Smart Meters, Watching Our Lives

 

Under the guise of climate change advocacy which pretends to save the planet from a non-existent anthropogenic global warming, people across the globe have been forced by utilities and their governments to accept smart meters as readers of their electricity consumption. I called these smart meters in my book, “U.N. Agenda 21: Environmental Piracy,” drones attached to our homes.

 

Smart meters are being deployed without debate and without the informed consent of homeowners. They inspect homes 24/7 through several pulses a minute and without a warrant, over-bill, cause home fires, result in environmental and health problems, are vulnerable to hacking, and data obtained from such smart meters are sold to third parties without homeowners’ consent.

During peak usage, the utility company can turn off the power several hours a day, adjust the thermostat from afar, or turn off entire grids in an “emergency” situation when they run short of electricity. It is too expensive to build excess capacity storage facilities.

Smart meter removal from one’s home may not be enough. Within a five square mile area there is a collecting point of information from all meters and a transmitter receives information from all the collecting points of information within 125 miles of its location. This transmitter sends all collected data to a master location, the “mother ship,” where everyone’s information is stored, analyzed, and sold to a third party who is interested in the household’s pattern of usage, consumption of electricity, or possibly “illegal” activity in that home.

In addition to electric bills doubling in many places even though consumption had remained the same or had been reduced, customers are being “nudged” via carefully crafted notes added to their monthly bills for their shameless and selfish use of the planet’s resources.

Some individuals and townships have gone to court and managed to obtain permission from their utilities to opt-out of the installation of smart meters, in exchange for a monthly reading fee which can be quite high in various places. Others were not successful and, after seeing their utility bills double, have filed a class action suit against their utilities. Such was the case of California.

In the Dominican Republic, angry customers of Edenorte have ripped their smart meters from their sockets because their electric bills have doubled even though they were sold a false bill of goods that digital meters would give them a more accurate reading of their usage. They were also unhappy that their “electricity was being cut off out of nowhere and they would have no power for a couple of hours every day, sometimes more.” Edenorte was a “free entity,” no longer under government regulation.

A video obtained by Josh Del Sol, the producer of the award-winning documentary, “Take Back Your Power,” shows the public outrage; people are turning over electric company trucks, slashing their tires, breaking windows, and piling up hundreds of removed smart meters in front of the electric company’s offices in the city of Peidro Blanca.

The residents complained that “the lower their consumption, the higher the bills.” The claim is not without merit as utility companies billing schemes tend to punish those who consume less and reward those who consume more. One of the protesters in the video asks, “How is it possible in X days for it to register 1041 kWh?” He continues, “This is why we say that they have rigged these meters to benefit them.”

In San Antonio, KENS 5 reported that “CPS Energy admitted to overcharging customers who recently have had smart meters installed,” affecting hundreds, possibly thousands of angry customers.

K.T. Weaver, of SkyVision Solutions, wrote about the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) Board meeting which took place on August 20, 2015, at which meeting, President Rob Kerth said, ”Any efforts or investments made to avoid smart meters are entirely wasted. I know that change can be unnerving, especially when it comes quickly, but giving into hysteria and falling victim to the alarmists and the charlatans of our era will not improve anyone’s lives.”

Failing to demonstrate how charging customers more for the same energy consumption and reducing their access to electricity, affecting their privacy and good health, is going to improve anyone’s lives, it is glaringly evident that smart meters are a convenient way to control our energy use and our independence.

Having attended a utility regulator hearing three years ago, I heard testimony after testimony of Americans who were made really sick by their smart meters, or their homes caught fire and went up in flames.
Smart meters, heavily subsidized by the government, are sold to the public under the false narrative of convenience, modernization, cheaper energy, expedience, and better service.

Smart meters are convenient ways to spy on citizens, charge more per kWh of consumption, reduce consumption by cutting power delivery, replace coal-generated and cheaper electricity with more expensive “renewable” energy, control the population and its health, reduce costs for utilities who no longer have to worry about storing excess capacity in additional storage plants, reduce costs of wire maintenance under and above ground, and eliminating jobs for meter readers.

Unbeknownst to most of us, homes are now fitted with smart water meters, smart gas meters, and smart appliances that communicate with each other and with the “mother ship.”

Article found on http://fliuch.org/smart-meters-watching-our-lives/


Conservation Grant – Another Embarrassment for Irish Water and sign of continued opposition

Anti Austerity Alliance press conference on the latest facts and figures relating to the Irish Water 'Conservation Grant'.

Paul Murphy, TD, Ruth Coppinger, TD, Michael O'Brien, Cllr and Joe Higgins TD

Paul Murphy, TD, Ruth Coppinger, TD, Michael O'Brien, Cllr and Joe Higgins TD

"Despite ‘giving away €100 ‘ the number applying for the government's 'Conservation Grant' mirrors Irish Water charges payment rates.  Despite the spin, this signals that the boycott is still strong" ,according to AAA press statement.  "Irish Water should release the 2nd payment figures now rather than ‘bury the bad news during Budget week".

