The following reports were collected by our affiliate, the EMF Safety Network (www.emfsafetynetwork.org).
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In May of 2010 they installed a RF Smart Meter. Between then and June 2011, I had made four trips to an ER for heart palpitations, tinnitus, extreme fatigue with mental confusion and inability to sleep. On top of being able to accomplish damn little due to the symptoms, the electric bills topped $200 per month when we didn’t add an appliance or use more of what we had.
In each ambulance ride, the symptoms went away after 30 minutes out of this Smart Meter Neighborhood. Then the symptoms returned within a day.
June 2011, I demanded they remove the smart meter because I was being over-charged. They replaced the RF Smart Meter with a hardwired digital Smart Meter in an attempt to placate me. And I am still being overcharged. The symptoms are a little less severe, but they still exist and are very hard to accommodate in any capacity. Especially the headaches that I’ve never had until a Smart Meter was installed.
John N., New Mexico
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My name is Donald Newsom. I have an account with PG&E in my home. My desk is on the other side of the wall from the smart meter.
I am 42 and in excellent health. However, since this was put on our home without any permission I have had severe headaches and my right eye is twitching now uncontrollably. This doesn’t happen when I am away from my home (although now the problems are severe enough they are becoming constant). I believe it’s the smart meter. I have phoned them twice to have someone remove it but they will not.
On 10/18/2011 I called PG&E and they transferred me to Angel in Sacramento with the Smart Meter Department. I told Angel that my eye is twitching badly and that my headaches are getting severe. He took my information down and said he’d have someone get in touch with me. I told him I tried this once before, where PG&E said they would have a supervisor call me back, but when they did call 5 days later they hung up immediately after I picked up the receiver – which was 2 rings in. I saw it was PG&E via my caller ID. They did not call back. Thus, Angel told me he would have someone get in touch with me over the next week. I hope so… as I am now demanding this be removed.
I would like to have this smart meter removed. I have 3 adults living here and 4 children all under 13 years of age. PG&E did not allow us to opt out and put the meter on our home while we were away. It seemed to us very sneaky. How can a company put something on my home that may harm me and my children, and then not remove it when I tell them the harm it is now causing? I am hoping someone needs to come out and remove this from our home and put back the old style meter, or turns off the transmitter I am so sensitive to.
My body is now feeling very sick, I have headaches constantly and my eye may need surgery to stop the twitching. Further, we work where we live and home school our kids … so we are getting much exposure to the RF Transmissions and would like it to stop.
How can we accomplish this?
Donald Newsom, Butte County CA
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I have very disturbing symptoms after living for a year and a half sandwiched between 30 gas smart meters on one side and 30 electric smart meters on the other side. I also have wi-fi router and wi-fi radio which are probably part of the problem.
I am toasted by inability to sleep more than 4-5 hours and even those hours occur randomly so as to say my sleep patterns schedules are all out of whack. I have intermitant vertigo. I think I am getting cooked by meters in my location because I get unexplainable, VERY uncomfortable sweats that come upon me out of nowhere feeling like I am being heated up from the inside out, they make me feel very unbalanced and really mad as I usually evacuate my apt and go outside before I take a shower to try to feel good. My facial skin also has dried and aged and wrinkled beyond recognition. Most replies to my inquiries say I must move from this apt a.s.a.p. That is not an easy job.
Where am I going to be safe?
NO wi-fi recommended or maybe wi-fi will invade another neighborhood after I relocate there. Also getting away from the stupid smart meters they are everywhere here now. I know moving off the grid and living with solar power is ideal but that is not likely at this time. I cannot really start living in my car and spend my time at the park or whatever others report such as staying away from their homes as much as possible.
MS, Humboldt County
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Edison installed a new smart meter yesterday. I did not sleep last night. There is something going on in my head and body. I have ringing in my ears at a very high pitch. Like a dog whistle or crystal in some electronic device whistling. It is creating some sort of electric waves from my ear area to my body that is very uncomfortable. It is making me sick. It is like a chill but not quit. I am having a hard time describing it.
I called Edison right away and they tell me there is nothing they can do for me. But they say things like we care and have a nice day while I tell them I am being harmed as we speak. The people at the Edison company are not trained in electromagnetic radiation or electronics and challenge me that I am not having the reaction that I am having. I begged them to remove the meter and it is still whistling away in my head. No concern to Edison that it is killing me. It makes it hard to think. My brain is slowly shutting down.
It is a real wake up call to me since I have worked in the electronic field (Research and development for Hughes aircraft, Semens etc.) I know about EMF and have heard of these things happening but it was always on an intellectual level since I had no personal reaction in the past. At least not like this. Now I know! It is real bad and I am considering getting an ice chest and just turning off the electricity to the house but this produces many other problems I don’t know how to get around. I want to change to another electric company but Edison says you can’t do that now. What can I do. I can’t take this for very long.
Is there a class action suit against the smart meter yet?
Allan B., So. CA
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I have had severe headaches since a Smart Meter was installed on my house. When I leave to visit my Mom in a place where there are no Smart Meters, my headaches subside. As soon as I come home, the headaches return. I have been getting 15 – 18 severe headaches per month for approximately a year now. The days the headache is not severe, it is still present. This is severely affecting the quality of my life and my ability to work. I am barely hanging in there. I don’t know how much more I can take.
When the subcontractor working for PG&E came to install the meter, I told him I did not want one. He said I had no choice in the matter and installed the meter anyway.
Despite my health complaints, PG&E will not comply with my request to remove the meter. My request to purchase my own anolog meter, have it installed by an electrician, and return their meter to them was also denied.
I cannot believe this is happening in this country!! This is absolutely criminal!!
Lisa Miller, Novato CA
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This is becoming such a critical issue all over the globe, including my soon-to-be “former home” of 23 years: the city of Burbank, CA. I am being forced to leave the city that I have loved living in, where I have friends and family and community ties. The place that I thought of as a safe and friendly haven.
I began to experience severe health affects within 5 hours of the installation of 4 GE Trilliant smart meters on my small apartment complex on 7/28/2011. Headaches, nausea, insomnia, feelings of agitation and irritability, and difficulty concentrating have made it necessary for me to leave my home. My symptoms resolve within about 30 minutes going to a meterless area. I have been living out of my car since 8/2/2011, stopping in the evenings at the homes of people who are able to let me sleep for the night. My life has been turned upside down. I knew nothing of smart meters until the onset of my symptoms, but I do know for sure that the effects are real. Five out five residents who were polled in my complex (out of 6 total residents who live here full time) have shared that they are having similar physical symptoms. A woman in the building next door has reported that she is unable to sleep in her bedroom. She didn’t know she had a bank of 8 meters installed in the basement directly below her bedroom.
I have sought remedy through contacting Burbank Water and Power. Initially I was told it would be too expensive to restore my analog meter by Ron Davis, Chairman of BWP. Another board member suggested I just move out of Burbank. In a bizarre twist, I received a phone call from BWP a month after I spoke about the problem offering me a new refrigerator (free) to replace my “old” refrigerator. This is peculiar, given that my refrigerator is only one year old. I then received another call from BWP suggesting that I might have a problem with a carbon monoxide leak. Given that my carbon monoxide meter reads zero and given that I feel ill in other people’s homes in Burbank, I hardly think that this is feasible. BWP employees have suggested that I am reacting to my neighbors’ WIFI. While this may be true, I have lived quite comfortably with my neighbors’ WIFI until the day the meters were installed. They also suggested that I might be having a problem with the new paint in my apartment (it’s a year old) or the new carpet (it’s 15 years old). Other helpful suggestions included the idea that something new is in bloom and/or there might be some construction going on around me.
I contacted Judge Yip-Kikugawa, telling her of my plight. I received a terse message back from one of her assistants stating that the CPUC has “zero authority” over BWP and a suggestion that I present my complaints to my City Council. I took the suggestion and tearfully told the Mayor of Burbank and the Council at a meeting in early August. The response was underwhelming, save for that of Dr. David Gordon. After public comments were made, Ron Davis was allowed to take the floor for several minutes, during which he stated that the meters are “safer than safe” and that BWP is working with each concerned citizen to resolve their issues. I do not feel that BWP’s effort with me come close to solving my problem. I am losing my home and they are offering me a new refrigerator.
I am desperately saddened by the situation and am seeking a place to go that is not too far distant from my elderly mother and from the community I have lived in all my life…
This must be STOPPED. Civil rights, human rights, and the future of the planet could very well turn on this issue. Dramatic? Yes! True? Absolutely.
SG, Burbank, CA
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Since PG&E put in their ‘smartmeter’ (oxymoron), I wake up with a headache every day and I am always tired no matter how much sleep I get. I have been depressed, lethargic and forgetful. I have so much trouble thinking clearly, it interferes with my daily functioning. I have gone to several doctors about the symptoms, but nothing has helped. I didn’t realize how much the meter had been affecting me until I went away for a vacation and all of my ‘illnesses’ were gone. Now that I am home, all of my “symptoms” are back. On top of everything, SMUD came out to try to install one of the meters, too. I told them I didn’t want one. As the men were leaving, I heard one of them say, “She is going to get one anyway.” This is absolutely criminal!
Michelle, Sacramento
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From Dec 2010 to April 2011 four ‘smart meters’ were installed within 20 feet of our bed. Since that time we’ve experienced headaches, ringing in the ears, heart palpitations and insomnia, ONLY when we sleep in our bed in this house. We’ve had SDG&E out on several occasions and have requested to opt-out of the ‘smart meters’ and return to analog. The SDG&E reps say that there is NO alternative to the ‘smart meters’! Also our city block’s main grid ‘smart meter’ is located in front of our home, so short of moving, we don’t know what to do! Friends in Northern Calif. tell us that PG&E offers an ‘opt out’ program for their customers. Plus many cities there have chosen not to have ‘smart meters’ at all. Why can’t SDG&E give us that same option in Southern Calif?
At least with cell phones, microwave ovens and computers, we have the choice to buy them or not, and when to turn them off. What about all the families with small children who live in apartments or condos with hundreds of ‘smart meters’ in banks of adjoining bedroom walls? We should all have a choice with our metering system, especially since so many are having health issues with the ‘smart meters’, and the long term effects of microwave exposure are still unknown.
Not long ago we were told that high tension power lines were safe, but over time statistics have shown that the incidence of several types of illnesses, including cancer, is much higher for people living beneath those wires. We can all only hope that you, (our California Public Utilities Commission) will step in and create a state wide free opt-out program soon, or maybe this is something to be put on the ballot and let the residents of California decide for ourselves?
Vicki, San Diego
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Submitted on 2011/09/01 at 9:03 am
I live in Perris CA in an apartment complex that also has swap the old analog meters for smart meters. The meters are directly outside of my bedroom wall. Eversince these smart meters were installed every night while trying to sleep I can hear this buzzing, humming sound that gives me horrible migraine headaches n heart palpitations. I wake up feeling tired, nauseas and not well rested whatsoever due to all the disturbance this smart meter brings upon not only myself but also my little four year old daughter that sleeps with me every night. I know that these smart meters are a big health risk because of all the symptoms my daughter and I have been experiencing since they were installed. I really wish that this issue can be seriously investigated because I know that I’am not the only person experiencing the same issues and our electric company should be held accountable. I hope this matter gets resolved quickly before people become more seriously ill. We need our old analog meters back!!!!!
Thanks,
Julie Reynoso
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I currently have a 4 bedroom house that I can only use two bedrooms of due to the radiation being emitted from your smart meters. My daughter had the classic symptoms from having slept in the room adjacent to the meter for 9 months before I realized that her problems coincided with the installation of the meters. I have had the radiation levels measured in her room and she was getting dosed with high levels of MW radiation every couple of minutes all night long for nine months. I need my home to be a safe haven, my daughter needs her room back, give me the option to protect my family from microwave radiation. electrosmog21 on youtube.
Paul, CA
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“My health has been effected since my neighborhood had smart meters installed. I have trouble sleeping, often only sleeping a couple of hours each night. I feel this is a giant experiment on the population.” Anon.
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An open letter to SDG&E, Smart Meter Complaint Department
I have made three prior telephone requests advising SDGE of the serious side effects concerning my health since the installation of the smart meter device at my home. Three different individuals came out to my house on three separate occasions, all armed with the same propaganda, the same zero concern for my health or the safety of my home.
I was told, “I don’t know. You are the only one that has complained.” (A false statement.) I was also told, “The smart meter is not causing any problems to your home.” (Another false statement.)
I am a 49-year-old woman and I have never before experienced any of these problems in either this home, or any other home that I have lived in, prior to the smart meter installation.
I came home one day after work, and they had just finished installing my smart meter. I did not think anything of it. I had received a notice a few weeks prior, indicating that a smart meter was going to be installed.
That same evening I awoke between 2:00 and 3:00 in the morning, with ringing in my ears, dizziness, tingling at the upper part of my head that turned into a headache and then nausea. There was also a horrible feeling of uneasiness that I had never experienced before and that prevents me from going back to sleep at night — every night.
One of my dogs awoke at the same time, wandering the hallways whining and crying. This dog refuses to sleep inside at night now, as the pulsed radiation also makes him sick. This dog had slept at the foot of my bed since the day I brought him home until the night the smart meter was installed. I have numerous friends and family who will testify to this, if called to do so.
The same scenario occurs whenever I sleep in my home, a home that I worked six or seven days a week for most of my life to be able to afford, and now you, the utility company, is FORCING PULSED RADIATION where I live and sleep, which if you do your homework and read the numerous articles that have been published by scientists who were not paid off by a utility company, you will see that radiation causes cancer and I will not stand for a cancer causing device to be attached to my home.
I was gone for two weeks on two occasions over the summer, and I sleep fine whenever I am away from my home. I was in Peru for two weeks without these problems and also in Alaska, where I had no trouble sleeping, no trouble concentrating, no dizziness, no ringing in my ears, no tingling at the upper part of my head that turned into headaches.
I also have noticed a strange humming and buzzing in my home around the appliances, coming from the computer, and around all the intercom panels in my home. I’ve had three people out from SDGE and they all heard the humming and buzzing and told me to turn the intercom down all the way and then I would not hear it.
I asked them, “How do you explain this? This humming and buzzing was not ever here before the smart meter installation? My kitchen appliances never hummed and buzzed before the smart meter installation.” I told them, “I don’t think my house is safe. This is not normal.”
And I just got the blank stare, the “I don’t know what to tell you, “ and the “No, I cannot remove the smart meter.” I begged them to return my house and home which I loved back to normal, to please, please remove the smart meter and install the old analog meter that worked just fine and that I never had a problem with. The blank stare and the, “No, I cannot do that,” was the only answer I could get out of these people.
I asked one of the gentlemen what his job was at SDGE, as it appeared he had no training as an electrician and was not capable of answering any of my questions. He told me, “Well, my job is to handle questions from people like you.” I then replied, “I thought you said I was the only one that complained.” Of course, he quickly departed after that. We all know that if he had told me anything different, he would have lost his job.
I want the same remedy that Northern Californians have received. I pay my utility bills just like they do and I want to be treated with the same remedy that [they] received: IMMEDIATE REMOVAL OF MY SMART METER AND REMOVAL OF SMART METERS SURROUNDING MY HOME.
How can the utility commission and the utility companies treat Southern Californians who are being made sick by smart meters any different than customers in Northern California? They cannot. This is a formal request for removal of the smart meter illegally attached to my home and to the homes around me.
Copies of this letter are going out to as many people, organizations, and government agencies as I can send it to, so you can’t drop this one in the trash and say you never got my letter.
Sincerely,
Richard and Diane XXXXXXXXXXX
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The following letter was sent to the CPUC judge overseeing the ‘Smart’ Meter proceeding:
Your Honor,
I am writing from the city of Burbank, in Southern California. On July 28, 2011 Burbank Water and Power, the municipal utility company that “serves” my home city, installed a bank of four GE/Trilliant smart meters on the side of the small fourplex in which I live.
Approximately four hours after the installation was complete I developed a band-like headache that was unresponsive to medication. The next morning I awoke with the headache and slight nausea. I thought I might be coming down with the flu. However, after I was away from my apartment, I noticed that these symptoms resolved — only to return when I was back in my apartment for about 4 hours. This pattern continued for the next three days. I began to have trouble sleeping and difficulty concentrating. I also experienced some transient heart palpitations.
Prior to this I knew nothing about smart meters and had no idea that they could impact human health. I am devastated by these developments.
My current residence has been a haven for me — until the meters went in. In an almost nightmarish scenario the place that I call home is now off-limits for me. This is particularly problematic because I am disabled and rely upon Section 8 rental subsidies in order to survive. I cannot move within my home city because every building is slated to receive the meters by the end of 2011.
I have spent the past 22 days living out of my car, finding shelter at various friends’ homes in the evening. The temperatures in Southern California have been in the high 90s and over. I am exhausted, frightened, and do not know where to turn.
I have spoken to the board of BWP at a public meeting. The best they could come up with is the suggestion that I move into another city. This is problematic because the closest city to me is Los Angeles. To transfer my housing voucher to Los Angeles is a Sysephian task. The housing authority in Los Angeles (HACLA) is a poorly-run, huge bureaucracy that has been known to cause tenants to lose their housing vouchers through mismanagement. I have called five different telephone numbers to try to get some guidelines about transferring — all to no avail. Meanwhile I struggle to keep my health and my life together. I take anti-seizure medication and my medication schedule has been disrupted by the random and brutal way I am living right now.
This is so very wrong. I have been displaced from my home of 23 years due to the installation of the meters. To be sure, I am currently in the minority of people who are known as electrosensitive but I do not believe that I should not I be subjected to the suffering and losses that are my current reality. If I were physically challenged and needed a wheelchair would I be thrown out of my home? I think not — there are laws that protect against this. Why, then, should I be denied the fundamental right of a home — a home that I have been healthy and happy in until the meters were foisted upon me?
Where can I go? My 84-year-old mother lives 10 minutes from me and I believe that it is my duty and right to remain close to her in the event that she needs to call upon me for assistance. As a disabled woman (I’ve had four brain surgeries), life is difficult enough without being displaced by a technology that I have neither asked for nor consented to. I consider myself to be a resourceful and strong person, but I am feeling overwhelmed by what I am facing: illness and homelessness. I am college-educated and have a middle-class background but even this does not equip me to deal with my current challenges caused directly by the smart meters.
