Are smart meters for the common good

The Common Good

The longer that I explore the issues around the Smart Meter vs Analog Meter issues I find myself being concerned more for the “common good” than saving money on my monthly electric bill. The following provides a brief foundation for my opinion that the Smart Meter concept, and its current presence in our society has proven itself to be more of a problem than a benefit.

The “common good” can be defined as certain things, whether they are material, cultural or institutional, that the leaders of a community have an obligation to provide if it is possible to do so.

Among those things, which the leaders try to provide are public utilities that will enhance our lives.  The utilities would have to be Smart Meters as there is nothing intrinsically wrong with wanting an instrument which will give information to you and provide a way for you to save money, as well as providing electricity, gas and water for your needs.

The current consensus among the owners and operators of utility companies in this country is that the installment of a Smart Meter will help to promote the “common  good” by enabling you to have control over how cold or how hot you want to be at any particular time during the day, as well as controlling the use of electricity during peak use times in your neighborhood, hopefully lowering your utility bill.

Well, you have the control issue in hand right now with your older Analog meter, which was designed to record information concerning your use of the utility and pass that information along to the utility company for billing purposes.

Since the introduction of the Smart Meter in this country in 2009, we have experienced destruction of private property and the loss of life due to the failure of certain operating parts of the Smart Meter.

The online publication Smart Meter Harm and Nina Beety, reports the following: https://smartmeterharm.org/2021/06/report-on-fire-and-electrical-hazards-of-smart-and-other-digital-meters-part-1.

A.) “In 2017, a fatal fire took place after the installation of a Smart Meter, leading to the death of a 95-year old resident.

B.) Fire Chief Duane Roddy testified to the Michigan House Energy Committee in 2017, that he watched a Smart Meter ignite and arc at his home from a power surge. The electricity kept flowing and arcing, melting the lines to his house, and didn’t stop until the transformer on the pole blew, and then the fuse on the pole finally tripped. In Pacific Grove, California, PG&E crews shut off power to repair a transformer. When they re-connected the power, they heard a popping sound, and a nearby building’s Smart Meter and panel caught fire.

C.) The following is an account given concerning additional failures of the installed Smart Meters to taken the excessive electrical surges to ground:

D.) Stockton, California, March 30, 2015:

‘‘‘The smart meters were unable to handle the surge and exploded. Some of the explosions were serious, others were not.

…Stockton fire Capt. Bryan Carr with Engine 6, one of several fire crews dispatched Monday morning as dozens of electric customers began reporting explosions, smoke or the smell of burning wires, described the scene as “unreal” when his engine pulled onto Fairbury Lane, a residential street in southeast Stockton… His best estimate was that 50 or 60 homes had some type of significant electrical damage.’ ‘’   

 Conclusion

Homeowners, renters and businesses all over the world are experiencing essentially the same problems with the Smart Meters. How can anyone say there is no evidence to support the fact the Smart Meters are defective.

Each day we continue to bury our heads in the sand and the list of damages and deaths due to Smart Meter failure grows longer and longer.

What price a human life

Respectfully,

Norman Lambe

nwlambe@gmail.com