By
Rich Coleman
Minister
of Energy, Mines and Natural Gas
Jan.
23, 2013
VICTORIA – I am writing to assure your readers that BC
Hydro will be working with its customers over the next several months to help
them understand the benefits of new smart meters prior to final installation.
During this time, BC Hydro will not install a new meter
without the homeowner’s consent and will work directly with customers to
address their individual concerns.
We have an obligation to assure British Columbians that smart
meters are safe. B.C.’s Provincial Health Officer and Health Canada have
confirmed that smart meters pose no known health risk or reason for concern.
Some customers remain unwilling to accept that fact, and we will work with them
to help allay their concerns.
The reality is we must upgrade our aging system, and smart
meters are a necessary part of modernizing our grid. They are standard
equipment just like utility poles and power lines that help ensure a safe,
efficient delivery of electricity to British Columbians.
Over the last year and a half, BC Hydro has installed 1.74
million smart meters throughout the province and is now in the process of
installing the remaining 85,000.
As a result, they will be revisiting customers who
originally turned down the smart meters to better understand their concerns,
provide them with credible answers to their questions and finish the final
installations. Our people in the field tell us that the majority of the people
who held out originally are now taking a smart meter, so we continue to make
good progress.
We also continue to encourage BC Hydro’s customers to keep
an open mind about smart meters, as maintaining a separate system using analog
meters would be costly and detract from our goal: keeping electricity rates
affordable.
Upgrading our electrical grid will deliver $1.6 billion in
savings to British Columbia over the next 20 years and until all smart meters
in B.C. are up and running, British Columbians cannot fully benefit from the
many advantages of a modern grid, such as getting our lights back on faster and
more safely.
I hope that this information helps your readers to better
understand our plans and why smart meters are an important part of helping to
keep our rates among the lowest in North America.
Finally, the Misty Christy Liberals show some political smarts. Kick the problem down the road until after the election.
ReplyDeleteIf the Liberals win, it's full speed ahead. If the NDP wins it will have to come clean on its own Hydro policy.
Hint: don't expect the NDP policy to be anything different from the Liberal policy.
In response to just this comment"We have an obligation to assure British Columbians that smart meters are safe. B.C.’s Provincial Health Officer and Health Canada have confirmed that smart meters pose no known health risk or reason for concern. Some customers remain unwilling to accept that fact, and we will work with them to help allay their concerns." may I suggest that the chief medical health officer read either The Sage Report or BioInitiative 2012 Report Issues New Warnings on Wireless and EMF
ReplyDeleteUniversity at Albany, Rensselaer, New York / Embargoed until January 7, 2013,
or Paul Fearon June 14, 2012
Director of Energy Safety
Energy Safe Victoria
info@esv.vic.gov.au
Re: Comments and recommendations on the Draft report: Safety of Advanced
Metering Infrastructure in Victoria, May 17, 20121