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Windham Woman Decries 'Smart Meter' Installation

December 27, 2010 - WINDHAM - As Central Maine Power begins installing its "smart meters" in Windham, resident Betty McLeod doesn't think the introduction is such a smart idea, not when there are still unanswered questions regarding the health effects of the devices.

The company is in the process of installing the devices, which send information regarding power usage over a wireless system, negating the need for manual meter readers, in more than 600,000 residences across the state.

The installation has drawn criticism from some residents and doctors who believe the frequency emitted by the smart meters could be harmful. CMP maintains that the meters are safe, and the frequency no more dangerous than that emitted by cellular or cordless phones. The matter is now before the state Public Utilities Commission, which is reviewing a complaint from a group of Scarborough residents.

Because she's worried about the health effects, McLeod, who said she became severely chemical- and electro-sensitive after teaching in a mold-infested classroom at Lyseth Elementary School in Portland in the early 1990s, won't let CMP install the smart meter on her home, although the rest of the homes on Carriage Hill Drive in Windham Center had them put in last week.

McLeod said she has been dealing with health issues for a while. For several months starting in October 1991, McLeod couldn't work. For several years afterward, she could only work part time due to lack of energy and feeling sick. Then, she was moved to a new classroom in a different school that had new carpeting affixed with glue. That was the final straw. She had to quit.

"I got so sick, I couldn't breathe deeply without coughing," McLeod said. "My throat feels like it's closing up. My eyes get all red and my nose burns, I had serious fatigue, serious stomach issues, and the cognitive issues started with the mold. All that stuff goes right to your brain. I'd be driving home from school and I wasn't sure if red meant stop when I got to a stoplight. It was terrifying. So obviously, I had to get the heck out there."

While that was more than 15 years ago, her symptoms continue to this day, especially when she's around cell phones or wireless Internet. CMP's installation of smart meters, which are connected to each other and CMP headquarters by a vast network of radio waves, has her worried to the point of opting out of the program.

Opt out

According to CMP spokesman John Carroll, the company is allowing residents to opt out of the installation, but only until the Maine Public Utilities Commission decides on whether CMP has the authority to force customers like McLeod to install the meters. CMP has only recently capitulated in this regard, and did so on the heels of public outrage from customers in South Portland and Scarborough who protested the forced switchover.

"We've agreed we would not install for those customers who have health or privacy concerns pending some decision by the commission," Carroll said earlier this week.

It's a welcome reaction by Sen. Bill Diamond of Windham, who has talked to McLeod about her concerns.

"I think these questions need to be raised. It deserves public questioning and public answers," Diamond said. "If citizens have concerns, the entity should provide answers and a forum for those questions and answers to be shared. It's no different from any other consumer concern."

Overreaction

Carroll believes the reaction by skeptics is blowing the meters' health effects out of proportion. He cites government studies and a recent endorsement of smart meters by Dr. Dora Ann Mills, Maine's top government health official, as evidence that health concerns are being hyped.

Carroll is referring to a November statement regarding smart meters issued by Mills, who is director of Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention: "Maine CDC's review did not indicate any consistent or convincing evidence to support a concern for health effects related to the use of radiofrequency in the range of frequencies and power used by smart meters. They also do not indicate an association of EMF (electromagnetic frequency) exposure and symptoms that have been described as electromagnetic sensitivity."

As caveats, in that same report, the Maine CDC admitted to using data prepared by government organizations and that they have no expertise in the field of radio frequency's health effects.

"It should be noted, however, that our review is subject to several limitations related to the complaint filed with PUC," the report stated. "First, our review focused primarily on assessments and studies conducted by agencies we typically rely on for such work, such as government (U.S. and international governments) or government affiliated institutions. We were unable to review the entire body of literature on the subject of non-ionizing radiation and health because this would be a massive undertaking for a small public health agency. We therefore are making the assumption that these agency reviews have considered all credible published findings."

Carroll also sites other studies that compare the frequency emitting from a smart meter. He says those studies conclude that the non-ionizing frequency from smart meters (as opposed to ionized radiation which emits from a microwave oven or X-ray machine and are known causes of cell mutation) are non-toxic to the body.

At 1 foot away from a smart meter, Carroll said, government studies have found the power of the frequency is 7,000 times weaker than the federal safety standard. At 3 feet away, it's one-millionth the safety standard.

Consumer benefits

Carroll said the Maine PUC has already spent three years reviewing CMP's plan to switch over to smart meters, a $200 million program that is using $99 million in federal America's Recovery and Reinvestment Act stimulus dollars. He said the U.S. Congress has issued its support of "smart grid technology," saying it will lower consumption and costs associated with electricity.

"It will be an enormous financial benefit to consumers, and help to reduce peak loads and the environmental impact associated with that," Carroll said.

Carroll explained that once the grid is in place, consumers will be able to log onto a website to find out when electrical usage is lowest. He also said CMP would create new pricing structures which would allow consumers to either opt for the standard offer, as is now the only choice for CMP consumers, or a different pricing structure in which the cost of electricity would vary throughout the day.

Also, Carroll said smart meters would allow consumers to operate appliances remotely or to tell their household appliances to shut down at certain times of the day, and to know when appliances are using phantom power (the power a unit can consume when turned off but still plugged in).

While the health effects of smart meters are taking precedence currently, Carroll doesn't want the public to lose sight of the big picture: that smart meters will revolutionize the delivery of electricity and possibly cut peak power demands since consumers would know when CMP's load is nearing maximum. And, he said, the system will only work properly if everyone is on board.

"This system works by meters talking to each other. If people opt out, it creates voids in the communications system," Carroll said.

The other, dollars-and-cents-based issue is that CMP doesn't want to maintain two systems, one in which meter readers must drive to all homes with old-style meters and another for customers employing the new smart meters.

"This is supposed to be a cost-saving tool. We don't want one foot in the past and one foot in the future. We want to be more efficient, not less," Carroll said.

Hoping for the best

Even if she isn't forced to install a smart meter, Betty McLeod is worried about the neighbors' smart meters signals whizzing by and through her house. She's also worried that CMP would install a repeater antenna near her home, which acts as a central clearinghouse for all neighborhood meters and relays the information en masse to CMP's headquarters via a system of antennas.

"These smart meters are going to cause more problems, especially if you have a smart meter box near your house so that all those signals are coming from all over the neighborhood," she said. "If that happens, I might have to move. But where would I move? It's either you have electricity or you don't. All I know is that this house has been my safe zone."

By John Balentine jbalentine@keepmecurrent.com | 2 comments 12/16/10


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