I believe that the utility companies have relied upon poorly-designed studies conducted by organizations (CCST and EPRI) that have ties to the communications industry, the utility companies, and that have financial interests in the smart grid infrastructure. I do not think that a thoroughgoing study into health consequences has been performed by either of these entities. The non-thermal effects of non-ionizing radiation (especially pulsed RF) has NOT been studied by these so-called “impartial” organizations. I think it is an outrageous and tragic turn of events that is affecting me and many other people. I have heard three of my neighbors (young people with no history of electrosensitivity) complain of headaches and insomnia since the meters were installed — and they weren’t even aware that they had received them! I am absolutely sure I am not alone in my suffering.
Your Honor, I ask you to take into account my situation when you consider what is being perpetrated upon the citizens of California. This cannot continue. I may be collateral damage — it’s too late for me. But, please, think about the population and countless numbers of people who are having their lives upset and threatened by these dangerous devices.
I am not a believer in conspiracy theories, but I do believe what my body is telling me. This is real, this is true, and it should not be allowed to continue.
Thank you for consideration.
Sincerely,
Ms. Shane Gregory, Burbank, CA
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from: July 26, 2010
Dear Barbara Boxer:
I’m currently living in a corner of my house the size of a single bed surrounded by aluminum foil. This blocks the Wi-Fi from my neighbors’ houses and ambient EMF.
The Wi-Fi fields and other EMF make me sick. I’ve spent the last eight months extremely ill and spend much of my days in state parks where there is no Wi-Fi or electricity. I’ve had to stop working.
There have been nights at 10:30 pm, when I’ve been driving around, looking for a place I could sleep with no Wi-Fi, and there was no place to go. If Smart Meters are not stopped, there’ll be no place for me to be.
European countries have standards for health for EMF safety. America does not. I may be a canary in a gold mine but I’m an early warning sign for everybody else.
All our bodies are delicate, organic bioelectrical systems and not made to be constantly bathed in the electrical frequencies that Wi-Fi and Smart Meters put out. It’s so toxic, and this needs to be addressed so that I can come out from behind the foil screen. There’s been no place to turn. Society has had nothing to offer me in terms of help.
This is an urgent and life-threatening issue. Please act on behalf of the well-being of your constituents.
Sincerely, J
One year later, Aug. 19, 2011:
Recently I tried to spend the night in a neighborhood that had Smart Meters, in a home that was on the delay list and did not have one. After 8 hours, I was so ill I had to drive out of there at 2:30 in the morning. If I had stayed for another 10 hours, I would have been vomiting and convulsing. An opt-out plan is not a viable solution for health concerns. Smart Meters should not be put in until the health issues are resolved.
J
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Driven Out by Power Line (PLC) Signals
Jack (not his real name) has been sensitive to wireless transmitters for well over a decade. For that reason he stays away from the cities. He and his girlfriend spend their winters in Arizona, and the summers in eastern Washington State.
In the spring of 2011, they traveled to their rented house in eastern Washington. When he arrived, he could immediately feel something had changed. It was as if a cell tower had been erected nearby, but he could not find one. It was unlikely to be the neighbors, since they lived on a large lot and he could still feel it when he drove some distance away. It seemed to be everywhere. Jack’s girlfriend stayed in the house while Jack drove back down to Arizona.
After asking around, they found out that the local utility had swapped out all of the electrical meters over the winter. The new smart meters communicate with the utility’s computers by sending signals through the power line back to the substation. This is called power line communication (PLC) and is mostly used in rural areas.
The specific system used is called TWACS. This system works by transmitting pulses 120 times a second. Each pulse contains a brief signal of higher frequencies. Since all meters share a common wire, only one meter in the area can transmit at a time. Each household meter can transmit for only a few minutes each day, or even only once for several days.
The pulses travel for many miles and back feed into all houses on the grid. It makes no difference whether it is the meter on one’s own house that transmits, or one on another house. There is a constant stream of pulses on all wires throughout the house. The household wiring, as well as the power lines along the streets, are all turned into unintentional antennas. The signal is not very powerful, but the antennas are huge and everywhere.
Jack came back up to eastern Washington a month later, but he had to camp in the back yard. The pulses bother him even fifty feet (15 meters) from the house, with the power line 150 feet (50 meters) on the other side of the house.
The house is rented. The couple decided not to bother complaining to the landlord and the utility company. Even if they got the old meter back it would not help. There is no way to stop the pulses coming from the outside. Instead, the couple will soon move away to an area without his menace.
[Anon.]
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My name is Diane Nagby and I and my pets are also a victim of the Smart Meter. Dizziness, ringing in my ears, insomnia, nausea, rapid heart beat. I had none of these problems prior to the installation of the Smart Meter. I came home from work and they had just finished installing the Smart Meter. That very night my animals started acting agitated. There is a constant feeling of uneasiness in my household now and at night a loud buzzing/humming noise takes place, which was never present prior to the installation of the Smart Meter. It is just plain old common sense that should tell us any amount of radiation in our household is NOT going to be good for us. A friend of mine that lives in Upland, California experienced a stroke just days after her Smart Meter was installed. How many people have to die, have their homes burned down (because the Smart Meter has been proven to be a fire hazard in some houses), get sick, watch their animals suffer, as I have, before we stand up and say ENOUGH is ENOUGH.
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Until moving to the current rental I did not have the problems I am getting. I work from home and did not get constant exposure to a Smart Meter, as I did not permit one to be installed on my own property, and then after it was sold I lived in an apartment building that refused the installation of Smart Meters.
Frankly when the electrical shocks in my body began at random I didn’t connect the dots to a smart Meter issue. When my vision, recently corrected with a new eye glass prescription began to not focus at random times I didn’t connect it to Smart Meters. Even without my glasses at random times I am unable to clear my vision, as if I just woke from a very deep sleep and am still groggy or am drugged…nope, no drugs either.
The fogginess and random electrical shocks go away when I am away from this house. I just learned this morning that there is a ‘stupid’ meter installed on my bedroom wall. I say stupid because proper studies were not done to assure the safety of the equipment…made where…China! and we know how safety conscious that is.
My body is very sensitive to electrical fields, and I demand that CA which normally is so environmentally conscious, take responsibility for these meters and put a stop to them. Make the electric companies and their investors swallow the cost and not allowed to pass it on to customers. We didn’t ask for this fake improvement.
Carol Church, Placer County CA
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On Dec. 31st, 2010, approx. 22 smart meters were installed in our building. They are directly under our apartment. On Jan. 26, 2011, my husband, while sleeping, suffered a tonic clonic seizure. All tests came out ok. But he is now on seizure medication. However, I notice that his hands twitch at night when he is asleep. Then more slowly, I began to feel a buzz in my feet that went up my legs and then twitching developed. Never in my life have I had this sensation. While I am away and at work during the day, it goes away and I don’t have these symptoms. Also while in our apartment, especially the bedroom, I get ringing in my ears which I never before have had here. I used to be able to completely relax in my bedroom but now always feel like I’m laying in an electric magnetic field .
I was awakened at 3:30 am this morning because of the tingling in my left foot and leg was so strong also I had a racing heart. This is a feeling of something from the outside coming in. When I get up and walk around a little it seems to be a little better but laying down in the bedroom causes the feeling to return.
Also in the bedroom I experience the brain fog and can hardly complete a sentence. It’s a very strange sensation. I have none of this at work — only at home and especially in my bedroom. I know we need to move.
M. Dawson, Marin County, CA
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“This is a health issue,” Pauline Holeton said. “I’m sensitive to electromagnetic fields. I got a smart meter put on my house in November and got it taken out in January. I told them I would take a chainsaw and rip it off if they didn’t come out and get it. I now have the old analog meter.”
Michigan News story
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After having a smart meter installed on our home, with out any one ever asking if we wanted one or not, I have terrible headaches every single day. I was never the type who got them. But now it’s a constant. And incidentally every time I’m away from my home for a few hours they go away. More importantly my husband has developed a tumor on the side of his head, on his temple. Upon the Dr. ordering the CT scan they also found a cyst in the posterior portion of his brain. I also fear for my toddler because her room is closest to the smart meter. What effects will or does it have on her? This has to stop. Does body remember the issues with people and PG&E near Bakersfield and Kettlemen City? How many people suffered at PG&E’s hands. They are not a forthright company! I will do everything I can to get this meter removed from my home. Wish me luck.
~ Placer County, Ca.
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I am so sick & dying from the smart meters. I was sick before I moved here & became way worse. Several hospital trips and two hospital stays. One in oncology & 1 in trauma dept. I have mercury poisoning from having a lot of silver MERCURY dental fillings (nightmare story) & have had more than my share of radiation for a life time starting 30 years ago when I had Hodgkins disease & then all the years after from EMF exposure. So I could not wait to get out of last building where I fought Sac. city council to stop 6 cell tower panels being put on roof but lost that battle.
I learned there were 8 smart meters on my bedroom wall & 20 across the sidewalk plus right out my door is the spa & pool– we knew why I was throwing up blood, heard surging & ringing noises & literally felt & feel like I am being electrocuted. This is the most horrifying nightmare journey I could ever imagined.
I fight for my life literally everyday. I am on section 8 for the 1st time & only get SSI which is being cut again. I was told from apt. complex & SHRA that I need a doctors note to be able to move & to get out of here but cannot find a doctor who is educated on this & your regular doctors think your crazy. My lease is up & out of retaliation they want me to pay $150 more to live in this place that is killing me.
I am very sick, sad and very ticked off. If someone can tell me who could write me or give me something saying the PGE meters made me really sick & are killing me …Where do people go to get diagnosed & I have no car & no where to run or hide but I wish someone was doing my story of my journey for years now but especially now in case I die I wanted people to be educated on what I have had to learn the hard way full circle 1st hand so they do not have to get sick & die & not know the truth of their illnesses & or death and just handed a pill or poison or cut on unnecessarily…I have no EMF protection yet since I am so poor.
Belva, Sacramento CA
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I have recently moved to a place with a smart meter.
Since I have moved I have experienced, headaches, agitation, dizziness, upset, acid reflux, and ringing at certain periods. I am sure it is the smart meter. I am not sleeping well and do not feel refreshed, the headaches are constant when in or near the home, but gone immediately upon my leaving.
I work outside on ranches in rural areas. When I am in these areas I do not experience these side effects. I want this device removed from the side of my home and any within my neighborhood as well. They are not UL approved, they are known to be dangerous and this is illegal and a crime, I will do everything in my power to educate people about this and to stop the installation of these torture devices.
D.Holden. CA
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I suffer from EMF sensitivity and although my husband and I were able to prevent PG&E from installing a smart meter (oxymoron) at our home, we are already feeling the ill effects from our neighbors’ “SM” which was installed within 10 feet of our house. My husband and I are both having intermittent heart palpitations and I am suffering from nausea and have intermittent headaches and eye lid spasms that are only on the right side of my head (which happens to be where most of my implanted metal is, including my titanium jaw). I have attached an image to help you understand. I feel so violated, especially when I KNOW they (EMFs) are dangerous. My husband and I have taken every measure we can to at least have a home that we feel can be a sanctuary, and have taken every measure short of installing a faraday cage throughout our house. We have no WIFI in our house, nor do we have cell phones or cordless phones and I have never even owned a microwave oven. We have Stetzer filters on the outlets in every room and we sleep with all electronics unplugged. It is bad enough that I can’t go to many public places without physically suffering from unhealthy levels of EMF enhanced by negative ramifications from WIFI. Peer-reviewed science exists warning of the dangers of SMs, yet PG&E continues to sell the story that serves them. Their short-sighted and greedy “fix” to their past blunders will have long term ramifications that will cripple our already suffering medical system. I’m at a loss, perhaps the masses are ingesting so much fluoride from the toxic water Marin Municipal gives us that the world of WALL-E is closer than we think… “say it ain’t so…”
Caroline Kim Jonsson, San Anselmo, CA
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I am EMF sensitive, use to live under cell phone tower, had to run away from it. Now the worse nightmare had come true again, the smart meter just right out side and in our living space, in the front, on the back yard and everywhere around us. Try to escape but don’t know where to go, My vertigo is getting worse everyday, not even mention that awful nausea, leg cramp and so on.I work in a commercial kitchen because it is lined with mental walls, I swear to God, every time the radiation come through the wire and lights, it felt like a radiation chamber, we are being slowly cooked, I know people do not want to face it, it is inconvenience truth, but who know among my co-workers many of them whom had prior health concern is now been told need surgery and such, make me wonder how they going to recover from our radiated home, those female co-worker having more emotional break-down and don’t know why, can we make a connection here! Or we are going to pay a huge price for it.
Robert Bucher, Sonoma
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The smart meter was installed in my neighborhood about a week ago, after it was installed my dogs started going crazy. I have not had a good night sleep since. I tried to figure out anything that could be causing their change in behavior, but the only thing different was the smart meter. They act just like they do when there is a thunder storm or fireworks going off. They are constantly jumping up and down on me acting very nervous and never lying at rest. They act like they hear something and it is very upsetting to them. Can this be possible? Any other complaints from dog owners? PG&E left a flyer saying it has not been activated as of yet??? Would that make a difference to the high frequency? Any help would be appreciated and I will do all I can to help stop this process. M.R. Sonoma County
PS. I realized that I also had a problem with my garage door opener. I had my garage open on two different occasions…I was very alarmed and upset because my side door is always opened for the dogs. I heard a loud roar and I couldn’t figure out what it was and upon opening the back door, I saw my garage door was up……lucky my dogs didn’t get out………I didn’t even think of the smart meter until now. This happened twice. I had to unplug it. I now believe the coffee pot was crackling from the electric outlet and not on………….I can’t be sure of the coffee pot because I can’t remember if I saw the green light on or not…but to be awakened in the middle of the night to popping sounds was very unusual.
ADMIN note: This person’s meter was removed the very next day after they called PG&E. This is unusual, the majority of people who have complaints are unable to get them removed.
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I have been living with a smart meter for only 3 weeks and have been suffering nausea, anxiety, depression and a low grade head ache. Prior to moving into a smart meter vicinity I had none of these symptoms. Smart meters emit pulsed microwave radiation which has been found by numerous studies to be health damaging. I want my smart meter removed but have been told by P G and E that I have no choice in this. I will continue protesting until my meter is removed and the longer I have to wait the more I will spread the word about P G and Es invasion of my privacy, installation of a health damaging device and refusal to remove it.
I.W. Menlo Park CA
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I cannot explain nor rationalize what I have experienced in the past few months since PG&E installed a smart meter at my residence. Since February 2012 I have had experienced the following: My Labrador Retriever had a case of old dog vestibular “vertigo”, both my Schipperkes have been diagnosed with diabetes, one now has Cushing’s disease, I myself spent a day in the emergency room with vertigo and almost 3 weeks not being able to work due to the vertigo “ I still have symptoms” and now one of my dogs has an unexplained infection? I have been a licensed electrical contractor since 2004 and have been in the trades since 1993, I have never heard of anything like this nor would I believe a silly device on a pole 15’ from my home could cause such effects. It’s just, could it cause them? I do not see that the device at my home is UL Listed? Has it been tested? I called PG&E and asked to have it removed they said that there would be a fee to remove it and that the power I used from that day on would be charged at the highest rate? How can that be? Why have the PUC if they do not regulate the utility companies?
M. F. Sonoma County
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I have been experiencing ringing in my ears at home for the last 5-6 days. I read an article last night about these smart meters causing tinnitus and I realized the ringing began the same time the meter was installed. I did a test today and while I was gone from my home for a few hours I did not have the ringing, yet after I was home for 1 hour my ears began to ring. How do we protect ourselves from this? No one asked if we wanted it, and If I can no longer deal with this problems where am I supposed to go if they are being erected all over the state of Ca? Maybe one by itself is not a problem, but think of how many neighbors you have all around you. That amount of EMF’s have got to become problematic.
J.B.
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I have been trying to figure out why my daughter and I have had such intense headaches and now I know. I want my Smart Meter removed. I am the owner of this home and I should have the right to have or not have a unit that puts out so much radiation. I do not and have not ever had wireless internet or any wireless in my home and yet I have it stuck to my wall without knowing it. I’m very electrically sensitive. Since having it installed I have had very intense headaches that nothing helps as well as heart palpitations.
I called PG&E today to ask that it be removed and they refused. I also filed a complaint with the CPUC today. We’ll see what happens.
E.B. Stockton CA
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While my landlord and housemate and I have temporarily succeeded in preventing PG&E from removing our analog electric meter in favor of a wireless smart meter, my next door neighbor’s landlord thought it would be a fabulous idea to have one installed. This happened about a year back prior to the massive deployment now underway.
Soon after the install, I began experiencing piercingly loud high-frequency ringing in my ears and noticeable cognitive impairment. I’ve also become unusually tired whether working at my home office desk, reading, or doing virtually any activity in this house, regardless of having had enough sleep. At first I thought these three symptoms were due to increased doses of Warfarin (generic version of Coumadin), a blood thinner I must take which precisely regulates blood viscosity to support optimum functionality of a mechanical mitral valve embedded in my heart. But, after Judy clued me in on the many dangers of smart meters and told me of the symptoms, I put two and two together and deduced the problems are most likely as a result of the smart meter on my neighbor’s home approximately 25-feet from my living quarters. She has also experienced cognitive impairment since she moved in. Unfortunately for her and her five-year-old son, the meter is outside the wall to the living room area.
A. P., Los Osos, CA
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I have been disabled by electrosensitivity for about 5 years, but not to RF, just to ELF (power lines, motors, etc — magnetic fields). But since June of 2010 the area I have been in was thoroughly smart metered, so they have been all around me but not on the house I spend the most time in because we put up No Smart Meter signs. On one side of our house is a parking lot, and on the other was an abandoned house, which is now almost completely remodeled, and this is where the electric smart meter was installed, two weeks ago, just 10 feet away across the driveway, facing our home.
I had some hope that I might be able to “live with” a smart meter — after all, so many people are seemingly unaffected. However, when I went to move the trash bins (which sit about 10 feet from it), the first thing I noticed was a headache and stiff neck, and a building up of an awful feeling that included nausea and dizziness.
