I attended the meeting about “smart meters” on April 10 at the Sorrento Memorial Hall. I was quite  surprised to see that “these people” were not all wearing tin foil helmets and carrying anti-electro-magnetic wave deflecting units. BC Hydro representatives were not there, but those who were present all seemed to be concerned, community-minded people looking for more information. As it turns out, so was I! The presenters spoke well and from a scientific point of view, giving and backing up a lot of logical evidence against the installation of smart meters. This evidence covered: health issues, financial issues, – not only the cost of the meters but the future cost of upgrading old house wiring; buying into all new energy smart appliances to suit the new meters; higher hydro bills for usage at prime times; safety issues with fires starting at new meter sites; old house wiring not able to handle the high frequencies; whether house insurance actually covers the damages; privacy issues with what information can be gathered and democratic issues as to whether we get to have a choice in the matter. It was all pretty interesting and definitely raised a lot more questions in my mind. Obviously we don’t know enough about this new technology. If you are concerned, please let your CSRD representatives know right away by e-mail or phone. They may be voting on this subject very soon. Mary Stewart

Salmon Arm Observer