Smart Meter Fire In Portage, MI?

Image from this report of a Smart Meter fire in 2012

"Consumer investigator Jim Strickland discovered the meters are similar to the ones that have triggered a rash of fire reports elsewhere."  That story here. 

"Our neighbor's house caught fire because of a smart meter."  Quote from EMF Safety Network here.

And now, neighbors of a Bellaire Avenue home in Portage, MI, say the house fire on August 23rd was started by the Consumers Energy electric Smart Meter, though the Fire Marshal has ruled the Smart Meter out. That story is here.

Some of the comments about the Portage, MI fire:

"Wow! This is a darn shame! It was the METER!!! Why did Consumers (Energy company) come and remove it before any investigation was done while the home was still in flames!?! I call BS! I am their neighbor! Everyone who witnessed the situation knows it was the new smart meter just put in three days earlier!"

"The thousands of people who have been through it. The thousands of people who have fought their insurance companies for the 'unknown cause' of house fires, where the energy company removed the evidence before investigation." 

"I watched it with my own eyes as they removed the melted, explosive meter from the home. I also spoke directly to the home owner as he explained hearing the large POP and running around the home to see that that was the only thing on fire."

We are dealing with utility companies that lie about their equipment and say they are not Smart Meters, sneak onto people's properties to install Smart Meters without property owner's knowledge or consent, and force people to have a Smart Meter installed with the threat of water or gas or electricity shut-off despite some homeowners telling the utility company that they are so sensitive to radio frequencies that Smart Meters make them ill.

It will be interesting to see if any pictures from the house fire on Bellaire in Portage, MI, surface after eyewitnesses say it WAS the Smart Meter yet the Fire Marshall ruled it out.

"More recently, utility Portland General Electric announced it was replacing 70,000 smart meters after three reports of fires caused by overheating of the meter-home interconnection.  That blow was followed by the Saskatchewan government's decision to remove 105,000 smart meters deployed by utility SaskPower, after finding eight reports of malfunctions, some resulting in fires on the outside of the home."  That story here.

Hundreds of Smart Meters simultaneously explode in Stockton, CA, April 1, 2015, story here.

"Yes, there is absolutely conclusive evidence on health effects," story here.   

"Bioeffects are clearly established and occur at very low levels of exposure to electromagnetic fields and radiofrequency radiation."  That report here. 

"The International EMF Scientist Appeal was initially signed by 190 scientists from 39 nations.  These scientists have collectively published over 2,000 peer-reviewed papers on the biological or health effects of non-ionizing radiation, part of the EMF spectrum that includes Extremely Low Frequency fields (ELF) used for electricity, or Radio Frequency radiation (RFR) used for wireless communications."   Quote from here.

We have a right to be safe from harm from utility company's equipment.

Just say no.  "I refuse an installation.  Put me down as a refusal."

The "opt-out" meters are proving to be just as harmful as the Smart Meters.  So accept 100% ANALOGUE meters only, for the health and safety of it.  More information here.

Thank you to Smart Meter Education Network, EMF Safety Network, Stop Smart Meters, Michigan Stop Smart Meters, Take Back Your Power, BioInitiative 2012, EMF Scientist, and many others who are helping educate the public about Smart Meters.

Image from this story in 2011

May We ALL Be Blessed!

Battle Creek City Commission Meeting

It was a long City Commission meeting last night, with lots of drama.  I gave my comment about smart meters at about 46:48 minutes in, which can be viewed here.  The audio is somewhat off sync with the video, but still very understandable.

Towards the end of the meeting, one of the Commissioners asked the City Manger if there was an opt-out program that I could become a part of.  She replied that they were working on an opt-out program.    

And it just occurred to me that the idea of an "opt-out" program is backwards, because we never opted-IN to the City's wireless program in the first place.  We were tricked into having the wireless devices installed, without our knowledge or consent.  

Analogue Water Meter

The "old-fashioned" ANALOGUE meters have a 100-year history of safety, and last an average of 30 to 50 years.  The new, so-called smart meters (wireless/radio/electronic/upgraded/digital meters), do not have a history of safety.  Actually quite the opposite.  Here and here are some links about that.  Plus, the new smart meters that were installed only a few years ago are already failing. 