As the days went on, I noticed that it was hard to breathe well, like there was a weight on my chest, and tightness in my chest. I also noticed my heartbeat felt different. There was a feeling of panic, wanting to flee but nowhere to go. The nausea/dizzy feeling remained low-level, with some disorientation and balance problems, flu like symptoms. There were pains to the head that came on like strokes of pain from a whip, being laid deep into my brain.
The smart meter seems to be transmitting two different qualities. One is a widespread field that attacks and drains you, and the other is the head pain that comes in sporadic waves and builds up along with a stiff neck and contributes to the draining effect. The pain I believe is from the pulses, which are completely unpredictable and can come several times a minute or there might be 20 minutes with none. The general field has a distinct character of its own, a very NASTY and aggressive character, that creates a sensation so bad that the effect over time is as if there are microscopic teeth constantly gnawing away at you. It is as if, at the most minute level, the cells of your body are being attacked. You become exhausted — you feel like you are under constant siege. The best description I could think of is that when you get away from it and are able to catch your breath and assess how you feel, it is like you have been taking a constant beating at the cellular level. You feel debilitated.
I have a piece of very effective shielding cloth and that is really the only thing that made it possible for me to be in the house at all. I have one square-meter of this, which I folded over into a triangle and wore as a head-wrap. I contemplate getting enough of this shielding fabric to make a burka and/or drape over a small tent for a refuge.
So I wanted to try to describe what it is like, the “smart meter air”: the air is filled with a kind of jangling, a very, very fine but nasty kind of shredding, grinding dissonance.
A.C Alameda County
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A year ago I developed trigeminal neurolgia along with dizziness and weakness. Now I have peripheral neuropathy which includes burning, tingling and numbness. After reading the article in the LA Times about Smart Meters I called SCE to find out when they installed them here. They said May of 2010, a year ago, which coincides with my neuropathy. There are 8 condo’s utilities up against my bedroom wall. There are 8 more in the building close to my only other outside wall. I live in 500 sq. ft. There is no place to get away from being zapped. Please help.
A.F. Orange County
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About a month after PG&E installed the smartmeters, my husband and I both started getting headaches, some so severe that sometimes I was getting blurred vision. We both had very loud piercing sounds in our ears. Finally my husband said it sounds like a telephone poll or something buzzing outside all night long.
Last Easter, my sister offered to let us stay with her at the Horse Ranch for 2 weeks. First day the headaches went away, and that loud piercing sound in our ears went away overnight. Our sleep went back to normal. The entire time there, we both felt so refreshed from 3 months of agony.
Not less than 2 days after we came back, it all started up again. Now I was nervous and my heart also started racing all of a sudden at times. From what all heard, it almost resembled an anxiety attack! Just that weekend at the PG&E office was people gathered about the smartmeters. I was curious and decided to listen in.
Well, I was shocked! I just remembered that our smartmeters had been in for 4 months, and two of them were outside our bedroom wall. We immediately decided to switch the bedroom with the living room. In fact, sometimes if my husband leaves the bedroom door open, the whole house becomes infected with that piercing hiss and a pain at the back of your head. We looked for another apartment without a smartmeter, and found one in Santa Cruz. Since then, the only small hiss I heard of the marvelous ocean waves instead of that nagging piercing sounds. How on this precious earth can something so monsterous be allowed to continue??????
Posted by Ruth on EMF Safety Network
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I’m already electrically sensitive. I immediately feel very sick when I try to use a cell phone (and have for years). I feel dizzy in a home that has WiFi and also in banks, airports and places with a lot of radiation. Given this, I do not want (and will vehemently fight the installation of) a smartmeter. My 34 yr old daughter became immediately ill right after a smartmeter was installed on the house she was living in. Her symptoms were all the ones I’ve read about – strange headaches, pain in the ears, dizziness, heart stress and insomnia. She had to move from this house after a few months as she just couldn’t sleep! I cannot express strongly enough how criminal it feels to me that the CPUC has mandated 24/7 radiation into my home without my approval and without proper research on long term health effects. Why should I have to prove that EMF is harmful to me? The CPUC should have to prove that it’s not harmful. I have never seen such violation of our civil liberties and rights!!!! I demand that I have the right to keep my present analog meter with no additional cost!
J. S. Lake County
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I am going to take on PG&E starting tomorrow for damaging my health due to the installation of 4 smart meters right outside my bedroom window, and since then my health has been continuously deteriorating. I have insomnia, nightmares, headaches like an ice pick is being jammed in my head, fogginess, blurred vision (and getting worse by the week), tinnitus, and heart palpitations, all of which never existed until the installation of the 4 smart meters last Summer, and gradually getting worse. I moved my bedroom into the living room, of which reduced the effects by half, but that’s not good enough when something that is killing you is still in your home! All of my symptoms are documented by my physician, but he said they are vague and cannot be evidenced as produced by smartmeters. I was a trained Naturopathic Doctor and absolutely know my own body, and every time I leave the house for extended periods of time, all the symptoms miraculously vanish! It has been a 5 month ordeal calling countless times, PG&E, the Smart Meter reps, both of which tell me there is nothing I can do since they claim they cannot remove the smartmeters… PERIOD! In retaliation, last month I gave them a decision to remove the smart meters in 10 days or I would remove them myself. A man called me from the Smart meter office and said the moment I remove even one of the meters, the police will be called and I will be put to jail. So, the only decision they gave me was to sit at home and die. Seriously… I think I have only a few months to live if they leave these meters outside my bedroom window. I spoke to 2 supervisors from Smart Meter company and both told me there is nothing they can do, and that there was going to be a public hearing about other complaints, but don’t know when, said it’s going to be a while… and couldn’t give me any date as to when I can expect a public hearing on the matter. Both confirmed to me on the phone that there is no reported adverse affects due to the smartmeters, and started trying to convince my body on how safe they are! However, because I know all too well here, one supervisor recommended that if I’m not happy where I live that I should just move out! I can’t afford to move out, and why would I want to if I’m very happy here apart from the damaging health due to the meters. This weekend I have finally had enough! I decided to take PG&E to court in a lawsuit. I am in process of locating the attorney as I write this. I am going tomorrow into the office of PG&E and giving them 10 days to remove the smart meters so it will be recorded on my account since jail or death is my only option at this point! So, my constitutional right to health is being outright violated by ELF Wave poisoning with Big Brother in complete control as someone who is slowly torturing and murdering me! PLEASE HELP, in any way you can, and QUICKLY! Please help do something about this before I am murdered by the PG&E company! I feel like my brain is exploding in my head and it’s getting worse by the day!
A.S. Sonoma County
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I have read in horror the testimonials on this website. My SM was installed at the end of October 2010. Since that time I have developed tinnitus, which is incredibly irritating, bordering on painful. The head of my bed was located on the opposite side of the wall on which the SM is located. I have moved my bed to the other side of the room, but I’m scared to death that it will get worse and that I will experience other symptoms, such as cardiac arrhythmia’s, which would be a disaster as there is a history of an inherited disease, Hypertrophhic Cardiomyopathy, in my family and my sister died of Sudden Cardiac Arrest last year, a common cause of death when you have this disease. I called PG&E in panic, but they are all inculcated with the corporate line that there is no research to support the claims of health problems. If this is true, why are so many of the people writing these testimonials talking about developing tinnitus? Where is the point organization that can fight this monster?
Margery Entwisle Mill Valley, CA
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Smart Meters were installed in my neighborhood on April 15, 2011. Since then I have had constant ringing in my ears. Smart Meters violate my constitutional right to be safe and secure in my home, 4th Amendment. Smart Meters violate my privacy and my health. This is a KILLER and you know it.
S.B. Orange County CA
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I’ve had the Smart Meter installed in my home several years ago. I am now wondering if the Smart Meter was the cause of my sudden onset chronic headaches and dizziness, vertigo, that has left me about 25% functional to this day.
G.T. Sacramento
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I am VERY ill from the Smart Meters! And I am just putting together all the ways this equipment is ruining my health. This needs to stop NOW!
W.T. San Mateo County
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I am (was) a very healthy individual, and have all the past medical information to prove it. In the last year I have been suffering illness that I feel is direclty related to the Smart Meter on my home. The electromagnetic currents are so strong I can feel them and hear them in my home. I now wake with headahces, I have dizzy spells, I’m getting skin rashes and more. I have repeatedly placed complaints with the CPUC and PG&E, to no avail. I have no alternative but to move to a house outside of the PG &E territory. Removing my meter alone won’t solve the problem. My house is at the hub, the terminal, for the neighborhood distrubution and the adjacent neighbor’s meters are on my side of their houses, putting me in direct line of currect for three homes. I want these things removed so I can resume my life, which is on hold.
C.L. Yolo County
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As an older adult who has been treated with radiation for lymphoma I am opposed to “smart” meters. I also cannot afford an expensive opt out plan. In fact I believe it is discriminatory to impose such fees on people who have legitimate health concerns.
B.R. Marin County
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Since December I have been experiencing a terrible condition called Tinnitus. I hear sound in my head 24/7 which at times has left me unable to work or sleep and coincides with the installation of new smart meters on my home. Tinnitus is something I would never wish on anyone, it can drive one crazy. it has affected my work and my life. I want my life back. I demand more research done on health impacts of smart meters before installing them on anyone elses home!
H.K. Alameda
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Yes, I got big headaches, depress, and weak every night until early morning on my bed near smart meter. I can’ think straight out because of smart meter. I don’t feel like to eat because of sick every day. I went to Los Angeles, CA for visiting my sister and feel clear up my mind and restore my heath but I have to go back to my home and come back to sick again.
Donna Avent, Taft, CA (Kern County)
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Though I never was electrically sensitive before, an extreme exposure to Electro Magnetic Frequencies (EMFs) from just one of PG&E’s digital SmartMeters, (from 10/31/09 to 3/3/10), left me as an electrically sensitive person. Along the way, the experience of dealing with PG&E to take the SmartMeter out was truly creepy. Now, a year after the SmartMeter was removed, 30% of the symptoms still rule my life.
Here is the sequence of events: In early December 2009, I began experiencing nights of fitful sleeplessness. I soon had less and less energy in the day time. I began having localized headaches and worried why I was constantly a bit dizzy. In January the dizziness became worse and I began feeling very oddly ‘spaced out’. I began having strange strong cramps in my legs at night that woke me up. My eyes were constantly extremely itchy and incredibly light sensitive, often with strong pains in my right eye. My normal mild tinnitus was far far worse. Also my familiar chest pressure and pains were far more pronounced and far more often. I had no idea these things were related. At first I just felt guilty I had allowed myself to get so out-of-shape that I could not find a solution to the horrible insomnia. By January I had such serious memory problems I often could not remember what I was doing from one minute to the next. I would find myself standing still, staring into space, and vaguely realizing that something must be wrong with me. By February, when speaking, hard as I tried, I could not remember the most common words, and was spelling words phonetically. Also, the stutter I had as a child began to return.
By the end of February I realized I was becoming more and more dizzy as the days went by. One day I was so dizzy, I literally could not walk and was actually staggering. Also, by then, I frequently saw in the mirror that my face was Bright Bright Red. And since I had no feeling of being hot, I finally knew something was really very wrong and that the cause was not insomnia. But I had absolutely no idea what the cause could be. It is only because of two purely chance incidents that I discovered the cause was just one SmartMeter seven feet below my bed.
In January and again in February a friend using my garage as a theater rehearsal space, twice came upstairs to the apartment to tell me that as a person who rarely got headaches, he could not figure out why lately whenever he was in the garage he would get horrific headaches. But, as it turns out, he had been sitting and standing about ten feet from the SmartMeter.
Through this whole experience, there were two ambulance trips to the emergency room for racing heart. Both times at the onset I was in no stress whatever. When the pills that are supposed to slow the heart rate down did not work, I had no choice but to call an ambulance. Both times, at the hospital, my heart checked out just fine. The first time was before the SmartMeter was taken out. The second ambulance trip to the ER was one morning 6 weeks after the SmartMeter was taken out. I had been sitting for a few hours at my desk 25 feet from a power pole. This was the day I realized that even though the SmartMeter had been taken out, it had left me as an electrically sensitive person and I could no longer use that office or enjoy that roof garden as I had for the past 30 years.
For this whole past year since the SmartMeter was taken out, I have had to completely interrupt my cultural-exchange business and personal life to only focus on finding ways to shield myself from EMFs. Every day is a fight. It is serious stress. I am on constant overwhelm. Lately the symptoms are worse again. The strange leg muscle cramps are waking me up again at night. In this past year I have lost half of my hair. The tinnitus is worse and worse in just the last few weeks. There are fewer and fewer places I can go, out of the house, to avoid EMFs that do not make the Tinnitus worse. I worry a lot about cancer and the health of my neighbor’s children. And I know there is no where to escape to.
Maya Cain, SF CA
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I have developed nodules on my thyroid , dizzy spells, difficulty swallowing, and petite seizures, since the smart meters were put in. I have never in my life had anything like this, and I am so upset. I have always been in good health. I am looking for some help, on how to save my life.
L. M. Pacifica CA
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Since the December 4, 2010 installation of PGE Smart Meter in my apartment building, I have been a Smart Meter refugee. December 30th I fled my apartment with severe symptoms and only the clothes on my back to Marin General ER. After 3 months, even though I have been with friends (11 moves), I am now homeless. To date, I have exhausted: the landlord, Legal Aid, Fair Housing, District Attorney, Sacramento, trying to get an atty, Marin Housing Authority, many, many of my doctors, Jared Huffman/Supervisor’s office, Health Dept., Environmental Dept., and still cannot get any help. I have forwarded the recent March CPUC document with “opt-out option” to my landlord, and she still does not think there is a “problem”on the property. Cannot move out b/c of symptoms when on property, cannot pay 3 months rent to transition out, and exhausted and depressed from this battle w/o any disability rights protecting me.
Like many with the symptoms, I am on my last and giving up… exhausted from trying to get help, afraid of my health, depressed, crying all the time, difficult to work, cannot get the proper sleep…I Don’t know how much more I can tolerate w/o major support. All I want is my life back.
ZEENA QUINN, Marin
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This past year I have become electro-sensitive due to the many wireless communication bands in the air. I cannot even go into coffee shops anymore without getting ‘burned’, a feeling of intense sunburn. This is one of the many symptoms I now suffer. Recently, my wife has been getting intense headaches for no apparent reason. I myself have recently suffered symptoms of a heart attack. I had to go through extensive testing that hit hard financially. We just discovered that the smart meter had been installed here without our permission, which coincided with our physical problems. We are so upset about this that we are now considering legal options, at the very least to cover the cost of our medical expenses.
KB, San Mateo County
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I woke up this morning to a SMUD employee knocking on my door letting me know they were installing smart meters in the neighborhood he replaced my old meter and went on his way. After he left I noticed my scalp tingling and it just wouldn’t stop the unit was place on my wall outside my Kitchen I was sitting in the living room most of the morning. Not only did my scalp tingle but I felt a little dizzy. I left and went on a bike ride and felt fine as soon as I got back I felt dizzy again and my scalp started tingling again. These were both abnormal I never feel dizzy and my scalp rarely tingles. I called SMUD and asked them to take the meter off the guy still has the old equipment and is right down the street I passed by him on my way back from the bike ride through much resistance they agreed to call him and have him put back in the old meter. Within minutes after him leaving with the old meter installed again my head stopped tingling and I no longer felt dizzy. This is proof enough for me there’s something wrong with those things. If there is any way I can help in signing some sort of petition or something I will. Please let me know this is a complete home invasion where can you go to relax and feel comfortable if you can’t go home to do that.
S.L. Sacramento CA
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About two months ago, after sitting in my living room for several hours, I took my pulse; it was wildly irregular, skipping a beat every 3-7 beats. My pulse had never done that before. I then took my pulse in a number of places inside and away from my house. My living room is basically the only place my pulse skips beats. The irregularities occasionally occurred in a milder form in the dining room, which is at one end of the living room. When my daughter was visiting, we sat in the living room for 20 or 30 minutes, then took our pulses. Both our pulses skipped a beat after 10 to 11 beats. Why was my heart pumping irregularly only in my living room? At some point I remembered that a SmartMeter had been installed a few months earlier on the outside of my living room wall, directly behind my sofa. From what I have read, an irregular heartbeat can be dangerous. I told PG&;E about my experience, but they refused to remove my SmartMeter, so now I don’t go in my living room.
A.H. Monterey County
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The following letter is from a prominent doctor in Napa:
“I have a patient who is being injured from the SmartMeter. She has a history of Cardiomyopathy from infection and was doing well until the SmartMeter went in last fall. She is now back in Atrial Fibrillation and needs meds she does not tolerate well. It is all a result of the extra EMF. I will send you copies of articles about how EMF effects patient’s heart rate. Is there are special complaint form I could send off to the SmartMeter company that you use? I was going to dictate something for my patient and reference the EMF and heart rate issue”.
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They installed our Smart Meter about 3 months ago and I have been extremely sick from the day it was installed. My husband who never has headaches, now has one 24 hrs. a day. I have been extremely sensitive to RF/EMF since 2005 when a neighbor had 2 Sprint cell towers installed next door and we were forced to sell and move.
We are trying to move now, but you have put Smart Meters on every house that might work for me. How come you don’t have a contingency plan for RF sensitive people? You have made my life a living hell and won’t even give me an option to have my old meter reinstalled even with a Drs. note saying how sick I am.
J.M. Riverside
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URGENT!! HEART CONDITION- SMART METERS MUST BE REMOVED IMMEDIATELY!!! A bank of Smart Meters, that emit radiation 24 hours a day, were installed on the wall of my home, and I have been severely affected with heart palpitations, non-stop ringing in the ears, shortness of breath, insomnia, and sleep interruption, and more. I posted signs not to install smart meters, which is a legal action, but PGE/Wellington Energy illegally trespassed and ignored the signs.
