6/12/12 Update
SoCalGas submits opt out plan which would would require S0Cal ratepayers (who are SCE and SoCalGas customers) to pay fees to both utilities (doubling the opt out costs) . In addition SoCalGas’ proposed opt out fee is grossly out of proportion to its services. Its monthly opt out fee would increase monthly bills by 27.3 percent(!). See BurbankAction website for more information.
Update 2. SoCalGas informed us that their Advanced Meter device would be made by “Aclara.” Amy O’Hair of StopSmartMeters.org wrote
“The Aclara Star system is what PGE uses—in the 400MHz range, with each unit reporting to an antenna within a mile. Usually there are 2 antennas a unit can connect with. They are one-way only with no remote shut-off possible. PG&E’s pulse 4x a day (or thereabouts). The transmitting unit is placed onto an existing gas metering unit. They remove the dial portion, affix it to the grey “smart” unit, then replace it onto the gas unit (baffle, I think it’s called).”
Amy sent this picture: 
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Mindy Spatt, from Turn.org said that the gas meters are “the dumbest meters yet.” She said that there is no need for “advanced meters,” which also emit RF radiation, because people’s gas usage is very stable. She thinks there is still time to have “impact” on these as they haven’t been installed in our area. They have been installed , however, by San Diego Gas and Electric, and some people have reported serious health issues as bad or worse than the Edison meters.
This page will be used to gather info and pass on contacts and also provide info about what actions we need to take to stop the advance of “Advanced Meters.”
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Update 12/9/11
The SoCalGas web site says that “Advanced Meters” are “not an optional service upgrade.” They are not offering an “opt out” program. The installation involves attaching a wireless, radiation emitting device to existing gas meters.
They received approval from the CPUC to do this in April, 2010, according to a SoCalGas representative. They say the radiation will be emitted a half second every six hours.
I told the SoCalGas rep that this may not be complete information as with the electric meters we later found out it was emitted in tens of thousands of milliseconds. However, according to their fact sheet, not only are “advanced meters” completely safe but they say the FCC has said that even banks of Smart Meters are within FCC limits, which has also not turned out to be true.
From their fact sheet:
“According to studies by the FCC, the Electric Power Research Institute, and
the WHO, no adverse short- or long-term effects have been shown to occur from the radio frequency signals produced by advanced meter technologies or other such wireless networks.”
That statement is also not accurate. I wonder what “health” studies they are talking about that they say the FCC conducted. (Does the FCC conduct “studies?”) The Electric Power Research Institute is closely aligned with the utility industry. WHO just declared the RF to be a possible class 2b carcinogen because of increased gliomas (brain cancers) from this radiation.
Here is a link to an article about SoCalGas Advanced meters.
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12/10/11
See this page regarding maps and SoCalGas’s plans. It also has contact information (Lizette: 213-244-4427) and an e-mail.
They are going to attach a wireless RF device to our existing gas meters–but they do not say in their document what it is exactly. They don’t say who the manufacturer of this device is.
For example, here is one manufacturer of such an RF device which looks like it’s for water meter reading. Itron also makes such devices.
The manufacturer is Aclara (http://www.aclaratech.com/Pages/default.aspx).
The meters that will be installed for SoCalGas are different than the meters used by PG&E (although they’re both manufactured by Aclara).
My understanding is that the meters used by PG&E communicate directly with Data Collection Units (DCUs), which are basically like mini cell phone towers that are installed on telephone poles, in parks, on the roofs of fire stations, and other government owned property. The individual meters talk to the DCUs and the DCUs communicate back to PG&E through a cellular data connection.
The difference with the meters that will be used by SoCalGas is that the individual meters will create a form of mesh network (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireless_mesh_network). In other words, the meters will talk to each other. The main benefit of doing this is cost. Less DCUs will be required since usage data can be effectively relayed from house to house. Eventually, a meter in range of a DCU sends along the collective usage data.
With this method, not only is money saved by installing less DCUs but money is also saved because it means that the utility company has less reoccurring monthly cellular data charges (remember that each DCU is outfitted with a cell phone).
