Lithium batteries, the smart meter's weakness

Lithium batteries, the smart meter’s weakness

To Save Money or Not:

While reviewing the written material concerning the use of smart meters in this country I came across some interesting information, and I give credit to the honest reporting of the subject matter. The first issue dealt with the economics of a smart meter in your home, does it function as a money saver at all as advertised?  The following answer was provided what I call a yes and no ---

“Overall, while smart meters themselves don’t directly reduce bills, they facilitate more efficient energy management, which can lead to reduced consumption and lower costs for consumers” www.energyprofessor.com/how-do-smart-meters-work. 

Safety Issues:

The next issue I was concerned about was the use of lithium batteries in the smart meters that are placed in homes and businesses. Are the lithium batteries safe for use in the meters? The following was my answer ---

”Lithium-ion batteries were responsible for at least 220 fires in New York City in 2022 alone. According to city numbers, such fires caused at least 10 deaths and 226 injuries in 2021 and 2022. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recorded 25,000 incidents of fire or overheating in lithium-ion batteries between 2012 and 2017. The above research was concerning mobility devices and the impact of lithium batteries on them.

www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/scientists-make-water-batteries-that-nev… 

If lithium batteries are susceptible to such damage in mobility devices, then I do not believe I would want them in my home watching over my family and myself as we sleep since the smart meters are on 24/7!

Laws Concerning Removal of Possible Evidence:

The response that I usually receive about the problem with smart meters and their power source, lithium batteries, is that nothing conclusive has been proven to show smart meters are responsible for fire loss of property and lives. Well, I believe that I have the answer for that one.  When a fire department unit is responding to a reported fire, it is their responsibility to notify the local utility company to shut off the power to the location that is burning in order to prevent further spread of the fire, which is the right thing to do to prevent further loss.

However, in addition to cutting off the power, it is the utility’s plan of action to  remove the smart meter feeding the burning location, as the utility company claims that the meter is their property, which it is.

 In many of the claims that I handled, the utility company has responded to the loss location and removed the meter prior to the fire department’s full fire suppression efforts being in place. I have experienced a few instances in which the smart meter feeding the damaged unit had been taken from the loss scene, repaired, and put back into service.

In order to obtain the meter for inspection to determine if it was the source of the problem, we needed to have the named insured issue a written request to the utility company to not dispose, repair or sell the meter as the insurance company is requesting the opportunity to determine if the smart meter was the cause of the fire. My last effort at attempting this for an insured took 18 months to inspect the meter, and testing revealed it was the cause of the fire.

The removal of electric smart meters from a fire scene was a problem and still is. The following information indicates the official position of the fire prevention industry regarding this on-going issue.

According to legal perspectives and guidelines on fire scene documentation, any changes to the fire scene, such as the removal of property during overhaul, must be noted and ascertained. Documenting the fire scene: a legal perspective, https://www.interfire.org/res_file/docscleg.asp.

The scene must be maintained as close as possible to its original form to avoid destroying or altering evidence. https://nyfireinvestigators.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Chapter-23-NYSAFC-Scene-Preservation-PPT-FINAL.pdf. 

Specific procedures are outlined for covering items or areas containing evidence and isolating them to prevent contamination.  https://nij.ojp.gov/topics/articles/guide-investigating-fire-and-arson.

Insurance companies need to come to the conclusion that it is necessary to review ALL of the potential causes of fire and not to be content when we are advised the utility company has removed the smart meter from the scene.

What price a human life.

Respectfully,

Norman Lambe

 nwlambe@gmail.com