The complaints grew vocal enough, however,
that Michael Peevey, president of the state's PUC, directed
PG&E in mid-March to develop a plan to allow customers who
object to the meters to be provided another option. "I think
it's clear the time has come for some kind of movement in
the direction of customer opt-outs," Peevey said. He added
that the health complaints to the PUC have been limited to
the PG&E customer base. His initial order did not extend to
the other two utility companies.
"We have not had complaints about radio frequency emissions
or other concerns about smart meters from customers of other
utilities in California," said Peevey.
RF Unknowns
Peevey's action came as a surprise to many and followed
direct discussions he had with PG&E's president. It also
came in the wake of the introduction of a bill in the state
legislature to mandate opt-outs for smart meters for all
California utility customers. Several localities in the
state have actually called for a halt to the installation of
RF meters because of citizen complaints. Still more
controversy was generated from the release of a 50-page
draft report in January from the California Council on
Science and Technology. That report, requested by several
state legislators, concluded that current FCC standards
involving smart meters are adequate and that properly
installed and maintained meters emit less RF exposure than
household cell phones and microwave ovens.
However, the report also noted that "not enough is currently
known about potential nonthermal impacts of radio frequency
emissions to identify or recommend additional standards for
such impacts." It called for consumers to be given more
information about all RF-emitting devices and urged the PUC
to "consider doing an independent review of the deployment
of smart meters to determine if they are installed and
operating consistent with the information provided to the
consumer." So although the state report found the smart
meters currently safe, it expressed uncertainty about the
unknowns involved.
Growing Controversy
Continued safety assurances from utility executives, the
report's release and Peevey's action have done little to
quell the growing controversy in California about the safety
and accuracy of smart meters in the state. "CCST's study
doesn't conclusively resolve the smart-meter debate," said
California State Assemblyman Jared Huffman, who co-sponsored
the opt-out legislation. "The benefits of smart meters and a
smart grid do not require wireless technology." Huffman and
others suggest customers be given the option of a hard-wired
smart meter. Such meters are more expensive to install and
maintain. Peevey said that the cost "should be paid by the
customers who choose to opt out."
The proposed state legislation would make the opt-out choice
retroactive for utility customers, which could cause even
more confusion. PG&E already had installed 7.6 million smart
meters by March 2010 and will install another 2.5 million by
the end of 2012. SCE has nearly half of its planned 5
million installations in place. And SDG&E has replaced
nearly all of its 1.4 million electric meters and 136,000 of
its 850,000 gas meters. Meanwhile, smart meter opponents say
an opt-out provision may not resolve any possible health
issues because residents could still receive RF emissions
from their neighbors' meters.
The escalating brouhaha has caused proponents of smart
meters to re-evaluate their current strategy and wonder
whether the issue will spread to other states that are not
as far along as
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