I have a heart condition, and am EMF sensitive, and yet despite many very futile calls to PG &E, they have not removed the meters, nor have they replaced them with the non-wireless analog meters that have worked perfectly for decades. I have been an excellent ratepayer for decades, I am low-income and cannot afford to move. This is unjust discrimination, and gross negligence not to allow an “opt-out” of any kind. And even worse, with PG & E being fully aware that I have a heart condition, they have added more smart meters on the wall of my home, and they are threatening to add double the meters to my home in the next days, or weeks. How can a utility demand that our health, and the health of our families, and pets be exposed to 24 hour radiation, with no ability to say “NO”? A
non, Sonoma
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For the past few months, I’ve been having more problems than ever, including difficulty sleeping, fatigue, headaches, and a level of ‘brain fog’ that I have never experienced previously. I did not correlate this to SmartMeters, because I had heard that our unincorporated Sleepy Hollow area of Marin was going to be among the last areas to get SmartMeters installed. Recently, I called the PG&E hotline to be placed on their Do Not Install list, which the courteous rep did. I then went outside to look at my meter, which I had NOT done since August. To my shock, a Smartmeter had ALREADY been installed. ***(No notice was given after the fact, either.)
I called PG&E back, and another rep told me, “It’s not hooked up.” I called back again, got another rep who told me, “Oh yes it is. It’s been hooked up for months!****I don’t know why the other rep said it wasn’t.” He also told me it ‘only transmits in the dead of night for about 40 seconds.” Both reps confirmed that our conversation was being recorded. I would suggest to anyone who calls the PG&E hotline to record the conversation themselves as well. I wish I had!
*** My health issues correlate directly with the date that the SmartMeter was installed on my property.
I pointed out to him that this contradicted PG&E’s rationale for continuous monitoring. Then I hung up. I have since spoken with several neighbors, who also received PG&E’s ‘notice to install’ two weeks ago, yet they, too, discovered that SmarMeters were ALREADY installed on their property. That’s either incompetence in coordinating installation schedulings and mailings, or intentional deception.
Steven Halpern, Marin County
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I am extremely sensitive to EMF and RF signals since 2005 when a neighbor had 2 cell towers installed about 400′ from our home. We moved from that house and I got better as long as I am not in any contact with any signals. Then we got our SM installed about 9 weeks ago and I have been extremely ill every since. My husband has sent letters to all of SCE mangement and the CPUC and they all ignored us. He finally got an SCE EMF engineer to reply back and they sent out 2 EMF “specialists” to measure the signals twice, and both times they said our SM meter was OK. My husband has his own meter and showed the specialists that the meter is showing dangereous spiking every 15 seconds. SCE’s meter did not show the spikes. My huband got the made and model number of their meters and talked to the company that makes them… apparently the meters they use only averge the signals and the 15 second spikes do not show up, so of course they are telling every body that complains they are within the “approved” range. My husband also measured their cell phones and the smart meter signals were about 5 times stronger then their cell phones. We have covered our meter with Heavy duty aluminum foil and a thick metal bucket. We have also lined our garage with it. It does cut our signal a little, but we still have all the other neighbor’s signals blasting towards our house. The SM’s use a repeater signal that sends the signals from one meter to the next.. they constantly “talk” to each other all day long and send data the same way. It’s so bad in our neighborhood that I can’t take our dog out for walks anymore. I feel it as soon as I walk out the front door.
Jana, anon
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Two weeks ago they installed smart meters on our row of townhouses. A few days later i felt dizzy; this changed to heart beat very strong – occasional racing – and now ringing in ears and pressure in chest as well. Dizziness subsided but have been waking up at 4 am and can’t get back to sleep. There are also about 20 meters about 75 feet from my house; i look at them in a line of sight.
I seem to have been way more affected when they actually installed them in our block of 7 townhomes even though i am slightly further away from this meter box collection. it’s like it comes in through the wires.
Those other ones were installed in Nov. or Oct. and i remember feeling nausea and more migraines from those. A few times a day we get this awful screeching too. I have been in a panic wondering where I can move? if it’s gov’t mandated then does it matter if we complain?
I also heard that PGandE could have installed all kinds of meters like cabled ones instead.
I never knew anything about smart meters until it happened to me. where can we go to escape, this is so scary.
Anon
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I have six smart meters right outside my bedroom and kitchen since they were put in i have been having headache’s ringing in my ears and nausea. i know it’s due to the radiation but it’s hard to get people to believe me is there any help out there? i would welcome any advice or if anyone is going throu this please contact me. my together we could fight pg&e and have these things removed before they cause permante damage to me & my children or to anyone else….
Daniel G, unknown
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Smart meters were installed at my house about a year ago and soon after I experienced ringing/buzzing in my ears that keeps me awake at night. I thought my clock radio was on so turned everything off (including computer, vcr…etc) but still heard the noise. Remembered the smart meter install and now see many other people with the same symptoms. More recently my ears have a burning sensation. Is there any way to block the transmission into the house? I feel like the inside of my head is hot. Thank you for the site. How can this experiment be legal?
E. C. CA
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Since I had the SmartMeter placed on my home (master bedroom wall by headboard of my bed) by SDG&E about 3-4 months ago, I have developed increasingly severe reactions to EMF (electromagnetic fields). I have constant ringing in my ears, getting louder and very distracting; headache, sinus pain, feeling of heaviness in chest, disorientation, mental confusion, difficulty concentrating and with calculation and driving, nausea, and very hard to use computer, phones, etc. Can’t sleep well, insomnia, though improved with change of bedroom. My doctor wrote a letter demanding under the ADA that SDG&E remove the SmartMeter, the reply was that SM’s don’t impact health,and that my doctor is wrong that the ADA covers this, and they essentially refuse to remove the SM. Needless to say, I am shocked, horrified, and will take further steps. This is an example of Big Brother in our lives worse than anything I have seen in America in 60 years. They can harm and kill us legally now, in our own country.
S.B. San Diego
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Since the “smart” meter installation I’ve been suffering from headaches, losing sleep, and hearing high pitched ringing from time to time. I’ve already called PG&E to complain and requested they remove the meters…they said someone from their “smart” meter escalation department will be contacting me soon. Would appreciate any suggestions or advice you may have on how to get them off my home. I am very sensitive to RF signals. (Two weeks later…) PG&E is still refusing to remove my “smart” meter even though It makes me ill. I will be forced to sell my home and move if wireless smart aren’t removed from my home and neighborhood. PG&E may have an easement to put a meter on my home…but a meter on my home that shoots RF in to my home and in to me, my partner and my child’s bodies? As a Realtor it seems to me like that should be overstepping the limits of their easement.
M.H. Humboldt County CA
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“One month ago I moved into a house that has a smart meter installed on the same side of the house as my bedroom. I have been having sleep problems including insomnia, nightmares and restless sleep. I am epileptic and sleep deprivation is very dangerous for me. I have also been experiencing unexplained anxiety and irritability. I live in Oakland. I’m also having strange interference on my phone line.”
(Update) “I have now been living with a smart meter for nearly 4 months. My sleep has deteriorated. I often only get 4-5 hours which is a serious threat to my health as an epileptic. My request to have the meter removed has been denied. I cannot afford to move, and anywhere I move to in this area will likely have the same problems. Past seizures have caused me to suffer brain injuries, and many neurologists believe that seizures cause permanent damage to the brain. PG&E is putting me at risk of major injury and even death, since seizures can be fatal.”
A.L.M. Alameda County CA
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I am disabled from a spinal injury and neurological damage from a severe case of Encephalitis. I moved into a small apt attached to my Mother’s house three months ago. Both my mother and her husband are also disabled. We all have serious health problems. They were not aware a smart meter was installed a year ago, right behind my bedroom wall. Everyone in the house has been having similar issues since it was installed, exhaustion, stomach issues, ear aches, ringing the ears, dizziness and skin issues. My health issues are complicated already and I cannot move again. I want to know what I can do to get this thing removed. Nobody asked, they just did it. I have signed petitions, I have written letters. What else can I do? My Mom has had 22 surgeries, Cancer, RSD, Interstitial Cystitis and much more. Just the fear that it may be adding to our health problems is unhealthy. She grew up under power poles and has always believed that played a role in her health issues. Although she knows now, I was afraid to even tell her it was there.
I believe we as humans have not had time to adapt to the barge EMF from such devices and we need choices and a voice in the decision processes when it comes to technology such as Smart Meters. There are also privacy and other issues at play here that make me very much against Smart Meters.
T.R. Aptos CA
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“I have been in the ER overnight three times this week, with unexplained sickness. I have had a CT Scan of the brain, Stress Test, CTA, EKGs, Ultra Sounds, Blood work and still no definite answer. We recently had a Smart Meter installed and these symptoms began about a week after: Extreme Stress, diagnosed TIAs, dizziness, headaches, nausea and fainting. I mentioned this to a doctor and he suggested that the Smart Meters may have something to do with it because the hospital has had quite a rise in illness of this kind reporting to the ER.”
J.W. (anon)
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My family lives very simply, we do not own a tv, do not have a computer in our home or microwave and do not use cell phones at home, we keep them in the car for emergency only. We also watch our energy usage and do not keep appliances plugged in. Within days after our smart meter was installed I experienced a very painful miscarriage. After the miscarriage I started experiencing mysterious pain throughout my body that could not be explained. My two children who are diagnosed autistic regressed in their autism after much work with behavioral therapy and other interventions. I sadly watched my father’s health decline since last fall he became very fatigued and weak and unexpectedly passed away in October 2010 of a heart arrhythmia. I believe the smart meter played a role in his health because he was very healthy until it was installed on their house last fall.
T.M. Anon
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I was unaware that a smart meter has been on our home for over 18 months, until I called to be on the delay list only to be told that I had a smart meter installed in 2009. I never got a knock on the door or a notice of installation, but during that time I had a series of strange health issues including a pressure in my ears for which I went to two doctors, irritability, insomnia, and general nervousness and extreme debilitating fatigue. I am not saying my health was perfect before, but I never had the consistent excitement which I thought was overdose of computer use, even when I used my computer at home for work sometimes 10 hours a day. Now, I hear a buzzing and feel hyper and we have discontinued our use of wireless internet and installed a land phone line so we minimize use of our cell phones as well. We no longer have wireless Internet, but so many of our neighbors do, that we feel like we live in a hyper anxious space. We are moving soon because I survived cancer, I want to stay healthy, and I feel better away from these wireless smart meters and other forms of EMF and RF. We moved to a neighborhood in a forest in West Marin that didn’t have Smart Meters. Less than a week after we closed on our home, the Wellington truck was at the bottom of my driveway, installing smart meters on this rural road in the forest trailhead. We did not get a smart meter because I put us on the delay list for this home, and told the installer not to install. I also had a No Smart Meter Sign.
M. G-K Marin County CA
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“My husband has brain cancer attributed to the radiation from his cell phone. Shortly after installation of the smart meters on our home I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism. I never had the symptoms prior to the installation of the smart meters- fatigue, depression, joint pain, heart racing, and weight gain. I also suffer from atypical trigeminal neuralgia- a very painful nerve disease in the face that causes electrical jolts within my face and head. It worsened with the smart meters.
Denise Alexander of PG&E did have my meters removed when I notified her of my husband’s illness. I never mentioned my problems as his alone are reason enough to not be subjected involuntarily to the very thing that is killing him. Shortly after the removal of the meters I received a hand signed letter from Mr. Devereaux that the meters will be going back on. I just received a recorded call from PG&E stated they will be here to put them back on within 30 days. I cannot and will not allow this to happen.”
E. M. Contra Costa County CA
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“I purchased a condo in Rocklin CA. I have probably 20 smart meters in the room next to my bedroom (the electrical room wall). My 2 daughters and I all have headaches and there is a buzzing sound. One of my daughters is constantly fatigued. How do I prove that the smart meters are causing these symptoms?”
D.O. Rocklin, CA
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“I have been having headaches, heart palpitations, horrible ringing in my ears, dizziness and some nausea, and a burning of my facial skin for 8 months, since PG&E installed a Smart Meter at my house. These symptoms began gradually in the first weeks after the Smart Meter was installed and have increased in intensity over the months. For the two weeks I was in New Zealand in October, the problems lessened or disappeared completely . Home again and it all started again. I want this Smart Meter taken off of my home. I am sick because of it!!!”
L.H. Sonoma County
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Smart Meter destroying my sleep. Since the Smart Meter was put in my home, I have not had been able to sleep through the night. The Smart meter was installed just a foot from the head of our bed (on the outside of our bedroom wall). Before it was installed, I could easily sleep through the night.
Bill Beckham Fresno, CA
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We recently had our smart meters installed, three of which our on our wall, for the three units on our lot. I have a super healthy routine and was drastically improving my health and wellness. I am Vegan, non smoker, non drinker, I record all of my food intake, exercise avidly and slept regularly from 10 pm until 7am. I began to get unexplainable huge rashes on my face. My doctor freaked out and couldn’t believe the photos and ordered labs immediately, he was sure I had Lupus or Rheumatory Athritis. He sent me to a Rheumatologist ASAP, It then started with the aches and pains, the super dry lips and a loud squealing in my right ear. Even my teeth hurt. Then the buzzing sound intermittently mixes with the high pitch squealing noise in my ear, followed by extreme exhaustion or fatigue in random parts of the day or evening, to where I couldn’t even stand. The headaches make me feel like I want to die. I can’t sleep until 5 or 6 am and pop back up at 7 am. I am nauseas, and my ear in is extreme pain. I have feelings as if the ground or furniture is moving or being bumped. I get dizzy and have problems orientating myself when I go from standing to sitting or vice versa. My 1200 calorie diet that I record every meal has turned into a 300 calorie diet because I’m too sick to eat. I am having to drink meal replacements because the more I cook in the kitchen the worse I get. My husband complained of feeling sick, back pain, headaches and an electric-like pulse or shock-like feeling that darts up his body through his brain. When it happens he jumps. It has happened three times now. The downstair neighbor moved because of her sudden onset of symptoms that began at the same time. Our DVD player now cannot reach a signal on the TV (says no signal) despite the player actually being a part of the TV, all in one piece. My eyes burn and weep full of tears with a mental cloud I can’t shake. My stomach turns upside down it feels and I feel a burning sensation on parts of my body. I have missed about 80% of my work schedule and am rapidly deteriorating. I just kept saying, “something is wrong with the air.” I didn’t know what exactly I meant, it was just a feeling I had. Then someone else said the same thing out of the blue. Then the other evening, I couldn’t walk. I was crying profusely from the pain and symptoms. Everyday its worse….I am going to request mine be removed but the neighbors still have them, still posing a threat since they’re everywhere around us. …These meters not only quadrupled our electric bill but also my health that I’ve worked so hard to achieve came to a complete halt, the same exact day as the meters were installed and everyday since then. … This isn’t fair. I don’t want a smart meter. We weren’t surveyed our asked. We never got informed until the knock on the door saying “SDGE, were here to install your smart meter.” Then we were handed a little piece of paper which didn’t disclose much. Now we have a super high electric bill that is way to much for our tiny two bedroom beach apartment and a super ill husband and wife who were otherwise healthy and active until the day of the meter installation.
Amy Evans San Diego CA 28 yrs old
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Last year I lived in Livermore CA. The meters were changed in Livermore last year. It wasn’t until I just saw a news story where I have now put 2 and 2 together. Starting in Oct. 09 I have been experiencing terrible ringing in the ears. A hi-pitch hissing/buzzing noise. It’s been driving me crazy. I have been to so many doctors since trying to find out what is causing this terrible problem. Doctors cannot find anything wrong. But what I have noticed is this, when I have traveled away from the city to the mountain such as to go camping, the hissing and buzzing go away. But as soon as I get back home the noise starts back up again.
NR Tracy CA
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I live in San Diego in a small apartment building with 3 apartments. SDGE installed 3 Smart Meters on 9/29/10 and I have been sick as a dog ever since, even to the point of missing work. The Meters are located below my apartment, just below my bathroom wall (I am on the second floor). Using my Entech Meter I tested the outlet in my bathroom and the signal was so distorted I could pick up a radio signal! My Gauss Meter also picked up Hot Spots that never existed before.
I suffered from severe joint pains on the day it was installed to the point where I couldn’t move my wrist without agonizing pain. I have been in pain ever since and also got a very bad cold. I also developed an odd problem called Phantosmia, in which you can smell something that isn’t there (in my case cigarette smoke which I am allergic to). I am EMF sensitive but I have never felt as ill as I do now. I was completely functioning before, whereas after these Meters were installed I just feel awful all the time.
S.G. San Diego CA
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Last week our power company in NE Arizona put a new digital meter on our house. The meter was supposed to remain in a silent mode and not transmit unless someone sent a signal to it from the highway to activate it and get the reading.
Over the next 6 hours I gradually got very sick from the meter. The symptoms were a vise grip headache, nervousness, horrible brain fog (after 3 days I was unable to complete a sentence), total insomnia, stomach rolling and nausea. The meter seemed to run in on the current and I began to have reactions to my electric stove and other electrical appliances that I had not been bothered by before.
After a couple of plea’s from my husband, the power company made a decision to return our meter to analog. I had immediate relief in some symptoms, but others took several hours to go away. Due to a weekend and Monday holiday, it took a week to get the meter removed. I was so sick by then I was worried it would leave me highly sensitive to emf’s. After 24 hours I seemed to be ok, however. These meters are not safe!
Anonymous in Arizona
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In July 2010, SDG&E installed Smart Meters in my condo complex. I own a townhouse that is situated in clusters: 8 units per cluster. Therefore 16 Smart Meters were installed in the utilites shed outside my kitchen/bedroom walls, ten feet away.
I began having symptoms of head burning and pressure on my chest within a few days. As time progressed the symtoms worsened. I had severe burning in my head and headaches of a new type. I starting having palpitations, arrythmias and flutter. I called SDG& E. Three people including an engineer and the director of the Smart Meter program came to my home, spent an hour talking and photgraphing the meters. They took no measurements of the radiation, though they said they would on the phone. The next day SDG&E informed me that they would not be replacing the meters with the analogue meters. They assured me that they are concerned about people’s health.
By six weeks in, my cardiac symptoms were so severe and erratic that I had to move out. I rented an apartment, which turned out to be unsafe as well. The Smart Meters are everywhere. With the intensification of my symptoms, I have become EMF/RF sensitive and now have the above problems around cell towers, Wi-Fi and other sources, accompanied by skin rashes and burning.
I am being evaluated by a cardiologist. I have always had a strong, healthy heart, even told so by doctors. The cardiologist has sent me for an evaluation by a neurologist as well.
