Pacific Gas & Electric is apparently set to continue installing “smart” meters in Marin despite the Marin County Board of Supervisors’ Jan. 4 meter moratorium. The county cites health and safety concerns, as well as meter inaccuracies and consumer privacy implications. “Continuing with SmartMeter installation will help our customers get SmartMeter benefits,” stated PG&E spokesperson Paul Moreno. “[We’re] still looking into enforcement in light of the fact that it sounds like PG&E is going to ignore the ordinance,” countered Marin County Counsel David Zaltsman. “We’re not drawing a line in the sand yet,” he added, noting research into options is ongoing. The county’s action pits it against the more powerful California Public Utilities Commission, which approved and has kept the entire state’s investor-owned utilities’ $5 billion advanced meter program on track. To date, $3 billion of ratepayer funds have been spent. “Commission action preempts local action on regulated utility infrastructure,” said Steve Weissman, associate director of the Center for Law, Energy and Environment at the University of California, Berkeley, and former CPUC administrative law judge. He noted, however, there have been exceptions to CPUC preemption, including on local cell tower installations. In addition, regulators have the discretion to factor in community concerns into their decision making, he added. “The commissioners have a duty to assess public safety concerns,” insisted Joe Como, Division of Ratepayer Advocates acting director. “They have buried their heads in the sand and things have festered.” The county invoked its franchise agreement with PG&E--the owner of the digital meters--as the basis for its authority. Marin notes that the meter installations constitute “additional terms and conditions” to that franchise, giving the county the legal right to act. The CPUC “has made no provision to allow customers to opt out as the state converts to a smart grid,” according to Moreno. “We committed to engaging more fully with communities where SmartMeter™ devices are about to be installed.” The policy of the state that smart meters can save money and power in the long run, and curb emissions is increasingly colliding with consumer concerns over facets of smart meter programs that impact individuals. That could well undermine regulators’ intentions, according to DRA’s Como. And, more so because opposition is growing. “There is getting to be a critical mass of jurisdictions expressing concerns,” said Weissman. For the past six months, Marin County residents have regularly attended CPUC meetings to request a halt on meter installation--primarily due to health and safety worries. Other counties and municipalities, such as in Santa Cruz County, have also pushed for a meter moratorium. The Town of Fairfax, in Marin County, imposed a moratorium on installations Aug. 4, 2010. “Major problems and deficiencies with SmartMeters in California have been brought to the attention of the Board of Supervisors of the County of Marin, including PG&E’s confirmation that SmartMeters have provided incorrect readings costing ratepayers untold thousands of dollars in overcharges and PG&E’s records outlined ‘risks’ and ‘issues’ including an ongoing inability to recover real-time data because of faulty hardware originating with PG&E vendors,” stated the county ordinance. Marin County also said the emergency moratorium was necessary to thwart potential invasions of privacy. According to the county, digital meters “represent a new form of technology that relays detailed hitherto confidential information reflecting the times and amounts of the use of electrical power without adequately protecting that data from being accessed by unauthorized persons or entities and as such pose an unreasonable intrusion of utility customers’ privacy rights and security interests.” If digital meter installations were stopped, the county power authority’s delivery of alternative energy for those who chose it would not be slowed, according to Jamie Tuckey, Marin Clean Energy project coordinator. In related news, a petition for rehearing was filed at the CPUC Jan. 5 over smart meters’ health effects from electromagnetic frequencies. A Sonoma County-based group concerned about possible health impacts of smart meter radiation asked regulators to reconsider its filing seeking to halt wireless meter installations. “The Commission has an obligation to ensure safe delivery of gas and electric service and has committed legal error by neglecting and deferring its utility regulation duties to the Federal Communications Commission,” stated the EMF Safety Network. The group also is seeking a hearing on the health affects of the digital meters.
