At this year's annual Union of BC Municipalities meeting, BC Hydro was there to provide all manner of helpful information about their Smart Metering campaign, which has seen stiff resistance - particularly on Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands. Some local representatives have remained skeptical of the smart metering initiative, which would see a smart meter installed in every British Columbian resident's home.
Colleen Kimmett at The Hook reports:
BC Hydro's attempt to deflate opposition to smart meters was met with frustration from municipal leaders who say the utility should be talking to the public, not just politicians.
Gary Murphy, chief project officer of BC Hydro's $930 million smart metering program, headlined a panel of health and technology experts at the Union of B.C. Municipalities convention this morning.He told delegates that leadership is needed to quell concerns around smart meters. One of those concerns is the potential danger posed by electromagnetic radiation emitted by the wireless smart meter network. On Wednesday delegates debate a resolution calling for a moratorium on the mandatory installation of smart meters. According to BC Hydro, 100,000 smart meters have been installed so far.On Monday, BC Hydro distributed an information package to convention delegates noting they would be exposed to more than 4,500 minutes worth of electromagnetic radiation from wireless networks in the Vancouver Convention Centre.
Meanwhile, here's the news release sent out by BC Hydro to provide some "quick facts" about smart meters and wireless networks. Essentially it's more of the same, highlighting our much greater exposure to electromagnetic radiation from wireless frequencies courtesy of items like laptops and cell phones and juxtaposing it against the relatively miniscule amount of electromagnetic radiation emitted by smart meters. Not much to debate there.
However, as Michael Smyth notes in The Province, focusing on non-existent health issues like electromagnetic radiation distracts from the real problems inherent in the Smart Metering Program:
Hydro prefers to consign all of its critics to the wacky tinfoil-hat brigade. It makes it a lot easier to gloss over the real concerns about smart meters: the incredible cost, the threat to your privacy and the inevitable gouging on your electricity bill.
Exactly. BC Hydro also addressed some of the privacy issues surrounding its Smart Metering Program at the UBCM meeting, but electromagnetic radiation is probably the most virulent, and the most easily-rebutted, argument being made against smart meters to date. Opponents of smart metering should distance themselves from this argument if they wish to land any substantial blows on the Smart Metering Program in the future.
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