Five people have reported symptoms in my home: My father has experienced headaches and visual migraines. My mother reported having pressure on the upper part of her chest and palpitations. One neighbor exposed to these 16 cluster meters is experiencing headaches and chest tightness. Another neighbor has difficulty opening her eyes in the mornings after 8 hours by the meters. Her ophthalmologist could find no explanation. She said she uses her fingers to open her lids. All of the above symptoms have occurred since the smart meter installations. The symptoms are worsening for everyone.
I am running scared living this nightmare. I don’t know where to live and fear for my well-being. I already have a prior immune disability and I thought I would be legally protected by the ADA. I don’t know where it is safe for me to live. In addition, the financial impact of this disaster compounds. I pay my monthly mortgage and rented a place, which due to symptoms, I cannot stay in. I am not sure that I can rent or sell my condo in good conscience. I am seeking medical care including treatments not covered by any insurance. My out of pocket costs continue to grow.
R.H., San Diego CA
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We live in Berkeley and recently had a smart meter installed without our knowledge. Since that time, my husband and I have been having increasingly painful headaches around our ears, along with other symptoms. My father, who has Parkinson’s and a Deep Brain Stimulator with two leads, also lives with us. I also have a two year old and a five month old. My two year old is no longer sleeping well and is waking up all night. We strongly feel that the smart meter is unhealthy for our family and want to get it removed.
(Anon, Alameda County CA)
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Since the meters were installed, I am experiencing continuous severe ringing in my ears in my home, which does not happen when I am at work in Marin in an area where the smart meter have not been installed. Family members are also experiencing headaches and one family member, who did not know the smart meters had been installed was working unloading boxes for 1/2 an hour about 5 or 6 feet form the meters. He became very dizzy, had very rapid heart beat and lost consciousness and fell. We are very concerned about the short term and long term effect of the smart meters. We are in the process of trying to move to Fairfax hoping they will be able to keep the smart meters out. As PG&E has refused to move them we were forced into selling our house. This seems extremely unfair.
(Anon. SF Bay Area)
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“ I am chemically and electrically sensitive but have gotten much better. I am finding that since they installed our smart meter, I am getting unexplained exzema and rash. I have tried to heal leaky gut and all the things you do to stop it and am still struggling with it. I know that I can’t use a cell phone unless it’s on speaker phone, and then only a second. I get very ill with continued wi fi exposure. I wanted to ask you if you know how much radiation these smart meters are putting out. I am really pissed about this, I rent and don’t own so I feel stuck. ”
(Anon, Alameda County)
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After the installation, I started hearing high-pitched frequencies that lasted about 20 seconds…
I called PG&E and told the lady there about hearing high-pitched noises in my house. It’s not coming from a specific appliance but rather I’d hear it for 20 seconds or so (kind of like those hearing tests when we were kids) and then it would go away. I heard it in the kitchen, the dining room, and my bedroom. The PG&E rep had never heard of anything like this and forwarded me to the Smartmeter Division.
(Anon, Berkeley CA)
This meter was eventually removed.
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Since the new meter start-up a few weeks ago … Family members’ new or exacerbated symptoms have coincided with the meter start-up. Myself, I hear … high-pitched buzzing now within our house, absent before. I often go to the clock to check the timing of the microwave hearing, and it most often corresponds exactly to the minutes when our microwave meter picked up the signal, so I have no doubt about the source of this brain penetration. I know of another EHS-er who apparently has a urinary bladder reflex activated by the meters. Note that the frequency range is long known to be among the best for brain penetration.
(Anon, Canada)
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If you are wondering why you have a nagging headache, insomnia, fatigue, etc.–start doing your research on PG&E’s Smart Meters… I have a relay Node on the telephone pole in font of my house [installed May 2010] and the 4 people who now live here have the subject symptoms.
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Gas meter installation was installed in our property on 3/18. The Smart Meter was causing us headaches, achy/watery eyes and loss of sleep; effectively blocking out half of our house. We called PG&E on 3/19 and meter was removed on 3/20. However, because of neighborhood deployment of Smart Meters, we are getting constant light headaches since then, even after the removal of the meters from our property… We consider this unnecessary bombardment with radiation an invasion of privacy, disturbance of domestic peace, and potentially a health hazard.
At the initial call on 3/19, PG&E agreed on the removal of the meter, which occurred on 3/20. On 3/27 we received a letter notifying us (again), of a pending Smart Meter install. We called PG&E on the same day, where we were informed that Smart Meter installation is eventually unavoidable per PUC mandate. They also mentioned that research was done and proved that Smart Meter did not cause problems. In our mind, this research should be void and not provide sufficient proof, since we are a living proof that Smart Meter is causing us problems.
I should add that I’ve been also been sensitive to other devices, such as bluetooth headsets and WiFi. We don’t have WiFi at home, and no bluetooth, of course. In the case of WiFi or similar, I consider this as voluntary exposure. In the case of the SmartMeters, it is non-voluntary exposure. Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t go outside and turn off the meter. .. Putting corporate greed on top of public health is an outrageous disregard for society.
(G.K. Santa Clara County CA)
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I choose not to have a cell phone, computer, or use other wireless devices in my home. I’m not interested in having “smart” appliances there either. I avoid exposure to cell phone towers and public places that are “hot spots” for wireless use. This is because I experience headaches, a sensation of pressure in my head, increased heart rate, a sensation of dizziness, and other disturbing symptoms when I am around wireless frequency emissions. Regardless of what others may think, the symptoms are experienced by me, and I DO NOT want to have any wireless devices ON my home, where I cannot get away from them. I have owned this home for 25 years, and plan to stay there. I demand an opt-out option, and refuse to have a Smart Meter on my home.
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My husband has had an intense electrical/EMF sensitivity for the past 10 years. It has obviously had a great impact on our family. He had to quit his job a few years ago because of the work environment, and as new cell antennas and towers have gone up, we’ve often worried that we’d have to move. So far, we’ve managed to be able to stay in the Bay Area where we’ve lived our entire lives.
Installation of Smart meters began on our block two days ago. We declined, as did many people on our block, but our immediate neighbors both accepted (one of them did so only because he felt it was inevitable even though he was opposed). Since installation, our baby monitor (that we keep in a remote corner of the house) regularly becomes staticy to the point of not functioning, so clearly the microwave radiation is interfering. My husband has developed the same symptoms that he feels when he is near things like cell towers and speed limit monitors (intense pressure in his head and a headache, and agitation), symptoms he feels before he even sees the offending source. And I’ve been feeling nauseous and agitated with tension in my head, which honestly could very well be from anxiety.
We need to convince PG and E that we can never have a Smart meter installed on our property. And, we NEED to have our neighbors go back to the old kind of meter if we are to able to stay living here.
(Anon, Alameda County CA)
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What is happening in America is happening in my state of Queensland.
We had solar panels put onto the roof of our home, and then the power company came along and installed smart metres in our mains power box. There are three mains power boxes, so therefore there are three smart metres transmitting 24/7. My health has deterioated so much, that I feel that I can’t last.
Our state government has just gone ahead and made it mandatory even though the first state to install them, Victoria, is now finding real serious problems.
All I know is that we have 120 units in our complex, which means in a four acre block we have 120 smart metres. I have also found that the radiation from these smart metres are also being piggybacked into our home via the electrical wiring and causing further torment.
(Australia)
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She came home the other day and instantly became very sick: Migraine, heart palpitations, dizziness, depression, nausea, vomiting, intense thirst, parched lips, neuropathy, teeth pressure and buzzing, etc. Her husband had recently done some electric work on the house and went out to check to see if he wired something the wrong way. He came back in and reported that a Smart Meter had been installed by PGE. She called PGE and reported her symptoms, demanded they remove it, and replace w old meter, which they did. She’s feeling better after the removal and replacement of old meter.”
(Anon, SF CA)
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“I highly suspect the smart meters as being the cause behind my sudden menstrual irregularity…In early December, a guy knocks on our door saying they’re putting a new meter on our home and they’re turning off the power – Meanwhile starting in December – I had been having more headaches and difficulty staying on the computer for very long because of them – I thinking to myself, “what is causing this???”
A light bulb goes on finally – I make the connection, it all makes sense now – meters = headaches?
About the time I figure out what is causing the headaches is about the time my period decides to make it’s second appearance this month. …Then I start monitoring my blood pressure for whatever reason, only to find that it has gone up – from usually 125/82 to now reading 148/95″
(Anon, Kern County CA)
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I was just told today by my PG&E reader that there would be a “smart meter” installed on each gas and each electric unit, totaling 14 for my yard! For some reason I was under the impression that there would be one meter for the grouping. That was bad enough but fourteen is absolutely terrifying.
Has there been any comment or discussion on the additional hazards of so many units in one place? My bedroom is about 10 feet from the units. Do I have any recourse at all, that you know of, due to these special circumstances? My next door neighbor, on one side, is already coping with a seizure disorder, I have Lyme disease and there are health issues on the other side of my unit as well. Are there any attorneys around who are taking on this issue? (Anon, Sonoma County CA)
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I have severe Electrical Hypersensitivity (EHS). I also have severe Multiple Chemical Sensitivities. I have been essentially homeless and searching for housing for 3 years. I was doing ok in my temporary spots in Marin, where Smart Meters had not yet been installed. I had to move to Berkeley, because I could not find another temporary place in Marin, and I’ve been here for 4 months. My electrosmog sensitivity has gotten worse here, and I was finally clued in to the Smart Meter issue. There are 2 Smart Meters 10 feet from my current bed (for this property) and 1 Smart Meter 30 feet from my bed (for the property next door
I am trying to move out of the East Bay, because the Smart Meters seem to be most fully installed here…
I’m very frightened, for my housing situation, because it was already so difficult to find safe-enough housing, with my chemical and electrical sensitivities, but now the Smart Meters make it feel nearly impossible. I went all the way to Petaluma yesterday, by bus (I don’t own a car), and I found a chemically safe-enough rental, but that neighborhood already has Smart Meters installed on every house. The houses are much smaller and closer together, than in Berkeley, so I think the radiation per house is higher there. I was very discouraged to discover this.
(S.B., SF bay area CA)
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A woman, who requested to remain anonymous, called today and let me know she was able to have her Smart Meter removed. She called the PG&E Smart Meter line and told them it was urgent, and insisted they remove it. She also had a prescription letter from her doctor stating that she should not have a smart meter now or in the future. PG&E removed it.
(Web Admin)
__________________________________
On January 15th PG&E installed the new Smart Meter on our home in Aptos.
I was not home at the time and had no idea it was installed.
I arrived home from a great workout at the gym feeling like the peak of health.
As soon as I got back home I started to feel horrible and had no idea why.
The first thing I noticed was the worst pressure in my head and ears ever.
Then my heart started to beat really fast and then my brain felt wired.
Within 15 minutes I started to get really dizzy, nauseous and weak.
Within 20 minutes my whole body began to ache like nothing I had ever experienced before.
When I got on my computer my whole face and hands started to burn and hurt.
My husband arrived home 30 minutes later and asked how I was and I said the worst ever.
He then said he was going to check the work out the electrician did and saw PG&E installed The new Smart Meters.
I then called PG&E in a panic since i was feeling so awful and filed a complaint and asked them to take it off right away since it was making me so sick.
Santa Cruz is not scheduled until July to get these Meters.
We left and went out of town and I felt better in 30 minutes.
When we arrived home Sunday I felt horrible again and could not sleep that night. I called PG&E first thing Monday morning and pleaded to have it taken off right away since I felt so sick form it all.
Monday night at 8pm a PG&E installer came and took it off and put an old meter back on. Within 15-20 minutes I felt 90% better.
I have been electrical sensitive now for 4 years and these form of radiation was the worst that I ever felt in my life.
T.D. Santa Cruz County CA
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“I have lived in my home in San Leandro since November 2003, and have had two smart meters on my home (1 on gas, 1 on electric meters) since October 2008; and they are throughout my neighborhood since about that same time. I/we are now surrounded by a mesh network of pulsing extremely low emf (ELEMF). In May 2010, I had the signals measured by a local technician who had also checked my home in spring 2008 for possible EMF exposure that I suspected was causing me symptoms of vertigo and anxiety. I can provide a detailed report of his recent measurements showing the pulsing measurements and ranges of EMFs. Contrary to what PG&E has told me that these meters emit below the acceptable tolerable range of exposure, it’s the pulsing ELEMF that can interact with our body’s pulsing ELEMF and interfere with cellular communication. I believe I am having ill affects due to this technology being used, and have been seeking medical attention for symptoms of vertigo, the sound of my blood pulsing through my ears all the time while I’m at home, hyper-arousal/ADHD leading to inability to focus or relax, interrupted sleep, pressure in my head between my ears, increased headaches; and less frequently, heart-racing anxiety, nausea, and shakes. I take really good care of myself, and do not believe that this noticeable decline in my health is due to me getting older.
I truly feel like I am in a microwave and slowly being cooked. Even my previously healthy houseplants have either died or have big brown spots, like burns. These strange effects have been occurring now for over a year, and it’s finally beginning to make sense.”
A.C. Bay area, CA
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I personally experienced a smartmeter when PGE installed one on my neighbor’s home 25 ft away on May 7th, 2010. I did not expect to notice anything from one gas meter at that distance. However, I felt increasingly bad as the days wore on, with palpitations, irregular heartbeat, headaches, slight dizziness/weakness, emotional distress, anxiety and inner agitation, especially when on that side of our house. When I would leave to go for a walk out in the country, my headache would go away and I would feel better overall, but symptoms would come back upon return home.
I began to wonder if that one smartmeter could possibly be causing my symptoms, and even asked my neighbor if they had recently purchased any new electronic equipment (I wondered if it might be a DECT phone), but she said no.
Finally, in desperation, on May 22nd, I put a metal wheelbarrow over the meter (I had heard that metal stops much of the radio frequency (RF) radiation). My symptoms began to subside, and I was feeling better on May 23rd and 24th.
On May 24th, I was gone much of the day. Upon return home in the evening, I was feeling fine, and then worked for 2 hours in my office on that side of the house. All of the previously mentioned symptoms reappeared, and I was feeling despondent, even crying, as I went to bed. The next morning I learned that my neighbors had removed the wheelbarrow the day before while I had been gone, because PG&E had finally agreed to come out and deactivate the RF transmitter. That morning, May 25, 2010, a PG&E technician disabled the radio transmitter on the gas meter. I gradually began feeling better since then, although my heartbeat is still quite irregular much of the time. I am no longer getting headaches at home, and do not feel the emotional distress, dizziness or weakness.
I should mention that I am constantly exposed to some level of RF, since I live within 800 or 900 feet of the Sebastopol downtown cell tower, and can pick up 4 or 5 wifi signals in my home. Plus numerous nearby neighbors have “smart”phones or cellphones. We no longer have wireless of any kind in our home (since January 2010). Nor do we have fluorescent light bulbs or a microwave oven. I keep a cellphone in my car, switched OFF, and use it once or twice a month on speaker-phone for extremely brief intervals. I avoid places with lots of cellphones. None of these previous exposures prepared me for the onslaught of the smartmeter operating 24/7 next door, and I was very surprised at it’s strength.
For this reason I know that I cannot live in a neighborhood with smartmeters, whether or not they let me “opt out”. I am obviously more sensitive to RF radiation than most, but I am sure many others will be similarly affected. And many will have symptoms caused by the meters that they don’t understand or correlate to the meters.
N.H. Sonoma County
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In about late September I began to notice I was having some odd symptoms, including the following:
*Agitation*Memory loss*Inability to concentrate*Nervousness*Inability to get my work done,*Interrupted sleep, I felt as if I were becoming unhinged.
During the time between September and earlier this month my husband and son seemed agitated too. My husbandʼs blood pressure rose and he had to begin taking blood pressure medication. He was also experiencing sleep disruptions.
On February 25th and 26th there was a huge snowstorm here. During the storm I spent many hours in my living room, near my fireplace, about five feet away from the electric meter, which is installed outside my living room window. My right ear was facing the meter. My husband was traveling and my son was not at home for the same length of time that I was. The electricity went on and off several times during those two days. At one point I heard a piercing sound along with pressure in my ears. Along with the symptoms I had previously experienced, I began to develop worse symptoms, including the following: *Heart palpitations,*A buzzing-pulsing sound, especially in my right ear,*Agitation,*Interrupted sleep with nightmares of being attacked,*Accelerated heartbeat. I was afraid that I would have a heart attack.
The symptoms would lessen when I went outside. It seemed that there was something wrong inside my home, perhaps with the electricity. Through research and talking to electricians, I began to realize that my symptoms might be traceable to something relating to the meters. They were the only recently installed appliances in our home with radio frequencies.
After many desperate phone calls to Con Edison, it removed the digital meters, but only after I presented a note from my doctor, upon which Con Edison insisted. In place of the electric meter Con Edison installed another electric, digital meter that it assured me emitted NO radio frequency…
Con Edison also told me that I would need in the future to provide it with meter readings. Con Edison told me that both my doctor and I would be receiving a follow up communication from its health department, which we never did.
Whether the people at Con Edison lied or did not know what they were talking about is a question that needs to be answered. This meter also had a radio frequency … I realized this when my symptoms got worse. I was truly afraid that I would have a heart attack. I became terrified in my own home and could not find a comfortable place to sleep, because the buzzing pulsing sound in my ear was so disturbing. Before all of this started I was a healthy 51 year old.
Again, after making many more calls to Con Edison, on March 4 they removed that meter from my house and replaced it with an analog meter (this is the same type of meter Con Edison had initially removed in June 2009).
My immediate responses were so remarkable that I recorded them.*Tingling in arms,*Legs felt very heavy,*The buzzing-pulsing became quieter.*I felt as if my body was weighted down with exhaustion. Within hours I began feeling better. The loud buzzing-pulsing sound quieted down and my thoughts were less scrambled.
But my difficulties continued. In our home we have lived with wireless appliances, cell phones and fluorescent light bulbs for at least three years, and to my knowledge they have never been a problem for me. Now I cannot be near any of these things because I get a buzzing in my ears and my heart starts to race. The only possible cause for this change is that Con Edison placed meters emitting radio frequencies on and in my home in June.
Since Con Edison removed the digital meters and replaced them with an analog meter I am feeling better, but some of the symptoms have not gone away completely.