After the meeting, I met another resident who has been adversely affected by a smart meter.  She and her husband were actually forced into taking a smart meter by the City of Battle Creek Water Department, with the threat of water shut-off if they did not comply.

So not only have they been sneaking these wireless devices onto private property without the knowledge or consent of the property owners, but they've been threatening property owners with water shut-off if they don't agree to having one of these radio devices installed.

And the line from an old Gene Pitney song comes to mind, "What a town without pity can do."

As I was leaving, a uniformed police officer turned to me and said that he really likes what I say at the end of my speeches, blessing everyone, and that he could really feel that I mean it, and that "we could use more people like you."  

I smiled and said, 

"We start with one."

He smiled and agreed.

Here is a transcript of what I said: 

Regarding Vice Mayor Gray's comment to me at the last City Commission meeting, which was in response to my deep concern about the safety of the smart meters the Water Department, and all of our utility companies, have been installing, neither Ms. Gray nor any of you, have been able to provide actual studies, documenting the safety of smart meters, while more and more evidence that smart meters cause harm continues to surface. 

There are 57 jurisdictions opposed to the installation of smart meters in California, a state known to be a forerunner when it comes to the health and safety of their citizens, and 15 have passed ordinances making smart meter installations illegal.  Now Nevada City, NV, is proposing a ban on smart meters.
Hundreds of medical doctors and other health professionals are requesting moratoriums on the installations of smart meters because they are seeing the effects these meters are having on their patients. 

Ms. Gray's email mentioned the FCC in reference to the smart meter manufacturer's documents.  The fact is that the FCC refuses to regulate low frequency radiation.  The new FCC chairman, Tom Wheeler, has been active in the over-a-trillion-dollar-a-year wireless industry since the mid-1970's.  And now he's in a position to regulate the very industry that has been his bread and butter.  That is what's called a fox guarding the hen-house, and could explain the lack of regulation by the FCC.

Ms. Gray's email mentioned the World Health Organization in reference to the smart meter manufacturer's documents.  The fact is that there is an appeal in front of the World Health Organization, signed by over 200 doctors, scientists, engineers, and PhD's, requesting that the World Health Organization's  guidelines and regulatory standards be strengthened in regards to radio frequency radiation, based upon over 2,000 scientific studies that mostly demonstrate neurological and physiological damage from prolonged exposure to the kind of low frequency radiation generated by smart meters. 

Those who are more quickly adversely affected by smart meters, the proverbial canaries in the coal mine, are currently approximately 5% of the population, and we have a right to be safe from harm from utility company's equipment.
Just as Battle Creek was the first in the nation to honor the needs of the disabled by making curb cuts, there is still time for Battle Creek to be the first, at least in the mid-west, to recognize the difficult truth about smart meters and the harm they cause, by imposing a ban or moratorium on the installation of smart meters within the City of Battle Creek. 

Thank you for listening.  May you all be blessed!

*

Vice Mayor Gray's Response And My Reply

It is hard for me to believe that all those links to all those government documents that put bans or moratoriums on smart meters, in all of those cities and counties, meant nothing to Vice Mayor Gray. It is hard for me to believe that the City Commissioners of Battle Creek think they know better than hundreds of County Board Members, Commissioners and Council People from other cities and counties. But that is what appears to be happening.

Vice Mayor Gray did respond to my August 9th email. She shared a couple of links (http://ccst.us/news/2011/20110111smart.php and http://www.economist.com/node/21527022), then proceeded to tell me that, "...we as a city commission are supportive of the new meters..." She didn't even refer to the new meters as what they truly are: smart meters - radio transmitting devices.

So in truth, the City of Battle Creek City Commission is in support of smart meter - radio transmitting devices, when absolutely no proof exists that they are safe. And why is it so difficult for them to say, or write, "smart meter" or "radio device"?

