Pubdate: Thu, 08 Nov 2012
Source: Nanaimo News Bulletin (CN BC)
Copyright: 2012, BC Newspaper Group
Contact:  http://www.nanaimobulletin.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/948
Author: Tom Fletcher

SMART METER MANIPULATION HAPPENS

Two very different scenes unfolded at opposite ends of the province
last week.

In the remote northwest corner of B.C., the first power line towers
started going up to connect Highway 37 communities to the B.C. Hydro
grid. The Nisga'a, Tahltan and other aboriginal communities will soon
have reliable power, as well as much-needed training and jobs during
clearing and construction.

Meanwhile down on the Gulf Islands, the most hysterical, dishonest
campaign against smart meters I've heard of so far went into high gear.

I've obtained a mass e-mail from the head anti-smart meter organizer
on Salt Spring Island that shows the mentality at work here. (Corix is
the B.C. Hydro contractor that has installed more than a million
meters and has approached the Gulf Islands with trepidation, the last
area of B.C. to be done.)

"Corix is attacking with 30 trucks on Mon the 22nd," Chris Anderson
wrote in October. "Poelpe [sic] are advised NOT to attend the Victoria
pipeline rally but instead help defend agianst [sic] spymeter
installations in their neighbourhoods."

Anderson's self-appointed supporters fanned out across the island,
attempting to turn away installers on the false assumption that
everyone has fallen for their crackpot fear campaign. They managed to
stop 12 per cent of the installations.

Anderson has been selling $35 meter locks to Salt Spring Islanders in
recent months. They don't work, and you're not allowed to lock B.C.
Hydro property anyway. Others have been sold official-looking "no
smart meter" signs that don't identify the customer, so they don't
work either.

As for the term "spymeter," I've reported on the weird theories spread
by Bill Vander Zalm in a video interview, where he claims smart meters
are part of a global surveillance system that can even tell what
you're cooking. Vander Zalm has been outdone by one Brian Thiesen, who
styles himself as the "chairman" of "Interior Smart Meter Awareness."

In September, the Merritt Herald reported on Thiesen's presentation to
20 unwary people in a church basement. He claimed wireless meters not
only provide video surveillance of your house, they are also
responsible for "dying bees" and "defective sperm and eggs" as well as
disease and fires.

Thiesen even claimed radiofrequency signals can "pull your PIN number
directly out of your head." Is there no limit to the nonsense some
people will fall for?

Surrey Fire Chief Len Garis co-authored a study that shows residential
fires have decreased with the advent of smart meters. Which brings me
to the ugliest opposition to this modernization, the criminal element.

Here in North America's marijuana mecca, installers have encountered
many meter bypasses, wired up to steal hydro and conceal high
consumption for grow ops. In addition to being illegal, they are a
fire hazard that is removed when discovered.

Installers also find more sophisticated cases of hydro theft. Removing
the mechanical meter reveals a hole cut in the back of the case, so
the dials can be turned back to hide a grow op's power consumption. No
wonder some people want to lock them down.

Of course all of this is defeated by a smart grid system, so the
growers and other crooks are angry.

A B.C. Hydro official told me about one case where a user was told he
had a bypass, and that it was being removed. His bill went from next
to nothing to a reasonable level.

The customer complained to the media, falsely inflating the amount of
his bill and blaming an inaccurate smart meter.
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MAP posted-by: Matt