The Oregon Public Utility Commission (OPUC) plan to install smart meters was made without the public notification required by law. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said smart meters are safe. A Harvard University study said the FCC is a “captured agency.” That means they do the bidding of the wireless industry that they are supposed to be regulating. Independent and U.S. Government studies point out the dangers of smart meters: causing cancer, DNA breaks and degrading the blood-brain barrier that protects our brains from infections and toxins. Many sensitive individuals around the world, including right here in Jackson County, Oregon, have developed severe physical symptoms to the Radio Frequency (RF) radiation emitted by smart meters.
One day in early 2018, Alea, a counselor in Talent, Oregon, decided she had to act. She had heard about the “InPower Movement” which claimed to have a way to stop the smart meter roll-out, and she wanted to bring more people into trying this approach. She also wanted a group effort to convince the Talent City Council to take action against the impending roll-out of smart meters. Alea put out a call for a community meeting in Talent and about 40 people showed up. This group without a name met four times, sharing questions & information and devising strategies. At our fourth community meeting, Eli, who had been on the Steering Committee of GMO-Free Jackson County, showed up, raised his hand and said: “You need a Steering Committee.” Alea replied “Yes. Will you be on it?”
One of our Steering Committee members, Bridget, headed up our lobbying campaign to the Talent City Council. In response, Talent held a Town Hall meeting on the subject of smart meters, which was packed to overflowing with concerned citizens. A man who later attended a Steering Committee meeting, and was familiar with Constitutional law, advised us on what to write to make the OPUC stop their illegal smart meters installation plans. A letter writing campaign to the OPUC followed.
Another Steering Committee member, Ed, a scientist who had studied RF radiation in depth, wrote a paper which he submitted to our Jackson County Commissioners, along with a petition we wrote asking the Commissioners join our letter writing campaign to the OPUC. These Commissioners ultimately wrote two letters of concern about this to the OPUC.
Although we were unable to stop the mass installation of smart meters in our County, we did have some significant victories over our two years of political activism:
~ Before the smart meters were installed, we got the OPUC to require an Opt Out option, so that people who didn’t want a smart meter installed could “Opt Out” and get a non-transmitting digital meter installed instead. The cost for this Opt Out would be a $137 one-time fee and a $36 a month ongoing fee.
~ Before the smart meters were installed, we got the OPUC to change that Opt Out plan to say that we could keep our existing analog meters.
~ Before the smart meters were installed, we got the OPUC to drop the $137 one-time Opt Out fee.
~ After the smart meters were installed, we got the OPUC to offer a meter-reading option to have our analog meters read every 4 months, and pay $9 a month instead of $36 a month.
~ We later got the OPUC to reduce the $36 a month Opt Out fee to $10 and the “every 4 months” reading plan to $3 a month.
For those people who didn’t Opt Out before the smart meters were installed, Pacific Power is charging $169 to exchange their smart meter for a non-transmitting digital meter. When you learn about how bad smart meters are, this is a small price to pay. However, it is still an illegal extortion fee and a significant barrier, which we are fighting to get removed.
Dafna Tachover, founder of “We Are The Evidence,” came to our meeting to advise us on what to write to the Oregon Attorney General about the illegal actions of the OPUC. So Steering Committee members Tim, Dale and Ed all wrote letters to the Attorney General. All of the letters and documents are available on the “Documents & Resources” page of our website for people to copy and send to our public servants.
We want the meter exchange fee reduced to zero, and the freedom to have analog meters installed instead of the non-transmitting digital meter. We want analog meters because all digital meters, even the non-transmitting ones, cause high frequency voltage transients (also called “dirty electricity”) that analog meters do not.
So, Our Story continues. Our fight against smart meters is just part of a larger movement to take back control of our lives from the unelected technocrats and the bureaucrats who are subverting our representative form of government. A government of the People, by the People and for the People, is only possible when the People make it so.
Please join us!
Thank You,
Eli & Alea for Freedom to Say No to Smart Meters