When I asked the Con Edison “Meter Relations”department (212-460-4111) if I could see a copy of the test results for human exposure to the frequencies in the meters, I was told that I must obtain a subpoena to acquire that information.
Con Edison also told me that the FCC had approved the meters. When I called the FCC, I was told that it does not address human health issues, but only with regulating frequencies, and the person with whom I was speaking hung up on me….
This could be a very dangerous situation. These meters are being used across New York State and the country. People might become sick from them and not know what is happening to them.
I am requesting that the meter replacement program be stopped immediately and that home owners be given the right to opt-out of receiving these meters if they do not want them, until further testing is done to learn the effects of the frequencies they emit, especially in combination with other frequencies to which we are already being exposed.
Thank you.
Michele Hertz
New York
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I am Toril Jelter, a board certified pediatrician specializing in medical and environmental aspects of autism related illness. I have health concerns regarding the unbridled roll out of wireless technologies without adequate health studies before hand. Dear FDA/FCC, I request a moratorium on the Smart Meter roll out ASAP until a proper assessment of health effects has been conducted. Here are a few patient stories for your review: A 2 year old child can’t sleep at night. He screams inconsolably for hours. When the mother takes the child away from the SF Bay area to a remote area with poor cell phone reception the child sleeps well every night and naps as a normal 2 year old would during the day. A 40 year old man with MS & EHS (multiple sclerosis and electrohypersensitivity) requests no Smart Meter. His doctor writes a letter to support this request. It is granted BUT only temporarily! His 4 neighbors get a Smart Meter and he develops such severe ringing in the ears (tinnitus) that he is no longer able to sleep indoors. He discovers that the only way he can sleep is to sleep outdoors. (This could be explained by the cumulative effect of EMF in his home + the Smart Meters next door.) A 45 year old woman with MS has been stable for several years. After installment of a Smart Meter she goes down hill rapidly. Depression,flu-like symptoms and severe fatigue. Another woman with MS 50 years old improving. Gets a Smart Meter. Gets worse balance, worsening depression. Falls breaks 2 ribs and punctures a lung. A 10 year old child with high functioning autism gets a Smart Meter. His handwriting deteriorates. He seems more fatigued. He gets flu like symptoms frequently. Looses his appetite. Stops gaining weight. A 65 year old woman gets a Smart Meter, actually 4 at the head of her bed. (condo)She develops severe tinnitus, sleep disturbance, intermittent confusion, memory problems, heart palpitations and diabetes. PLEASE HAVE AT LEAST ONE PERSON READ AND UNDERSTAND
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For anyone who wishes to fight the installation of a Smart Meter on their home for medical reasons, I would like to share my own successful experience. I live in the San Diego area –most of us in California live very close to our neighbors homes, and unfortunately there is nothing to date we can do to stop installation of their meters. However, nothing in The Telecommunications Act of 1996 prohibits us from complaining about health when installing a Smart Meter on our own homes. A “Smart Meter” is NOT a “wireless facility” [thus exempted from health concerns] and many of us will be/are being harmed by the unwelcome radiation in our homes. Do not let your electric company tell you otherwise. Tell them to very carefully read Section 704 of The Telecommunications Act of 1996 and ask how they would define a Smart Meter as a wireless facility – i.e. are cell phones wireless facilities? Of course not. It defies logic. But be prepared, because that excuse may be attempted by your electric company. SDG&E tried it –unsuccessfully. Bottom Line: You do have a right to complain about health concerns, but be prepared to offer solid proof by way of a physician’s documentation.
When I heard SDG&E was going to install Smart Meters in Rancho Santa Fe, CA I did the following to prevent installation of a Smart Meter on my home.:1) I called and followed-up in writing with SDG&E corporate office,informing them that I had a heart condition that could be adversely affected by RF radiation. Anyone who is known to be electro-sensitive should have the same rights as those of us who have heart-related issues.
2) I got a letter from my cardiologist explaining that RF radiation has been known to alter heart rhythms. (But first I had to educate my cardiologist as to what a Smart Meter is and does. I am attaching two documents I took to my cardiologist.)
* Int Arch Occup Environ Health. 1997 ;70 (1):9-21 9258703
Exposure to extremely-low-frequency electromagnetic fields and radiofrequency radiation: cardiovascular effects in humans. [My paper] J R Jauchem
* The 2002 letter from Norbert Hankin of the US Environmental Protection Agency to Janet New of (then) The EMR Network [she is now head of the EMR Policy Institute]. [My paper]Norbert Hankin’s revealing letter indicates standards set by the US government in 1996 do not apply to non-thermal effects of RF radiation. In other words, we are not living in a world of protection; the non-thermal effects of RF radiation were not taken into account when the regulations were established. “Safety standards” were never set. “Safety” is a false assumption.
3) I made an appointment to see Gunnar Heuser, MD, PhD., in the Los Angeles area. Dr. Heuser has long specialized in neuro-toxicology and is widely recognized as an one of the top medical experts in this arena. Dr. Heuser can objectively test a patient to document electro-sensitivity, and if they are found to be electro-sensitive, he can write a medial report that can unequivocally state one’ s health may be harmed by exposure to RF radiation from a Smart Meter. I fell into this electro-sensitive category, as have many others. Dr. Heuser is seeing more and more patients adversely affected by Smart Meters. He can be reached at: (310) 500-0041. Dr. Heuser’ s address: P. O. Box 2730, Agoura Hills, CA 91376.
4) I then sent letters from my cardiologist and Dr. Heuser to SDG&E’s corporate office. I told them they could not place a Smart Meter on my home due to health concerns. Additionally, I stated I would hold SDG&E legally responsible if my health was further impaired by a Smart Meter.
5) The result? SDG&E did not install a Smart Meter on my home.
Susan Foster, Rancho Santa Fe CA
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January 4, 2010
Ms. Susan Crane
Director, Meter to Bill Process
We Energies
231 W. Michigan Street
Milwaukee, WI 53203
susan.crane@we-energies.com
Dear Ms. Crane:
My patients, Shivani Arjuna and her husband Dan Small, have asked me to write to you with regard to how Shivani is affected by exposure to communication frequencies and “dirty electricity” frequencies. They are deeply concerned that placement of one of We Energies’ new, radio-broadcasting meters on their property would be harmful to their health, especially to Shivani’s. I share their concern.
People who are aware of experiencing symptoms as soon as they are exposed to radio (RF) and microwave (MW) frequencies are currently termed “electrically hypersensitive,” or EHS. Shivani is electrically hypersensitive. However, these individuals are by no means the only people actually being affected by such exposure, as ample, rigorous research done over a period of several decades shows chronic exposure causes health damage to people who note no immediate symptoms. Please see, for example, the bibliography of reported biological phenomena associated with radio-frequency and microwave radiation compiled by the US Navy Medical Research Institute in 1971, with over 2,000 references., at: www.dtic.mil/cgibin/GetTRDoc?AD=AD750271&Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf. Also, please see the summary of EMF effects at: www.icswebsite.com/emf/emfissues.html with 62 more recent references.
The immense proliferation of wireless technologies in the past few years has given rise to health problems that cannot be successfully treated medically, as medicine cannot remove the underlying cause, the exposure to radiation.
Safety regulations of various nations vary widely regarding what level of exposure is supposedly safe. Unfortunately, most countries’ regulations are still based on the old, inaccurate assumption that non-ionizing radiation is not harmful unless it actually heats body tissues. The fact that a given technology adheres to the present standards is meaningless in terms of its actual biological effects. Even an EPA spokesperson has stated that present U.S. standards are not protecting citizens from harmful radiation. Research shows harmful effects at levels far below what is presently allowed.
Years of research also reveal a broad range of symptoms and diseases caused by RF exposure. This is hardly surprising, as the human body functions electrically from the cellular level on. Attached you will find a list of conditions caused by exposure to RF and therefore termed “radio wave sickness.”
There are probably more mechanisms underlying the damage done to health by manmade electromagnetic frequencies than we are presently aware of. (To date, the mechanism by which smoking tobacco causes cancer is unknown.)
However, here is brief information regarding a few known mechanisms:
- It is established from multiple, independent studies that EMR from ELF to RF/MW reduces melatonin in animals and human beings. Melatonin is not only vital for healthy sleep, it is the most potent, naturally produced antioxidant that helps to protect cells from genetic damage that leads to cancer, neurological, cardiac and reproductive damage, illness and death.
- Exposure to intensities and field strengths that are extremely low cause a biological effect called calcium ion efflux. Calcium ion alteration of cells by EMR is linked to neurological degeneration, to cancer and many other health effects. The heart is also an electromagnetic organ, with an electric pulse initiating a cascade of calcium ions that cause the cells in the heart to contract and produce a heartbeat. Exogenous electromagnetic signals can interfere with this regular, electrical pulse leading to heart disease and heart attack of the arrhythmic kind.
- Physiological changes that are bedrock indicators of allergic response and inflammatory conditions that are stimulated by EMF exposures include: overreaction of the immune system; morphological alterations of immune cells; profound increases in mast cells in the upper skin layers, increased degranulation of mast cells and larger size of mast cells in EHS individuals; presence of biological markers for inflammation that are sensitive to EMF exposure at non-thermal levels; changes in lymphocyte viability; decreased count of NK cells; decreased count of T-lymphocytes; negative effects on pregnancy (uteroplacental circulatory disturbances and placental dysfunction); suppressed or impaired immune function; and inflammatory responses that can result in cellular, tissue and organ damage if exposure occurs on a continuing basis over time. Mast cells are also found in the brain and heart, and this might account for some of the other symptoms commonly reported: headache, sensitivity to light, arrhythmias and other cardiac symptoms.
- Many studies have shown that RF/MW radiation and ELF fields cause increased DNA strand breakage and chromosome aberrations.
As was concluded by the authors of the Bioiniative Report (www.bioinitiative.org ), it is unwise from a public health perspective to continue “business-as-usual,” deploying new technologies that increase RF exposures, particularly involuntary exposures.
Any company or industry whose products or operational methodologies cause involuntary exposure to RF radiation would do well to become more informed about these and other effects of such exposure, both to protect the public and to protect themselves from future liability suits.
Though it is no longer possible in today’s world to completely avoid exposure to communications frequencies, EHS individuals such as Shivani, need to live in a personal environment as clear of RF/MW as possible. This is recognized in Sweden, where the government creates safe working and living spaces for such individuals. In the U.S., EHS individuals have to do what they can to create their own safe living spaces. Certainly, these safe havens, on their own property, should not be denied them.
I have been Shivani Arjuna’s physician since 2002 and have noted how her specific symptoms and overall health have corresponded directly to her exposure to RF/MW radiation. Initially, she was experiencing incapacitating and life-threatening symptoms related to such exposure. At present, she is able to remain free of RF/MW exposure-induced symptoms as long as she remains in the safe home space that she and her husband have gone to considerable effort and expense to create. That she remains EHS is clear from how she responds to exposures when not in that safe environment.
It is my opinion that the placement of an RF-broadcasting device connected to the wiring on this property would be extremely detrimental to Shivani’s health and that it must not be allowed.
Such a device connected to their wiring, whether at or away from their house, would cause RF to be broadcast from the wiring throughout their home. I suggest the alternative of asking them to take regular meter readings from their present meter and call or mail these to you, with a We Energies employee checking the meter annually or semi-annually to ensure accuracy.
I look forward to your response and hope you will agree to this solution to ensure that Shivani’s health be respected and protected.
Sincerely,
Roy D. Ozanne, MD, HMD
42 Responses to Smart Meter Health Complaints
1. siouxfan says:
November 4, 2010 at 11:49 pm
This is so weird reading these comments. I just moved to Fairfield, CA from Oklahoma and have never heard of this smart meter. Ever since I moved here I noticed weird things happening in my chest. The tightness and palpitations that other people are talking about are exactly what I am experiencing too. It isn’t real painful or anything but just worried me since I thought I may be having heart problems…at 25 years old! I’ve only been here a little over a month and definately noticed something weird way before I even heard about these smart meters or issues anyone was having. Being an electrical engineering major I see what PG&E is saying about it being a very small wattage and how it shouldn’t affect anything but something about this new house I moved into is causing something to go on in my body. I Looked outside and I do have a smart meter attached to my house. I’m not really taking sides or anything on this debate of weather it’s the smart meter or something else but I do know that there is something weird/different about California that seems to be affecting my health…I just hope it’s not something permanent.
2. SanDiegan says:
December 17, 2010 at 6:46 pm
Since I had the SmartMeter placed on my home (master bedroom wall by headboard of my bed) involuntarily by SDG&E about 3-4 months ago, I have developed increasingly severe reactions to EMF (electromagnetic fields). I have constant ringing in my ears, getting louder and very distracting; headache, sinus pain, feeling of heaviness in chest, disorientation, mental confusion, difficulty concentrating and with calculation and driving, nausea, and very hard to use computer, phones, etc. Can’t sleep well, insomnia, though improved with change of bedroom. My doctor wrote a letter demanding under the ADA that SDG&E remove the SmartMeter, the reply was that SM’s don’t impact health, my doctor is wrong that the ADA covers this, and they essentially refuse to remove the SM. Needless to say, I am shocked, horrified, and will take further steps. This is an example of Big Brother in our lives worse than anything I have seen in America in 60 years. They can harm and kill us legally now, in our own country. This is an outrage.
3. SG says:
December 28, 2010 at 9:45 pm
SDGE just replied to my letter to them (Ted Reguly is the head of the Dumb Meter program) and they told me also that it was too bad and ADA does not apply. They said I should write a letter to CPUC if I feel like it. They are sending the same form letter to everyone.
I would love to see a class action suit against these creeps.
4. Sandi says:
January 16, 2011 at 10:34 am
Sent from Dr. Tobin Watkinson:
The government FCC PUC WHO etc have allowed technology with lots of money to influence the importance of caution when it comes to the health of those who have to live decisions. People are as different as grains of sand or snow flakes everyone is unique. Our chemistry our audition our speech our electronics. The human body is a series of electrochemical reactions which drive it’s function. For anyone to think this organic battery of a body of ours can sit aside a strong (as compared to the body)artificial electrical field without effect or some perception even on a cellular level has a “short”between their ears. Our health and the health of everyone depends on our understanding of these basic physiological principles and progress that is not blinded by profit.
Each and every one of us is at risk and must speak out for our rights to have a voice when inappropriate choices are imposed upon us without our consent.
5. Sandi says:
January 16, 2011 at 10:38 am
Sent from Cynthia Perkins:
Open Letter to Southern California Edison and CPUC
On Thursday, January 6th, I called Southern California Edison to inform you I do not want a Smart Meter installed at my residence.
I am disabled with several health conditions that will be adversely affected by the installation of the Smart Meter.
I have very weak adrenal glands that don’t produce enough Cortisol. The combination of EMF/RF in the Smart Meters is known to be very damaging to the adrenal glands. The stress from this type of exposure could push me into Addison’s disease and possibly result in death.
I have chronic migraines, which could be magnified with the EMF/FM exposure.
I also have EMF sensitivity. EMF sensitivity is an illness caused by exposure to radiation that is discharged from a variety of sources like cell phones, microwaves, cell phone towers, etc. When I am exposed to certain levels of EMF, I experience migraines, heart palpitations, trembling, weakness, hot flashes, increased pulse, pain in my gastrointestinal system, dizziness, inability to concentrate, impaired cognitive functioning and hyper-arousal. I do not even own a cell phone, because I’m incapable of using one.
When I called your office, I was met with hostility, confrontation, intimidation and a complete lack of regard for my position. I was told that I had no choice in the matter and if I do not comply my electricity will be shut off.
Therefore, if a Smart Meter is installed at my home, I will hold you, Corix and the CPUC legally responsible for any and all impairments in my health and consider the following possible charges:
Assault
I have informed you that installation of a Smart Meter will cause me bodily harm and puts my life at risk. If you install a Smart Meter, I will consider this assault and will file charges accordingly.
Manslaughter or Wrongful Death
If I die, then we’re talking about manslaughter or wrongful death.
Medical Expenses
If you install a Smart Meter, I will hold you legally responsible for all medical expenses incurred by the Smart Meter to my health.
Trespassing
If you, Corix or anyone on your behalf comes on my property to install a Smart Meter, I will have you arrested for trespassing.
Invasion and Violation of Rights
Last, but not least. This entire procedure is unconstitutional. It is an invasion and violation of my rights. You should not have the right to bathe me with environmental toxins without my permission. You should not have the right to alter my home in any manner without my permission.
I am not willing to play Russian roulette with my life and you should not be permitted to do so either. As someone who lives with five disabling chronic health conditions, there is not room in my life for more suffering that may result from the Smart Meter. You should not have the right to violate and intrude upon what I must do to protect my health.
I should have the right to have electricity service without being forced to put my life and health in danger. I will take any and all measures available to me to be heard on this issue in my community and across the country including the media and the Internet.
For starters, I am using my website which gets more than 70,000 visitors a month, to broadcast all that transpires between me, the CPUC, Corix and Southern California Edison, including your threat to turn off my electricity and your hostile and lackadaisical attitude towards the concerns and rights of the citizens. I will also use Facebook and Twitter. You may want to take a look at the following page on my blog, which I will be updating throughout this process:
http://www.holistichelp.net/blog/smart-meters-are-hazardous-to-your-health-and-violate-your-rights/
I am in the process of contacting ABC news, CBS news, NBC news, all the local newspapers, the Internet Radio shows, legislators, City Council, President Obama and anyone else who is willing to listen about your lack of concern for our rights and the threat to turn off my electricity — a woman who is disabled with five chronic health conditions. The lack of electricity would leave me without heat in the middle of winter, not to mention the inability to cook etc.
So, once again, this letter is to inform you that I oppose the installation of a wireless SmartGrid meter at my home. I do not want to be exposed to the wireless radiofrequency/microwave radiation from the meter, the security and hacking risks, the potential fire hazard from the meter, or the electromagnetic interference with electronics and medical devices, the invasion of privacy – nor do I want any more cell antennas in my neighborhood.