The Anti-Austerity Alliance has said that ‘another embarrassment’ looms for Irish Water after the Irish Times today revealed that less than half of households eligible for the free €100 Conservation Grant have applied for it. The Alliance said that the numbers applying mirrored the numbers who had paid the first bill, even though it was only based on those who had registered and excluded 400,000 who hadn't, and signals that opposition remained solid and called on Irish Water to release the payment figures this week rather than next week as they plan.

Cllr Michael O Brien

Cllr Michael O Brien

Councillor Michael O’Brien said “This is another PR stunt from Irish Water and the government that was an attempt to bribe people into acceptance of Irish Water that has backfired on them. You have a situation where Irish Water is now so hated, and opposition to the water charges is so strong that they literally cannot give away €100.

“This shows the level of continued opposition to Irish Water. The numbers who have applied for the grant roughly mirror the number of people who paid the first bill, however when you factor in that this figure excludes over 400,000 houses who haven't registered with Irish Water and includes people who are not eligible to pay water charges the figures read even worse for Irish Water. So despite there being no onus on people to pay the bill to claim the grant, the majority of people are refusing to even engage with Irish Water to claim a free €100 because they see it as a bribe.”

Cllr Mick Barry

Cllr Mick Barry

Councillor Mick Barry said “These figures are another huge embarrassment for Irish Water. It shows that despite their spin around payment figures, their PR campaigns and their scare tactics that a majority of people don’t trust this company and want nothing to do with it. They are even prepared to go as far as turn down a free €100.

“Irish Water’s second billing period is over and they are due to release the figures soon. Whether the numbers for the second bill show the boycott going up or down it will be bad news for the government and for Irish Water as they will show that there is still a strong and numerous boycott of the water charge. Irish Water must release the figures this week. They must not be allowed to hold back the figures till next week in an attempt bury the bad news during budget week."


Irish Water to cut 1,200 jobs by 2021

Irish Water has a target of €1.1bn of savings by 2021

Irish Water has a target of €1.1bn of savings by 2021

Irish Water has said that it is planning to cut 1,200 people from its workforce over the next six years. 

The company expects that a voluntary redundancy scheme will be required at some point to achieve its target.

The amalgamation of the water services functions and employees of 34 local authorities left Irish Water substantially over-staffed.

It is under constant pressure to reduce costs.

It has a target of €1.1bn of savings by 2021.

This morning in a presentation to stakeholders Irish Water says that one third of those savings will come from reducing staff numbers.

The company says the 1,200 jobs to go by 2021 will be in addition to the 300 jobs that have been cut since last year.

Up to this point, the reductions have been achieved without redundancies - through natural attrition and not filling roles that have become vacant.

Irish Water says it will continue this approach but that a voluntary redundancy scheme will also be needed to reduce the numbers.

Meanwhile, the CEO of Ervia, Irish Water’s parent company, has said Irish Water will improve water supplies.

Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Michael McNicholas said that Irish Water will be investing €5.5bn in order to improve wastewater infrastructure, eliminate all boil water notices, eliminate discharge of raw sewage into bathing water, reduce the level of leakage by 10% and significantly improve the drinking and waste water capacity across the country.

He added that it will also restructure its service delivery model and reduce staff levels.

"We're going to do that, first of all by moving from 31 local authorities down to a single national utility which creates economies of scale.

"That allows centralised functions, it allows us to regionalise things and that allows us to take some of those jobs out. We're also going to invest in technology that allows us to run our treatment plants differently.

"It allows us to retrain and re-skill people and it allows us to move to the kind of level that a modern utility will have in terms of staffing."

Mr McNicholas also said that nearly 54% of people are projected to pay the second Irish Water bill - an increase of 10% on the first billing cycle.

Sinn Féin's finance spokesperson has said it would be better if Irish Water concentrated on fixing leaks rather than cutting staffing levels.

Speaking on the same programme, Pearse Doherty said that Irish Water's priorities were wrong.

He said: "The best way to drive efficiencies is to deal with the treated water that is being lost through the system day in, day out.

"We know the type of money that is being spent by Irish Water putting pipes into the ground which is minimal compared to the costs of putting water meters outside people's homes or indeed in consultancies or other costs associated with Irish Water.

"The priorities of Irish Water are all wrong."

He added that the plan outlined by Irish Water today is not permissible under law at this time.

Original article RTE Oct 7, 2015



Buncrana Together

This is a kick in the teeth to SIPTU who represent local county council water workers. Wonder what Jack O'Conner and the SIPTU Cork conference thinks about that?  The SIPTU conference is taking place at the moment in Cork City. 

2021 is about the time the Service Level Agreement between County Councils and Irish Water runs out and all local water workers' jobs will be at risk.