- Nicholas Simons, NDP MLA, Powell River-Sunshine Coast, is the only MLA so far who has responded to receiving a copy of my letter to the Auditor General asking for an audit. Please see his response below, in which he quotes Bennett who is showing what an arrogant, heartless, nasty person he is.
- In Michigan, as here and elsewhere, the industry and govt. officials are either deliberately misleading or are very poorly informed about the way smart meters work and the problems they bring.
- At my request, the person who had provided the insurance waiver by Lloyd’s which excludes coverage for any claims associated with RF radiation asked for additional information, and has shared the following. I have sent this to Perry Kendall and others (my letter is below). Please, send to your MLAs and others. This puts those thinking of leasing property to cell companies or putting wifi in schools on notice. Use it!!
I got the following response last week from my Insurance Broker on why an exclusion for EMF has been added to my policy:
February 18, 2015 response from CFC Underwriting Limited, London UK, agent for Lloyd’s re: EMF Exclusion for Architects and Engineers E & O, Commercial Liability Insurance:
“The Electromagnetic Fields Exclusion (Exclusion 32) is a General Insurance Exclusion and is applied across the market as standard. The purpose of the exclusion is to exclude cover for illnesses caused by continuous long-term non-ionising radiation exposure i.e. through mobile phone usage.”
- We are not the only ones experiencing the “conspiracy of silence” in the media regarding the smart meters and grid. There is a concerted effort to not inform people about the problems or, apparently, even the fact that this change is happening at all.
- A legal advisory about privacy and the smart grid:
http://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/privacy-issues-in-smart-electrical-grids-28285/
- A support group for seniors has an initiative to get relief for those who wish to keep their safe analogs but have difficulty affording the extortion fees. Please see a letter below from one such senior. Here is the information from the group. Please share this with any seniors you might know, many of whom may not have access to computers:
SENIOR’S INITIATIVE – re: BC HYDRO BULLYING
Did you write your story?!
If you are a senior and have a complaint (and many of you have disturbing stories) it is time to put it in writing.
The fee to keep an analog meter and assorted complications to retain the meter are certainly reasons to ask for assistance from an advocate.
Are your BC Hydro bills excessive?
Having trouble choosing between paying Hydro their extortion fee or buying food?
If a Corix installer came on your property and treated you improperly, write it down.
Did BC Hydro intimidate you? How? When? Write it down.
When you write include names and examples, dates and time, and be as clear and concise as possible. Hopefully this grabs your attention and feels positive and inspiring for you!
So please write a letter, send it to the address below and we have a volunteer who will present all of your letters to the BC Senior’s Advocate.
Additionally, we want to increase the impact and importance of your experience by making copies of the letters and also present them to an NDP Energy/Senior/Health critic!
**Timeline!
You have until March 15th to get your letter to us and have it personally delivered – the more letters the better!
Senior ‘Power of the Pen’!
FYI – see a copy of a letter sent at the end of this email.
For Your Information – “The Voice of Seniors” – Advocate website – http://www.seniorsadvocatebc.ca/
-Please address your actual letter to Senior’s Advocate, Isobel Mackenzie.
When you put the letter in the envelope to mail it us please address as such:
CV Electro Health
c/o P.O. Box 741
Cumberland, BC
V0R 1SO
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Letters:
| Subject: | RE: Request for Audit of BC Hydro’s Smart Meter Program |
| Date: | Mon, 23 Feb 2015 04:45:34 +0000 |
| From: | Simons.MLA, Nicholas <Nicholas.Simons.MLA@leg.bc.ca> |
| To: | director@stopsmartmetersbc.com |
Hello –
Thank you for pursuing this further.
Here is a quote from Minister Bill Bennett, mocking people who wanted the choice and the NDP Opposition for its stance on the issue:
“One of the things that I wanted, as Energy Minister, to do was to find a way for people who didn’t want the new meters to keep their older meters — a lot of them were analog meters — and so we did that. We came up with a way for people to not have to take the smart meter, which is a digital meter with a radio, and that was all good.
What B.C. Hydro said was, yes, they could keep their old meters, but it means that we’re going to have to have a different system for tracking the electricity that’s being used. There will have to be some real people actually go out and read these meters, and there’s a cost to that. So we said: “Okay, well, there’s a cost to that. You go to the BCUC, and you ask the BCUC whether the cost you have estimated is reasonable or not.” B.C. Hydro did that, and the BCUC said that what B.C. Hydro was currently charging for keeping your old meter was reasonable.
I know that the members on the other side are great believers in the BCUC. I hear it all the time how they think we should take matters to the BCUC, so I’m sure that they all support these fees that are being charged to people for the old meters.”
This was from Thursday –three days ago. This shows the disdain with which the government treats the public.
Nicholas
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From: Dennis and Sharon Noble [mailto:dsnoble@shaw.ca]
Sent: February 22, 2015 12:52 PM
To: ‘greg.reimer@bchydro.com‘; ‘bill.bennett.mla@leg.bc.ca‘; Christy Clark (premier@gov.bc.ca)
Cc: ‘Dix, Adrian’; ‘Holman.MLA, Gary’; John Horgan. Leader NDP; ‘maurine.karagianis.mla@leg.bc.ca‘; ‘Shin, Jane Jae Kyung’; CKNW Mike Smyth (msmyth@theprovince.com); ‘bcauditor@bcauditor.com‘; ‘Perry Kendall’
Subject: Lloyd’s of London excludes coverage for RF/EMR claims,
Premier Clark, Mr. Bennett and Mr. Reimer,
RE: Lloyd’s of London excludes coverage for claims caused by exposure to non-ionizing radiation.
