A report released last week that dismisses some of the potential dangers of PG&E’s new SmartMeters hasn’t fully alleviated the concerns of some government officials who worry that the wireless household energy gauges could cause long-term health problems.
The report, which Assemblymembers Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) and Bill Monning (D-Carmel) requested last year from the California Council on Science and Technology (CCST), states that the radio frequency waves emitted by SmartMeters pose negligible risks of thermal damage in people exposed to the devices. In other words, people with SmartMeters in their houses will not suffer tissue burns or spontaneously catch fire.
However, the report’s authors acknowledged that insufficient data was available to adequately dismiss potential non-thermal hazards, including effects on brain activity and even cancer.
To Assemblyman Monning, too much uncertainty remains.
“The report didn’t say there are no non-thermal risks. It only said that there’s not enough data to know,” said Monning, who wants PG&E and the California Public Utilities Commission to offer their customers a hard-line alternative to the wireless SmartMeters. So far, they have offered no such option. Huffman, meanwhile, has authored legislation with AB 37 that would require the utilities to offer ratepayers optional energy gauges that emit no radio frequencies.
On Jan. 11 the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors, reflecting fears about the safety of SmartMeter radio waves, extended its moratorium on their installation in unincorporated parts of the county through the end of 2011 (a moratorium passed in September expired on Dec. 31). Though local officials have no authority to stop PG&E’s SmartMeter plan, which is part of a nationwide campaign to improve energy efficiency, Monning assures that, when he sits down to discussions with the energy giants, he’ll lay the concerns of Santa Cruz County flatly on the table.
Elsewhere, opposition to SmartMeters is heating up. In Scotts Valley, a grassroots organization called Stop Smart Meters.org has launched a fierce campaign. The group’s director, Joshua Hart, says his email box is flooded daily by reports from California residents who, after their homes were fitted with SmartMeters, have been plagued by headaches, nausea, dizziness and insomnia. “What we have here is a blind experiment being forced on the people of California, mostly without their knowledge,” Hart says.
Public comments on the CCST’s report can be submitted through Jan. 31.