I will not opt-in to the Southern California Edison Company program by installing power transmitters inside my home on my home appliances, to report energy usage to SCE. The California Public Utilities Commission should require SCE to conduct additional economic studies that take into account various percentages of people who will NOT join this program. SCE has stated that its current ‘base case’ requires compliance by the public in placing radiofrequency radiation transmitters inside their homes. SCE says the SmartGrid project will cost $1.6 billion dollars of ratepayer money (for 5 million new wireless meters). This is a waste of ratepayer money if people decline to participate due to health and safety or trespass reasons.
Therefore, I am requesting that you do not shut off my electricity and continue to provide me service with the meter that is currently installed at my residence.
If you do not want to send out a meter reader to read my meter, I will be happy to take a picture of my meter every month and send it to you.
I repeat, I do not consent to the installation of a Smart Meter at the address listed below. Corix, or anyone acting on your behalf does not have my permission to install a Smart Meter at the address listed below.
I would appreciate hearing from you on this matter promptly, as deployment begins on January 18th in my neighborhood.
Sincerely,
Cynthia Perkins, M.Ed.
6. Sandi says:
April 7, 2011 at 5:16 pm
It’s unconscionable that so many stories are coming in and from everywhere and NOTHING is being done. It’s like we’ve been invaded by creatures bent on destroying us. It’s worse than any science fiction movie I can conjure. This has to stop. It has to stop now. This is genocide. They’re going to reduce the population to a sick, confused mush puddle and then walk them off the cliff.
Howard Glasser Lake County, CA
7. tharris109 says:
April 30, 2011 at 8:46 am
moving to CA and concerned about the smart meters. And since I had brain surgery a year ago I get really bad headaches. Worried the EMF”s from the Smart meters will cause head aches
8. Valerie says:
May 31, 2011 at 7:23 am
I was wondering does anybody know if these devices have an effect on Patients with pacemakers or even effect the pacemaker itself? I hear that Australia is getting these so called smart meters & my husband has a Gaurdiant pacemaker with 3 leads & already suffers from Tinnitus without a smart meter & I have heart issues as well & our Electrical box is on the outside of our bedroom wall with our bedhead against this wall & cannot be placed any other way in the room due to the design of the room (built in wardrobes & ensuite & large window).
9. cathryn de gery says:
June 2, 2011 at 3:19 am
I live in a 472 sf small studio, there are 7 smart meters outside the wall of my bed. PG&E installed about a year ago, I recently am dying from the terrible headaches, woke up many times at night , with also very loud ring deep in my ear, consistently ring in my ear !!! I want to throw up all the time, very very tired, do not want to do anything, bad memory, I cannot believe I start to feel my heart is beating so heavy painful and just struggled to make it going. I went to see the doctor, I was told to move out of this room far away from smart meter as soon as possible. I contacted with PG&E, they told me that those killer smart meters are not going to be removed no matter what, PG&E is murder !!!! we need to do something about it in Goverment to get rid off this killer smart meter !!! I do not want smart meter damage my 6 years old child’s brain or any part of our body, please stand up to protect our own life !!! I live in los Gatos, Santa Clara , Ca. thank you for reading and need help !!!
10. A.R. says:
June 3, 2011 at 11:33 am
This issue has “Class Action Lawsuit” written all over it. Any activist attorneys out there who would care to take this on? Cell phones and their cancer risks are next…
11. Mary L. says:
June 15, 2011 at 2:17 pm
I have been having increased symptoms over the past few years since a Smart Meter was installed. I did allow it but didn’t know then about the health risks, and it’s located just outside out bedroom window. I have tinnitus, heart palpitations, many aches and pains that I never had before. I keep going to the doctor’s office spending money on trying to feel well, but to no avail. I wish I could find out if we can have it removed.
12. S. G. says:
June 29, 2011 at 2:18 am
Thank you. This has finally answered my questions. A smart meter was placed on our house April 25. I have been having chest pains, joint pains, rashes, horrible piercing headaches, nausea, very heavy menstrual cycles for two months, decreased mental capacity and increased sensitivity to emf’s. I have been trying to get Florida Power and Light to help me figure out why I have been having surges on my gauss meter. I feel sorry for all of the Florida residents who are having symptoms and don’t know why.
13. Bill Beckham says:
July 2, 2011 at 1:38 am
I live in Fresno, CA and ever since a Smartmeter was installed in our home, I have had trouble sleeping at night. Recently, even my wife has had trouble sleeping. The Smartmeter is installed on the wall outside of our bedroom and moving to a new room is not an option. PG&E says that they will change it back at a large cost and monthly fee.
14. Robert Leverant says:
July 3, 2011 at 5:53 pm
Reading these testimonies, amplify my concerns about smart meter installation on my house, my neighbor’s house (which faces my house), and the houses on our street. It is unconscionable that by stealth and power tripping (pun intended) that PG& E can install these toxic devices & get away with mental, physical and emotional abuse of psyche and soma of their customers/citizens in California, U.S.A.
I’m glad to see that in some instances, due to the timeliness and cogency of a complaint, that some smart meters were removed and the analogue meters reinstalled. This gives me hope.
15. Holly Manion says:
July 3, 2011 at 6:00 pm
Please, if possible move your bed away from the wall where the smart meters are installed.
My friend, John, experienced ringing in his ears when the smart meter was installed on his house. He made a temporary shield for the RF radiaiton with HEAVY DUTY foil from the supermarket and a grounding wire. He now uses a more permanent solution which reduces the radiaiton from the smart meter. As a result the ringing in his ears is gone!
You then need to expose one end of the wire about two inches, and tape this to the Here is the IMPORTANT part. The wire needs to be grounded. Run it out the window and attach to a water pipe coming out from the ground, or you will need to get a copper grounding pipe (at Home Depot). Attach the other end of the wire to this copper pipe (that is pounded as far as you can into the ground). This should reduce the majority of the EMF’s coming into your home.
16. John says:
July 15, 2011 at 7:29 pm
I have read the symptoms , odd enough it was in 2009 that I have experienced vertigo , and balance problems when the Smart Meter came. With all these ‘claims’ like what I have , there must be some medical research to back it up as well proof . The EMF meter’s on the Ghosthunter’s show could detect some form of waves coming from the Meter’s . Anythought to this?
17. JAR says:
July 17, 2011 at 10:00 am
It’s a shame that reading all these complaints has the effect of summoning up the thought, “These people are nuts.” Well, count me in, then.
Central Maine Power did not perform due diligence in alerting people that the meters were to be installed. When installation began in my neighborhood, two weeks ago, exactly two weeks ago, I began experiencing what I can only call a short-circuiting of synapses or something — spams — which spread across my chest into my arms and legs. Szit szit szit – but intermittently throughout the day and night. These have now largely stopped, but my tinnitus is horrible, and I am not doing anything to exacerbate it.
I don’t know whether these effects are due to the Smart Meter installation or not. Perhaps I am having sudden cardiac/neurological problems. But what if my symptoms ARE caused by the emfs? The doctor who I will see in a week, would not cotton, I am certain, to my even posing the question. He will say I am nuts.
I say – in the absence of any scientific evidence for my symptoms, one must consider alternative explanations; in this case – the Smart Meter installations.
Note that I had no idea the Smart Meters were being installed, so, at least, this is not a case of psychosomatic inducement of symptoms. Is there a physicist in the house?
PS The dog has been barking wildly – a completely new behavior for this normally plain ol’ dog.
18. JAR says:
July 17, 2011 at 10:03 am
One more thing: my pulse rate, always in the upper range, around 90 bpm, has dropped like a stone. No, as yet known medical explanation for that either. Hate feeling like a nut.
19. Donna Avent says:
July 19, 2011 at 12:26 am
Smart meter make me dizzy and can’t think straight. My mind lot of confuse because of radiation by smart meter. I did tell CPUC about restore analog but CPUC did not listen me many times.
20. Mia Nony says:
July 22, 2011 at 11:13 pm
Anyone else here know about Graham Stetzer filters? They are an antidote. They also sell the frequency reading meter which will read your induced electromagnetic levels in the home. The filters are used in the electric outlets in the house to clean up dirty electricity from the smart meter and otherwise. This also means the smart meter stops using your house wiring as a transmission antenna and stops using you as a transmission receiver.
As for physical well being, at least one antidote to ANY radiation exposure and for DNA repair is to take sea vegetables daily.
21. Mia Nony says:
July 23, 2011 at 12:03 am
All of these symptoms are very real. These frequencies slowly cook the human body. Literally.
Hence the need to practice self protection daily.
The effect is called the “heat effect”. Depolarization of nerve and muscle occur as a result.
In Canada it is illegal to allow any frequency to excite or stimulate body tissues. And yet Health Canada ignores their own laws. In reality smart meters are illegal.
So is any wireless device or even the wired meters, since those have a special device called a Supply Mode Power Switch or SMPS which – wait for it – protects the meter from 240 high voltage but exposes the human inside the building to radically spiking high voltage in the process, up to 50,000 Giga hertz a spike.
The way I see it? If this is illegal in my country according to Canadian health laws, then if and when this comes to my home I intend to fully and completely wrap the meter in heavy aluminium turkey plates and to hold it in place with duct tape which suppresses the transmission which in turn converts the transmission of the meter from frequency into heat, just like any microwave oven does, and which in turn fries the meter.
I don’t know how to use a chainsaw or I would use this but I do very much admire anyone who refuses to accept this illegal surveillance device. I feel exactly this way – or I would maybe use a sledge hammer. Same goes for the smart meter boosters on utility poles in the rural areas as target practice. Call this sedition but who is the illegal one in this picture? The utility corporations, that’s who. All of them. All at the same time doing this to all of us all over the globe. Who thought that up? The united Nations, that’s who. Fake green microwave pollution. FIGHT BACK!
22. Mia Nony says:
July 23, 2011 at 2:01 am
TAKING BACK THE POWER FROM THE “POWER” UTILITY:
We are all essentially junkies, electricity addicts. Think of the power utility as the drug dealer who is counting on us to not ever think of ways to reduce the amount of electricity we have turned on all over the house at any given moment. We seldom think of ways to wean off the use of this electricity nor even think how to pare down what we do use to absolute essentials as needed. Right now every circuit and every wire in the average home is”on”, whether it is needed or not. Every circuit is “live” or “active” for the sake of “convenience”. But at what price? When all circuits are left “live” this turns the whole house into one giant transmission antenna for the smart meter to co-opt. Start to think about how much of this circuitry is truly essential for one’s daily use. An electricity free bedroom is a good place to start. Okay here are some ideas friends have shared with me.
1) LINE THE INTERIOR SURFACE BEHIND THE Smart Meter …with a large sheet of anything protective which deflects on one side and is coated on the other interior side so that it does not deflect into the home as well, and choose the shield according to its ability to create back scatter and to reflect radiation, be it specially metal threaded fabric or be it the kind of leaded glass used by x-ray techs or be it a large sheet of lead, or nickel. You can buy and use specially designed carbon paint for the entire interior wall area and even the exterior wall area for at least several yards in all directions behind the meter. Or maybe cover the whole interior area with copper backed wallpaper. Some metals are more effective than others. Aluminium is okay but not as strong at deflection as is copper, for instance. (Although if you were to turn on a cell phone and then wrap it totally in aluminium foil it would eventually turn into heat and fry itself.).
There are also smart meter metal collars and box shields for sale on the net. Truth be told, I am not sure how much they reduce emissions but I think the idea is to direct the frequency and to narrow its beam.
In any case the general idea is to accomplish the same thing with this purchase of a smart meter shield kit approach or with DYI for this: Wrap a snug metal collar or aluminium wrap around the entire circumference of the smart meter and then box it in on all sides except the face with what ever will deflect or suppress the frequencies, hopefully not toward anyone else’s property. This is one approach for those who do not want to be liable for actual damage to the smart meter or who prefer not to wrap it up to suffocate the frequency and shut it down for good.
Whatever you use on the interior wall behind where the meter is installed, do some research on the best materials first.
Make it a VERY LARGE SHEET.
Smart meters have a large field. Visualize them as a giant lightbulb and visualize the field as the light from it.
Better yet also add EMF absorption material on the interior side of the lead or other metal sheet or carbon paint surface which you install on the interior wall shared by the meter. Or you might also try to obtain Carboshield from Germany which actually extinguishes radiation and is used to prevent espionage or hacking. .
Be careful not to operate EMF emission items indoors anywhere at all near the smart meter interior shielding material or that same shield, if it has no absorption layer on it, will tend to also reflect or enhance the emissions from items in your home. Remember all electricity has a field. Same goes for stainless steel appliances which bounce EMFs from other wireless devices in the home.
2) YOUR CIRCUIT BOX IS YOURS. Use this fact to your advantage.
Diagnose every circuit. Then turn off every single circuit that is not absolutely essential to your daily use. Fridge and freezer is all you really need except when cooking and one back up plan is to consider a propane outdoor two burner cookstove and or a BBQ with an oven area, for that. Switch to gas or wood heat where ever possible. Turn your hot water heater on only for a while in advance of when absolutely needed. Turn off all appliances including washer and dryer at the circuit box. Especially turn off any newer appliances which radiate 24/7 and which “talk” to the meter. For bathing try one hour max to heat the hot water tank for a shower, then turn it back off for the rest of the time, by using the HW tank like an on demand heater, and then leave it off at the circuit box the rest of the time. Turn off all bedroom circuits and use only LED battery operated “puck” lights everywhere possible. Filter any and all remaining live circuits with the Graham Stetzer filters to neutralize dirty electricity in any live circuits.
3) Notify the utility that you hereby refuse to allow any surveillance device or wiretapping device to be installed or to remain on your home. It is illegal to monitor your activities. Warn them that you know this.
Go to Youtube and put the name ” Jerry Day” or” Smart Meters” into the Youtube search bar. Then listen to what this savvy electronics guy has to say, so straightforward and uplifting and practical advice. Then use the form letter he provides below the video and personalize it, add your account number and address and send it by registered mail with a certified arrangement and a double signature assurance of acceptance, making certain to send it to the head or CEO top management person of the utility company for your area.
23. Mia Nony says:
July 23, 2011 at 2:16 am
Robert Baan a, Yann Grosse a, Béatrice Lauby-Secretan a, Fatiha El Ghissassi a, Véronique Bouvard a, Lamia Benbrahim-Tallaa a, Neela Guha a, Farhad Islami a, Laurent Galichet a, Kurt Straif a, on behalf of the WHO International Agency for Research on Cancer Monograph Working Group
In May, 2011, 30 scientists from 14 countries met at the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in Lyon, France, to assess the carcinogenicity of radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF). These assessments will be published as Volume 102 of the IARC Monographs.1 Human exposures to RF-EMF (frequency range 30 kHz—300 GHz) can occur from use of personal devices (eg, mobile telephones, cordless phones, Bluetooth, and amateur radios), from occupational sources (eg, high-frequency dielectric and induction heaters, and high-powered pulsed radars), and from environmental sources such as mobile-phone base stations, broadcast antennas, and medical applications. For workers, most exposure to RF-EMF comes from near-field sources, whereas the general population receives the highest exposure from transmitters close to the body, such as handheld devices like mobile telephones. Exposure to high-power sources at work might involve higher cumulative RF energy deposited into the body than exposure to mobile phones, but the local energy deposited in the brain is generally less. Typical exposures to the brain from rooftop or tower-mounted mobile-phone base stations and from TV and radio stations are several orders of magnitude lower than those from global system for mobile communications (GSM) handsets. The average exposure from use of digital enhanced cordless telecommunications (DECT) phones is around five times lower than that measured for GSM phones, and third-generation (3G) phones em it, on average, about 100 times less RF energy than GSM phones, when signals are strong.
Similarly, the average output power of Bluetooth wireless hands-free kits is estimated to be around 100 times lower than that of mobile phones.
EMFs generated by RF sources couple with the body, resulting in induced electric and magnetic fields and associated currents inside tissues. The most important factors that determine the induced fields are the distance of the source from the body and the output power level.
Additionally, the efficiency of coupling and resulting field distribution inside the body strongly depend on the frequency, polarisation, and direction of wave incidence on the body, and anatomical features of the exposed person, including height, body-mass index, posture, and dielectric properties of the tissues.
Induced fields within the body are highly non-uniform, varying over several orders of magnitude, with local hotspots.
Holding a mobile phone to the ear to make a voice call can result in high specific RF energy absorption-rate (SAR) values in the brain, depending on the design and position of the phone and its antenna in relation to the head, how the phone is held, the anatomy of the head, and the quality of the link between the base station and phone.
When used by children, the average RF energy deposition is two times higher in the brain and up to ten times higher in the bone marrow of the skull, compared with mobile phone use by adults.2 Use of hands-free kits lowers exposure to the brain to below 10% of the exposure from use at the ear, but it might increase exposure to other parts of the body.3
Epidemiological evidence for an association between RF-EMF and cancer comes from cohort, case-control, and time-trend studies. The populations in these studies were exposed to RF-EMF in occupational settings, from sources in the general environment, and from use of wireless (mobile and cordless) telephones, which is the most extensively studied exposure source. One cohort study4 and five case-control studies5—9 were judged by the Working Group to offer potentially useful information regarding associations between use of wireless phones and glioma.
The cohort study4 included 257 cases of glioma among 420 095 subscribers to two Danish mobile phone companies between 1982 and 1995. Glioma incidence was near the national average for the subscribers. In this study, reliance on subscription to a mobile phone provider, as a surrogate for mobile phone use, could have resulted in considerable misclassification in exposure assessment.
Three early case-control studies5—7 encompassed a period when mobile phone use was low, users typically had low cumulative exposures, time since first use of a mobile phone was short, and effect estimates were generally imprecise; the Working Group considered these studies less informative.
Time-trend analyses did not show an increased rate of brain tumours after the increase in mobile phone use. However, these studies have substantial limitations because most of the analyses examined trends until the early 2000s only. Such analyses are uninformative if excess risk only manifests more than a decade after phone use begins, or if phone use only affects a small proportion of cases—eg, the most heavily exposed, or a subset of brain tumours.