Here is my most recent reply to Vice Mayor Gray, sent yesterday:

Dear Ms. Gray, 

Thank you for your response. 

The first report you sent has no studies in it of real people and how the body responds to radio frequencies. No where does it say that it is safe to have a smart meter on the other side of the wall of your child's bed. Nowhere does it say that the elderly and pregnant women are not at all affected by these devices. Nowhere does it say they are 100% safe. 

I am looking for real studies of real people, proving that these devices are 100% safe. So far, there are none. But there is a plethora of studies, stories, testimonies, blogs, videos, etc, about people who have adverse affects from smart meter/radio transmitting devices. Here is another one I came across:
Pediatric autism specialist calls for smart meter moratorium - http://emfrefugee.blogspot.ca/2015/07/pediatric-autism-specialist-calls-for.html 

The Economist article you sent actually states, "The only possible effect they can have on human tissue is to raise its temperature slightly." 

As if that is not cause enough for concern? Have you ever had your tissue raise in temperature? Most likely you have, perhaps from the sun, or perhaps a burn from the stove, or maybe like me, from a cell phone to your ear. Either way, tissues don't raise in temperature for no reason. Something is happening to them to cause them to heat up beyond normal temperatures.

I've had my flesh heat up by wireless devices, which led to constant pain. The pain goes away only when the wireless devices are removed. However, when SEMCO snuck a smart meter on, the pain returned. Unfortunately I can not turn the SEMCO smart meter off! I have since read that previously damaged tissue is more susceptible, which is probably why I had such an immediate reaction to the smart meter. 

I suppose we could spend the rest of our lives, or at least until smart meters are outlawed, sending documents to each other supporting our point of view. However, there is one thing neither you nor anyone else can deny: my testimony that these devices hurt me; and other people's testimonies that these devices harm them as well. We have a right to not be harmed by utility company's equipment! And forcing us to pay extra to not have these devices on our homes is extortion.

Approximately 5% of the population of Battle Creek will start experiencing negative effects from these devices, if they have not already. Most people wont know what's going on, because most people don't know what smart meters are, because the City's Water Department and SEMCO gas have not been up-front about what they have been installing on people's homes. The City is even balking at putting my exact words in the legal minutes of the Commission meeting, that these devices are smart meter/radio transmitting devices. Why not call them what they are? And now it seems that the City and Consumers Energy are also misleading the public about what kind of devices Consumers Energy is planning on installing, as evidenced by the very vague and misleading "Battle Creek Current" newsletter, August 2015. What are you going to do when approximately 5% of the residents of Battle Creek begin to link adverse physical symptoms to these devices? Is the Water Department willing to remove 5%, or more, of the devices they are currently installing, because of customer's complaints of adverse health effects? 

Thousands of people worldwide are testifying that these devices do cause them harm. I am one of them. Are you still in support of harming approximately 5% of the population in Battle Creek, not to mention the entire world? That's what you do, as someone in a position of authority, when you put your stamp of approval on these devices. 

Is the City of Battle Creek willing to sign an affidavit taking 100% responsibility for any and all harm caused by these devices? If not, then perhaps it is time for you and the City Commission to take a second look at these devices, read some real stories about real people. Talk to some real people who have had negative experiences from these devices. Do some leg work, phone work, and your own research. Stop relying on agencies who may have ulterior motives as your only source of information as to why you are supporting these devices.

Looking forward to your responses. 

May you be blessed, 

Jeanine Deal 

(end of email)

Thank you for reading ~ May We All Be Blessed!

Misleading Newsletter

"Battle Creek Current" is the name of the City of Battle Creek's community bi-monthly newsletter.  You can see it here.  

In the August 2015 issue, the newsletter announces that Consumers Energy is beginning meter changes for gas and electric customers this summer and in 2016, in Battle Creek and surrounding areas.

The article calls these new meters "upgraded electric meters," that will give the company daily meter reads through the cellular telephone network.

Nowhere in the article do they call these new meters:

Smart

or

Wireless

or

Radio frequency devices.

But they are.

Of course, that could just be an oversight.  An "oops!"  However...