Hi John,
Thank you for this information. SoCalGas had told me that Aclara was involved, but they haven’t given the specs of the exact wireless device they are using. I don’t like the sound of a “mesh” network with meters “talking” to each other–because it means more RF in the neighborhood.
Melissa
As I understand it, it is illegal for smart meters to share mined data from one households with other households.
The frequencies contravene Building Codes (section concerned with vibration), Electrical Codes (section concerned with harmonics).
Vibrations for 900 MHz is 1.8 billion times a second. For 2.4 Gigahertz, 4.8 billion times a second. Buildings are built to certain specifications. If vibrations loosen contacts, if that voids specs, and if that voids occupancy permits and insurance, what then? Just how long will developers and/or investors be willing to wait indefinitely for occupancy permits.
Harmonics corrode, beginning with metal.
Andrew Michrowski discusses this corrosion in detail.
Imagine for a moment just how many structural components are metal.
In Canada the frequencies appear to violate the Weights and Measures Act by billing a customer for the energy generated at source and then dissipated along the transmission lines, instead of billing the customer for usage, which is what analog meters do.
Modernization?
Or demolition?
Calling a gas meter advanced is a misnomer and a joke. The gas meters are Automated Meter Reading (AMR) meters. There is no such thing as an Advanced Meter Infrastructure (AMI) for gas.
An advanced electric meter is a different story, but the electric SmartMeters being deployed are not AMI meters, they are simple AMR meters.
A real advanced electric meter is paid for by the customers ($5000+ each), and is of value to the commercial and industrial customers that have been using them for years, but the SmartMeters are of value to no customer, only the utility to eliminate the meter reading department.
But guess what ?, the AMR SmartMeters are not capable of monitoring or recording current flowing bi-directionally, so the analog, TOU and demand response meters must still be read by meter readers. The utility corporations really shot themselves in the foot this time, they will never eliminate the meter reading department with the current SmartMeters that they chose for deployment. And they are stuck with these simple meters until the next round comes, which may be never !. Considering the cost to replace all the residential AMR meters with AMI meters, there is no possible way that will ever happen.
Since PG&E charged the ratepayers $2.2 billion for 10 million AMR meters, then they would have to charge the ratepayers $230 billion for advanced electric meters And PG&E has other problems that need attention.. Right now, PG&E has not even started upgrading the electrical power grid, which will cost $300 million and take 10 years to complete, once they get started in one or two years.
You can Opt-Out of Advance Meter by calling SoCalGas. A monthly fee will be added your account so that a meter reader can continue to come and read your meter every month. The Advance Meter is powered by something you already use a “battery.” Your data is encrypted and your account information such as name and address is well protected. For outlining areas that are furthest away from a central billing center data travels from one tower to the next to reach its final destination. The data is sent within seconds. Tampering with your gas meter can possibly result in legal action. You have a choice to not receive Gas at all. There’s always electric appliances you can use. Natural Gas is one of the cheapest utilities around. The gas monitoring is meant to help you manage your gas usage. If you have kids or a pool you can find out ways to lower your gas bills by having everyone use hot water at the same time instead of running it throughout the day. You can set a lower thermostat on your pool or even catch a squatter at your vacation home. Most people are at work all day you won’t even have time to think about an Advance Meter transmitting information. There are so many other things on your mind that you should be focusing on.
Cynthia, thanks for alerting me to pay attention to all the other more important things in my life, since polluting myself with RF radiation shouldn’t be of any interest to me at all. This is all about money. It’s about greased pockets from vested interests and the hell with public health and individual concerns. It’s about money for someone, when things were working just fine with human beings making a living coming around and reading a dial. Now we have to have RF radiation-emitting devices, got to be modern, it’s all for our own good, flouride in the water is all for our own good, chemtrails make us happy, and vaccines never hurt a single child that developed a sudden case of heart failure immediately afterward. Yes I guess you’re right, so many other things I should be focusing on, rather than propaganda from a SoCalGas sales agent.