The INTERPHONE study,8 a multicentre case-control study, is the largest investigation so far of mobile phone use and brain tumours, including glioma, acoustic neuroma, and meningioma. The pooled analysis included 2708 glioma cases and 2972 controls (participation rates 64% and 53%, respectively). Comparing those who ever used mobile phones with those who never did yielded an odds ratio (OR) of 0•81 (95% CI 0•70—0•94). In terms of cumulative call time, ORs were uniformly below or close to unity for all deciles of exposure except the highest decile (>1640 h of use), for which the OR for glioma was 1•40 (95% CI 1•03—1•89). There was suggestion of an increased risk for ipsilateral exposure (on the same side of the head as the tumour) and for tumours in the temporal lobe, where RF exposure is highest.
Associations between glioma and cumulative specific energy absorbed at the tumour location were examined in a subset of 553 cases that had estimated RF doses.10 The OR for glioma increased with increasing RF dose for exposures 7 years or more before diagnosis, whereas there was no association with estimated dose for exposures less than 7 years before diagnosis.
A Swedish research group did a pooled analysis of two very similar studies of associations between mobile and cordless phone use and glioma, acoustic neuroma, and meningioma. 9 The analysis included 1148 glioma cases (ascertained 1997—2003) and 2438 controls, obtained through cancer and population registries, respectively. Self-administered mailed questionnaires were followed by telephone interviews to obtain information on the exposures and covariates of interest, including use of mobile and cordless phones (response rates 85% and 84%, respectively). Participants who had used a mobile phone for more than 1 year had an OR for glioma of 1•3 (95% CI 1•1—1•6). The OR increased with increasing time since first use and with total call time, reaching 3•2 (2•0—5•1) for more than 2000 h of use. Ipsilateral use of the mobile phone was associated with higher risk. Similar findings were reported for use of cordless phones.
Although both the INTERPHONE study and the Swedish pooled analysis are susceptible to bias—due to recall error and selection for participation—the Working Group concluded that the findings could not be dismissed as reflecting bias alone, and that a causal interpretation between mobile phone RF-EMF exposure and glioma is possible. A similar conclusion was drawn from these two studies for acoustic neuroma, although the case numbers were substantially smaller than for glioma. Additionally, a study from Japan11 found some evidence of an increased risk for acoustic neuroma associated with ipsilateral mobile phone use.
For meningioma, parotid-gland tumours, leukaemia, lymphoma, and other tumour types, the Working Group found the available evidence insufficient to reach a conclusion on the potential association with mobile phone use.
Epidemiological studies of individuals with potential occupational exposure to RF-EMF have investigated brain tumours, leukaemia, lymphoma, and other types of malignancy including uveal melanoma, and cancers of the testis, breast, lung, and skin.
The Working Group noted that the studies had methodological limitations and the results were inconsistent. In reviewing studies that addressed the possible association between environmental exposure to RF-EMF and cancer, the Working Group found the available evidence insufficient for any conclusion.
The Working Group concluded that there is “limited evidence in humans” for the carcinogenicity of RF-EMF, based on positive associations between glioma and acoustic neuroma and exposure to RF-EMF from wireless phones.
A few members of the Working Group considered the current evidence in humans “inadequate”. In their opinion there was inconsistency between the two case-control studies and a lack of an exposure-response relationship in the INTERPHONE study results; no increase in rates of glioma or acoustic neuroma was seen in the Danish cohort study,4and up to now, reported time trends in incidence rates of glioma have not shown a parallel to temporal trends in mobile phone use.
The Working Group reviewed more than 40 studies that assessed the carcinogenicity of RF-EMF in rodents, including seven 2-year cancer bioassays. Exposures included 2450 MHz RF-EMF and various RF-EMF that simulated emissions from mobile phones. None of the chronic bioassays showed an increased incidence of any tumour type in tissues or organs of animals exposed to RF-EMF for 2 years. An increased total number of malignant tumours was found in RF-EMF-exposed animals in one of the seven chronic bioassays. Increased cancer incidence in exposed animals was noted in two of 12 studies with tumour-prone animals12, 13 and in one of 18 studies using initiation-promotion protocols.14 Four of six co-carcinogenesis studies showed increased cancer incidence after exposure to RF-EMF in combination with a known carcinogen; however, the predictive value of this type of study for human cancer is unknown. Overall, the Working Group concluded that there is “limited evidence” in experimental animals for the carcinogenicity of RF-EMF.
The Working Group also reviewed many studies with endpoints relevant to mechanisms of carcinogenesis, including genotoxicity, effects on immune function, gene and protein expression, cell signalling, oxidative stress, and apoptosis. Studies of the possible effects of RF-EMF on the blood-brain barrier and on a variety of effects in the brain were also considered. Although there was evidence of an effect of RF-EMF on some of these endpoints, the Working Group reached the overall conclusion that these results provided only weak mechanistic evidence relevant to RF-EMF-induced cancer in humans.
In view of the limited evidence in humans and in experimental animals, the Working Group classified RF-EMF as “possibly carcinogenic to humans” (Group 2B). This evaluation was supported by a large majority of Working Group members
24. Mia Nony says:
July 24, 2011 at 1:36 pm
Don’t wait for local or state laws to protect you Head straight to the top.
Smart meters are illegal.
Health Canada laws use Safety Code Six – (which, please note, is absolutely no different than the same Code used for all countries including the USA, as these are the international code standards of safety).
International Health Law, as well as the version for Canada in Safety Code Six law, states that any wireless device with incompatible frequencies capable of exciting human tissue and causing the “heat effect” are by ALL Health laws, Canadian ones and those everywhere, “to be avoided”
Think about those implications legally!!
Every single corporation connected with the manufacture and/or the installation of any wireless device is liable under the health laws of every democratic country.
This means that smart meters are right now ILLEGAL, illegal according to every country’s own health safety laws which state the same thing as Canadian law everywhere else.
Testimony has been given to our government by a man named Curtis Bennett to this effect.
I gather that it has been pointed out to the House of Commons in Ottawa, Canada in a Standing Committee that Health Canada has “omitted” by what they are politely calling an “error of omission” This means they have decided to disregard the law, and even since being notified officially Health Canada still has continued to overlook or ignore the link to causation from incompatible frequencies between biological beings and artificially generated EMFs. This is a key legal clause of their own laws and Health Canada has also as good as suspended the procedural use of the “weight of evidence” requirement in the study of incompatibility of frequencies between biological entities and wireless devices.
Note that Health Canada only did so for this sole issue of wireless devices.
This means this must be the same for the USA.
And that means that while everyone is busy trying to demand that local ordinances upheld, the reality is that each local governmental body is answerable to each state and each state may or may not be individually answerable to the Feds. So at the Federal level, at least in Canada, the reality is that smart meters are in total violation of Federal health laws.
Busted?
There is a lawsuit in process in the US based on the same fact, that Health Canada is in violation of its own Federally mandated laws which are no different than those of the USA regarding prohibition of any risk of excitation and stimulation and resulting heat effect on human tissues from frequency conflict between these devices and the human body which has a frequency of about 7 to 7.5 hertz and which has absolutely no EMF shielding. Even a simple coaxial cable has shielding!
We have NONE!
25. Mike says:
July 27, 2011 at 11:23 pm
“My friend, John, experienced ringing in his ears when the smart meter was installed on his house. He made a temporary shield for the RF radiaiton with HEAVY DUTY foil from the supermarket and a grounding wire. He now uses a more permanent solution which reduces the radiaiton from the smart meter. As a result the ringing in his ears is gone!”
Does he wear a tinfoil hat too?
26. Donna Avent says:
August 17, 2011 at 9:34 pm
I did FILE A COMPLAINT WITH THE CPUC for two times but same things. CPUC won’t listen me. I got two times with same letters CPUC. I have no power against CPUC. I believe CPUC is bed with PG&E. My mind is fog and can’t thing straight out and weak because of smart meter. I went to back to Los Angeles, CA and sleep with my sister without smart meter . I feel restore my health and restore my mind. But I have go back home in near Bakersfield, CA and return my mind fog and weak. I don’t think CPUC is willing to ban smart meter. Very hard to remove smart meter.
27. goliath says:
August 27, 2011 at 3:33 am
its obvius and was to a 50 scientist brigade studying these effects and then suppressed by pg/e…..its genocide and nothing less people ,,,laugh or deride all you want but this an act of war on the citizens in california…screw pg/e..the needc to schedule a day to remove these g/dam things and throw em out in the street or let this nwo agenda remove you fast as the amount of radiation will cause micro nuclei proliferation and some of you are going to perish soon….i was at an apt with 12 of these damn things and experienced all the same problems so i quit going there to visit …its pretty scary…
http://ppjg.wordpress.com/2011/08/15/smart-meters-no-federal-mandate/ ..there is no law stating that we have to allow pg/e to kill us and our pets …pet seizures are escalating and all the vet says is to further screw up the animal ny giving it barbiturate…..people are all oh this emf stuff this and that blah blah is harmless until they get hit by it …..the govt knows that emf is dangerous as the russians used to bombard the usa embassy there with only .(point) .01 microwatt 24/7 and it caused a shitstorm of cancers in that place…you live in a 65 microwatt environment without the s-meter signals…my dog started to have seizures when someone moved in nextdoor where a wifi had never been and started to leave their wifi on turned up ,,,so that with the other wifi complexes in the hood …anyway it all adds up exponentially…these assholes at pge can threaten all they want but i would and will remove it and whatever else i might have to do and i recommend that people take a proactive stance against these idiots and their hexavalent chrome legacy that they never cleansed up and continue to use ,circa erin brokovitch,,,,where the hell is she now …..
28. Judd says:
August 27, 2011 at 6:27 pm
Reading these comments goes to show what a negligent society we live in. I moved to a small country town after being maimed by a Government run hospital. The house we moved into had a small phone tower about a mile up a hill behind us but that was it. Within a year they built a much larger tower next to the old one and now I get pulsing through my ears while my head is on the pillow at night also ringing and sometimes deafness. This all started when the new tower was built. Then after looking through a spotting scope used for photography I saw in the distance a new phone tower has been built high on top of a hill whose antenna points directly to the one near us. We are right in the middle. This is consistent with all these symptoms happening to both myself and my friend who lives with me. We intend to sell up and move away as soon as possible as these phone towers are making us sick.
29. Kheri Hines says:
August 31, 2011 at 8:38 am
My name is Kheri Hines and I host internet radio show Center Stage. Friday, Sept 2, 2011 from 8-10pm CST on Center Stage the topic: “Is Oncor’s Smart Meters Cheating their Customers,” will be discussed. However, we plan to talk about all things SMART METERS. I would love for some of you that have had problems to call in @ (347) 850-8390, we are located on the web @ http://www.blogtalkradio.com/centerstage. If you have experienced higher than normal utility bills, health issues, concerned about privacy, or have an issue I did not mention, call in… Send me any data you have on smart meters to centerstageradio@yahoo.com if you are not comfortable calling in… Or if you would like to be a part of the panel contact me asap.
30. Charyl Zehfus says:
September 4, 2011 at 2:22 pm
I just wanted to add something for the benefit of people who might read these reports and dismiss them as complaints from the “tin-foil hat” – or nutso – people.
You will find the “tin-foil set” to include people of all ages, from the left, right and middle, from every walk of life – artists, musicians, teachers, administrators, farmers, veterinarians, etc. Traditional medicine is behind the curve on this growing health disaster, and lumps people into other categories, mental and physical. This is just another form of environmental illness, and in time, will be accepted as such. In the meantime, please be kind and respectful of people with the condition. They are isolated enough without being labelled as “tin-foil nuts.”
Thanks.
31. BJ Arvin says:
September 23, 2011 at 5:16 pm
Think about it…..is this just part of a huge eugenics operation? They take things we all need, Food (GMOs), Water (fluoride and all kinds of other pollutants), Air (chemtrails) and elec power, then go about their attack. Not to mentions vaccines or prescription drugs! Can you imagine what this country will look like after everyone has the meters and all the supporting antennas and relay stations are in place? Talk about Zombie world. The way the people from companies and utilities who are raking in the gov. money for doing this boondoggle are absolutely denying the health effects is CRIMINAL and murderous. THEY don’t care! I wonder how many of THEM would sleep in a room that was near a bank of 4-100 meters? Yeah, sure. And I thought I was pushed over the edge with being saturated with aerosol spraying containing God knows what! Time for thousands of us to bring lawsuits (small clains courts) against the people who are responsible for forcing this on us. The makers of the meters, utilities, PUCs, and state or local legislators!!!
32. Paula Fighting for our lives says:
September 28, 2011 at 12:06 pm
Father God Jehovah, as we look at all these terrible health issues here of a smart meter being placed on our homes, we suddenly realize that O God our only hope is You. WE ask in the name of Jesus that You come to our aid in this matter and straighten all this mess up. Father, we need our monies to live on , not to have to have unnecessary meds and doctor bills to function. Now we choose like the Jews from the holocaust living in Germany. Do we buy meds and go to the doctor or do we loose our place to live. Father, please answer us. Please do something quickly. Our babies are dying , the old are suffering, and the men are not able to work , tired, chronic illness, and anxious. The terrible Emfs are causing all kinds of health problems and bankrupting our country. O God please help us today. Please help us to eliminate this problem and remove this terrible Emf , microwave off of our homes and put people back to work in the name of Jesus. Amen.
33. Paula Fighting for our lives says:
September 28, 2011 at 12:15 pm
I am 50- one small three pound dog died. I have headaches, dizziness, palpitations,scarey heart pains, blood clots, abnormal periods, tingling and itching of the scalp, facial pain, I feel like something is squeezing my entire body in to . It is awful I have fibromyalgia and arthritis before the meter, But now, I have worse, I fight everyday. It is awful. My husband has a hard time at night while asleep, and my grandchildren when in my home have terrible problems, even get wild at times. I do not know what to say or do. I have contacted my local electric company.
I ask you to join me in prayer to get something accomplished. And for God to call an advocate to our defense, a strong advocate if they do not listen to us.
I pray that it does not take another country taking is over, through the super naturalist of God Jehovah to stop them. They are destroying our temples. God is against this , very much so and as a Christian we all know this to be true.
Please pray that America does the right thing, quickly all over the nation.
My electric company told me we do not have a smart meter it is hooked through the electrical line that it is not wireless, same difference.
Same cause and affect, I assure you.
Please pray . I am praying with you.
34. Paula Fighting for our lives says:
September 28, 2011 at 12:17 pm
It is not just CALIFORNIA> I am in TN>>>> WE all need help., thank you that YOU all know we are not nuts. I had an electrician to say this about his wife. That saddens me.
35. dale sheridan says:
October 7, 2011 at 7:38 pm
I was just getting mad at the insane increases to my PGE bill when I started looking at this site. I have been having really weird health problems for about a year now. Dry mouth, buzzing in my head.
I dont think about sex any more and I was beginning to think it was because I’m getting a little old but now I am just about convinced its the radiation coming from the meter. It is less than 10 feet from my bed. I sleep upstairs and the meter is right below my window.
I need to get away from this thing and determine if these symptoms go away.
This just makes complete sense now. I need to get a meter and start a lawsuit.
36. Betty Gustafson (Health/Fitness Coach) says:
October 11, 2011 at 1:10 pm
Ever since the Smart Meter was installed in my home in California, I have experienced major interruption of my sleep…..waking up several times during the night with feelings of agitation and unable to go back to sleep right away – sometimes I lay there for an hour or more – and sometimes I am so restless that I have to just get up!! (even if it’s in the middle of the night).
I also, frequently experience tingling sensations in my lower legs through-out the day and night along with pulsating “siren-like” noises in my ears.
I never experienced any of these problems BEFORE the Smart Meter was installed. I always considered myself very fit and healthy, and could always sleep through-out the night!!!
37. E.B. Myers says:
October 14, 2011 at 11:32 am
They installed a smart meter yesterday. The first day they came out we refused it and asked them to leave. Two men returned the next day with the main supervisor. He told me all the info on the internet about smart meters was just lies and hype. I still refused the meter. The super told me I had 10 seconds to decide to have the meter installed or have the power shut off. He told me if I did not give them access to the back yard( where the old meter was located) they would cut power off at the pole and I had about 10 seconds to decide.
Are they (power companies) allowed to use this kind of coercion to achieve their agenda? I still do not want this meter and am fighting to have it removed ASAP.
38. admin says:
October 14, 2011 at 1:36 pm
Which utility company did this? No they are not allowed to use coercion like this. Contact TURN or UCAN if you live in So CA. File a formal complaint with the CPUC.
39. smartmeter statistic 2011 says:
October 18, 2011 at 10:40 am
They installed these meters 2 months ago at my house (cincinnati, Ohio) and since then i have felt like i’m always sick. When i visit my parents in the next town i felt fine until last week. They started changing to smartmeters in my parents neighborhood and now i am experiencing the symptoms at their house also. These smartmeters are dangerous.
40. Aphool Imnaught says:
October 21, 2011 at 4:14 pm
RF/microwave radiation mitigation shielding is essential to protect your DNA and to avoid rapid onset of cognitive impairment.
Repair of DNA is also essential. Protect and repair yourselves
41. Aphool Imnaught says:
October 21, 2011 at 4:28 pm
Stop suffering needlessly and take care of the damage to your bodies, and then prevent further damage.
Spirulina & chlorella repair DNA. Hiroshima survivors who took these two items never got cancer. Stick to recommended dose and at first start with less.
Keep proof of all utility bills as paid up.
Carbon sheets can and do absorb and neutralize radiation. Bubble wrap insulation is a product with this stuff between two layers of foil, is easy to staple to an entire wall and deflects radiation. Staple it to the entire interior wall where the meter is located. Then, since there is no anti foil law, wrap the meter itself up totally with the foil insulation, as well.
Then put on the kettle for tea and calmly wait for the utility rep to show up.
They will.
Ignore what they say.
As soon as they leave then rewrap the meter with this special foil. One place to see pictures of the right kind is at insulation4less.com
42. Kara says:
October 24, 2011 at 1:55 pm
PLEASE CALL THE PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION OF CA 1-800-649-7570 AND VOICE YOUR CONCERN.Our smart meter was installed today and I just called Edison to have them remove it. They said they can’t do that. Once the new meter is installed they get rid of the old one. Of course that’s bs on their part. I called the 3rd party vendor and they said they give the old meter back to Edison. So what I learned is that we all need to call the Public Utilities Commission of CA and voice your concern. Use your voice. They are going to make a decision soon about what to do for the people who don’t want their Smart Meters PLEASE CALL 1-800-649-7570.
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