":"2015-01-07T21:16:05","modified_gmt":"2015-01-08T04:16:05","slug":"victoria-seeks-alternative-to-hydro-smart-meters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/?p=3457","title":{"rendered":"Victoria seeks alternative to Hydro smart meters"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By Kathryn Burnham \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0August 20, 2011<\/div>\n
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Victoria city council is asking B.C. Hydro to create a hard-wire option to its wireless smart meters so that those with health concerns won’t have to worry about electromagnetic radiation.<\/p>\n

A motion passed at Thursday’s council meeting calls for council to write to B.C. Hydro and the provincial ministries involved.<\/p>\n

“I am in no way anti-technology or anti-WiFi,” said Coun. Phillipe Lucas, who introduced the motion. “But this is a very different type of technology. Since it looks like the harms are still unknown, or there are still some concerns, I think we need to listen to our residents and give them the option, at least in their own home, as to the type of technology they are exposed to.”<\/p>\n

Radiofrequency electromagnetic fields have been classified as “possibly carcinogenic to humans” by the World Health Organization, although no adverse side effects have been proven.<\/p>\n

There is no opt-out option to the WiFi-meters at the moment. Those asking not to have a smart meter installed will receive one-on-one information from a B.C. Hydro representative to address their complaint.<\/p>\n

“We understand there are concerns,” said Ted Olynyk, the B.C. Hydro manager of community relations for Vancouver Island.<\/p>\n

Olynyk said a few customers have come forward with concerns, ranging from health and privacy to cost and a lack of consultation, but the one-on-one discussions “seem to be working.”<\/p>\n

“We can explain the concerns they have,” he said. “We will work with them very closely to try to answer the questions that are out there, but we have a bigger system to operate.”<\/p>\n

The system upgrade is expected to save the utility provider $1.6 billion, but also help customers save money by showing them what they consume.<\/p>\n

B.C. Hydro says the radiation from the smart meter – which only transmits information for an average of one minute a day – over its 20-year lifetime is less than the radiation of a 30minute cellphone call. However, if homeowners are still concerned, they can have their meter moved to a spot on their property further from their house, at their own expense.<\/p>\n

Esquimalt council is to examine the health concerns of smart meters before taking any action.<\/p>\n

Mayor Barbara Desjardins said other municipalities are discussing the issue and taking action, but “none of us really felt we had a good grasp on the issue,” she said.<\/p>\n

Council decided to have staff gather information for a presentation to council that will probably take place in September, said Coun. Meagan Brame. “We aren’t taking stands as a community until we hear more on both sides,” she said.<\/p>\n

A discussion of smart meters will also be part of the September Union of B.C. Municipalities conference.<\/p>\n

Colwood city council and Highlands district council passed motions last month placing a moratorium on installation of the smart meters until more information has been gathered.<\/p>\n

Highlands Mayor Jane Mendum said she has met B.C. Hydro representatives and expects further meetings. The Colwood motion includes a request for alternatives to the smart meter at no cost to the customer.\u00a0kburnham@timescolonist.com<\/a><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.timescolonist.com\/health\/City+seeks+alternative+Hydro+smart+meters\/5283367\/story.html<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Kathryn Burnham \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0August 20, 2011 Victoria city council is asking B.C. Hydro to create a hard-wire option to its wireless smart meters so that those with health concerns won’t have to worry about electromagnetic radiation. A motion passed at Thursday’s council meeting calls for council to write to B.C. Hydro and the provincial ministries […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[58,17,18,44],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3457","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bchydro","category-bc","category-smart-meter","category-victoria"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3457","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3457"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3457\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5137,"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3457\/revisions\/5137"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3457"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3457"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3457"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}