Based on inaccurate information provided by ITRON, Health Canada and Dr. Perry Kendall, you have been telling people that there is no health risk due to prolonged exposure to radiation from smart meters on homes and wifi in school — this despite your having received 100s of studies by independent researchers and many letters from scientists and doctors to the contrary.
I am now forwarding information that should concern you even if the potential health problems these devices cause British Columbians doesn’t. Even though I know that the province and BC Hydro self insure their insurance coverage, I suspect you have a stop loss agreement with protection for catastrophic claims. If this stop loss agreement doesn’t already contain this waiver, soon it no doubt will exclude any claims associated with exposure to radiation from wireless devices such as cell phones, smart meters or wifi.
Lloyd’s of London is one of the largest insurers in the world and often leads the way in protection, taking on risks that no one else will. Attached is a recent renewal policy which, as of Feb. 7, 2015, excludes any coverage associated with exposure to non-ionizing radiation. In response to clarification, this response was received on Feb. 18, 2015 from CFC Underwriting LTD, London, UK agent for Lloyd’s:
“The Electromagnetic Fields Exclusion (Exclusion 32) is a General Insurance Exclusion and is applied across the market as standard. The purpose of the exclusion is to exclude cover for illnesses caused by continuous long-term non-ionising radiation exposure i.e. through mobile phone usage.”
This means that the Province (that is we, the taxpayer) will be held liable for claims from teachers and parents of children suffering biological effects from wifi in schools, from homeowners exposed to RF from mandated smart meters on homes, and from employees forced to use cell phones or exposed to wifi at work. Lawsuits in other countries have resulted in huge payments already, and it is only a matter of time before similar lawsuits are filed and won in Canada.
Potentially those who allow such devices, after having been fully informed about the dangers, could be held liable for negligence, and directors’ insurance may not provide financial protection. Directors’ insurance applies when people are performing their duties “in good faith”. It is hard to argue they are acting “in good faith” after having been warned by true scientific experts and by a well-respected insurer.
Consider yourself notified once again that you could be held legally responsible for the decisions you have made.
Yours truly,
Sharon Noble
Victoria, BC.
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EXAMPLE OF LETTER SENT TO SENIOR’S ADVOCATE – NAME WITHHELD BY REQUEST
Ms. Isobel Mackenzie,
B.C. Senior advocate
Dear Ms. Mackenzie:
With deep concern and stress, I contact you in the hope of some help in this matter. I am a senior woman, (76), living on a very small income, so small in fact, that I no longer pay any income tax and the Govt. grants me an upgrade on OAP, which is much appreciated (GIS). Due to some bad luck and unfortunate breaks in life, I find myself in this position in my senior years. (my husband of 32 years left me 3 years ago). I no longer as well pay BC medical as well, which I much appreciate.
I have refused the BC Hydro smart meter installation and the reasons are too many to list here, but for safety and health concerns, I wish to stay with the analogue meter. This meter actually belongs to the home owner and not to Hydro. Since being on record as a Hydro customer that refused the installation of the smart meter, I have diligently phoned in my meter readings since Jan. 2014 on those dates required and posted by Hydro, thus there should be no charge for meter readings. Of course this service was previously included in power delivery to homes. There are many home owners that have a smart meter installed, but are not yet hooked up and they are still receiving manual readings, but without any charge. This is blatantly discriminatory and punitive.
I live in a very small old home, alone, and manage by being extremely frugal in water and power use as well as all other living expenses. It is a known fact that seniors are much better off staying in their own homes as long as possible, decreasing cost to the Government as well as improving their comforts and lives. Since the beginning of 2014, Hydro has charged a penalty amount of $35/month, which of course is $75 on each by-monthly invoice. I have power usage that is nearly 50% less than this amount from May to Oct. I wear heavy clothing in winter to keep power charges down as well. This surcharge amount now is in arrears for several invoices issued and I have received a Notice of Disconnect of power. This is hugely penalizing to me and many others in this Province that refuse the smart meter.
I work hard to get some vegetables and fruit into my freezer, I go to Farmers Market late and get those foods that are ‘disfigured’, too small, etc. , for 1/2 price and sometimes for free. Hydro sent me a warning that, after disruption of power service, there will be a charge of $355 for re-connect. This is hugely penalizing as well as severe fear-mongering. This amount would represent nearly 1/3 of my monthly income.
I am appealing to you to have this amount owing removed from my Hydro bill due to the fact that I am below the poverty line. Dept. of Revenue and Income Tax can vouch that my income tax records are scrutinized each year as the basis for my assistance amount in Guaranteed Income Supplement. . Seniors on these small incomes should be exempt from this extortion fee by Hydro. Even our city gives me a small consideration for water charges reduction, due to my low income.
Furthermore, the Province of Saskatchewan now has compassionate, intelligent politicians, going to bat for the people, by having put a total halt on further installations of smart meters, due to several serious house fires and liability issues mounting. My old home has old everything, including wiring. I plead with you to contact Hydro to initiate for an exemption for seniors on small incomes, living on assistance. I am going to suffer greatly, losing my food with this enormous threat. I simply cannot afford this extortion fee by Hydro which, for many months each year, is higher than my power usage.
I have now paid them $200 to get out from under the threat of disconnection and I wish to have the surcharge removed retroactively from my billing and have my $200 payment applied to future power usage. This extortion fee is taking food off my table and decreasing my quality of life. It is hard enough to make ends meet as it is.
I sent this letter to MLAs T. Lake and Todd Stone, even the Ombudsman, none have answered me back. This choice of leadership by threat/extortion and horrible financial penalties for those of us on such small incomes, is a disintegration of our democratic style of government.
Please help.
Sincerely,
(Name Withheld)
P.S. I heard the interview with you this morning on CBC radio. And I also knew of your visit to Kamloops this past summer. Please, help.
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