Smart, wireless, radio frequency devices cause ill effects on 3% to 5% of the population.

Why would numerous cities and counties in California, the state known to be a forerunner when it comes to decisions for the health and safety of their citizens, be banning these devices, or putting a moratorium on their installation, if they were so safe and benign?  

Officials of the City of Battle Creek, please feel free to comment.

May You Be Blessed!

Dear Vice Mayor Gray

The Vice Mayor of Battle Creek questioned my concerns about smart meter/radio transmitting devices, and here is my email response to her:

Dear Vice Mayor Gray,

Towards the end of the August 4, 2015 City Commission meeting, in regards to my concern about smart meter/radio transmitting devices, you said something like, "We had an extensive explanation of that in the past."  Perhaps you were referring to the two documents that I was referring to in my public comments, when I said that when the Water Department is questioned about their safety, they send out two documents from the manufacturer which state that these devices are safe.  And I said, of course the manufacturer is going to tell you they are safe; they want to sell you their product.  The manufacturer's documents hold no weight with me.  Independent third party testing is required.  And from my research, there is none that prove that these devices are safe.

I personally have adverse reactions from smart meters and most, if not all, radio transmitting devices, and I know of another resident who had a debilitating reaction from a smart meter, and she didn't even know what a smart meter was, nor that one had been installed on her home.  Her reaction was more of a "typical" reaction and the health professional asked her if she had a smart meter.  I went to her house on Monday and verified that indeed, she did.

The fact is, we really don't know if these smart meter/radio transmitting devices are safe, and preliminary results point to the opposite, except from the manufacturer; the manufacturer is telling us they are safe.  But thousands of people world-wide are telling us that they are getting ill from them.  Though it appears that those who are hypersensitive are the minority right now.

The following is a partial list of California counties and cities that have either called for a moratorium on smart meter installations, given customers the right to opt out, adopted an ordinance banning smart meters, requested more research on health and safety impacts, and/or who are otherwise opposing smart meters...

The County Board of Supervisors of the following counties:

Humboldt - http://emfsafetynetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/CPUC-Letter.pdf
Lake*** (ban or moratorium on smart meters) - http://emfsafetynetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Lake-County-Smart-Meter-Moratorium-Ordinance.pdf
Marin*** (ban or moratorium on smart meters) - http://emfsafetynetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/marin-urgency-moratorium-adopted-1-4-11.pdf
Mendocino*** (ban or moratorium on smart meters) - http://emfsafetynetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Mendocino.pdf
Monterey - http://emfsafetynetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Monterey-County.pdf
San Louis Obispo - http://emfsafetynetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/SLO-BOS-on-SM-3.8.11.pdf
San Francisco - http://docs.cpuc.ca.gov/efile/PM/119424.pdf
Santa Cruz*** (ban or moratorium on smart meters) - http://emfsafetynetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Santa-Cruz-ordinance-and-packet-1-11-11.pdf
Santa Barbara
Sonoma - http://emfsafetynetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Sonoma-County-AB-37-Support-Letter.pdf
Tehama - http://emfsafetynetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Tehama-County.pdf
Ventura - http://www.vcstar.com/news/supervisors-push-for-revising-opt-out-program

And the cities of:

Arcata - http://emfsafetynetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Arcata.SmartMeter.Letter.1.6.2011.pdf
Belvedere - http://emfsafetynetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Belvedere.pdf
Berkeley - http://emfsafetynetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/BerkeleySmartMeterLetter2010.pdf
Blue Lake
Bolinas
Calabasas
Capitola - http://emfsafetynetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/952-Capitola-SmartMeter-Moratorium-Urgency_Ord.pdf
Clearlake
Cotati - http://emfsafetynetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/Cotatismartmeters.cpuc.20100330.pdf
Fairfax - http://emfsafetynetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Ordinance-752-Urgency-Ord-banning-Smart-Meters.pdf
Fort Bragg - http://emfsafetynetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Fort-Bragg-2011-05-09-SmartMeters-CPUC.pdf
Goleta - http://www.independent.com/news/2012/feb/23/smart-meters-rile-goleta-residents/#commenttoggle
Grover Beach - http://emfsafetynetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Grover-Beach-Ltr_CPUC-SmartMeters_04-19-11.pdf
Lake Port*** (ban or moratorium on smart meters) - http://emfsafetynetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Lakeport-Smartmeter-Moritorium-Resolution.pdf
Marina - http://emfsafetynetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Marina.pdf
Mill Valley - http://emfsafetynetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Mill-Valley-SmartMeter-Letter-MV-Council-to-CPUC.pdf
Monte Sereno - http://emfsafetynetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Monte-Sereno.pdf
Monterey - http://emfsafetynetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Monterey-.pdf
Morro Bay - http://emfsafetynetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Morro-Bay-Resolution-63-10-1.pdf
Mount Shasta
Novato - http://emfsafetynetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Novato-SmartMeters-ltr-to-CPUC-FINAL-08-26-10.pdf
Ojai*** (ban or moratorium on smart meters) - http://emfsafetynetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Ojai-Ordinance-823-Smart-Meters.pdf
Pacific Grove
Palo Alto
Piedmont
Richmond
Rio Dell*** (ban or moratorium on smart meters) - http://emfsafetynetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Rio-Dell-Ordinance.pdf
Ross
San Anselmo - http://emfsafetynetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/San-Anselmo-Letter-to-CPUC-Jan-2011.pdf
San Louis Obispo - http://emfsafetynetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/San-Luis-Obispo-letter-to-CPUC.pdf
San Rafael - http://emfsafetynetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/SanRafael.pdf
Santa Barbara
Santa Cruz - http://emfsafetynetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Santa-Cruz-County-034-1.pdf
Sausalito
Scotts Valley
Sea Side*** (ban or moratorium on smart meters) - http://emfsafetynetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Seaside-SmartMeters.pdf
Sebastopol***(ban or moratorium on smart meters) - http://emfsafetynetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/DRAFT-Smart-Meter-Moratorium-Ordinance-For-2-21-2013-.pdf
Simi Valley
Solvang
Thousand Oaks - http://www.toaks.org/civica/filebank/blobdload.asp?BlobID=23166
Watsonville*** (ban or moratorium on smart meters) - http://emfsafetynetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Watsonvill-Ordinance.pdf
Willitis - http://emfsafetynetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Willits-Resolution-2011-06-SmartMeters.pdf
The Big Valley Band of Pomo Indians*** (ban or moratorium on smart meters) - http://emfsafetynetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Big-Valley-Band-of-Pomo-Indians.pdf

So you see, we're not talking small potatoes here!  There's a lot of people on the smart-meter-free bandwagon.  Unfortunately, it appears that because we're still a minority, we're not always taken seriously.  That's why those like me, hypersensitive to radio frequencies, may be akin to the proverbial canary in the coal mine; an early warning sign.

Smart meter/radio transmitting devices adversely affect me and others, and we have a right to not be harmed by utility company's equipment.

Thank you for your concern about this issue.  I look forward to hearing back from you regarding the information I have presented.

May you be blessed!

Jeanine Deal

P.S. - I've attached the two documents I was referring to, from the manufacturer of the smart meter/radio transmitting devices, that the Water Department sends out when someone questions the safety, that hold no weight because they are manufacturer documents.  If they are not what you were referring to, please let me know.  Thank you!  

(End of email)

Then, I found another credible source, and sent that to her as well:

Dear Vice Mayor Gray,

I'm sorry if I am overwhelming you with information, but I just found another credible source warning us about smart meter/radio transmitting devices, the American Academy of Environmental Medicine:  https://www.aaemonline.org/emf_rf_position.php

Furthermore, the AAEM asks for:

• An immediate caution on Smart Meter installation due to potentially harmful RF exposure.
• Accommodation for health considerations regarding EMF and RF exposure, including exposure to wireless Smart Meter technology.
• Independent studies to further understand the health effects from EMF and RF exposure.
• Recognition that electromagnetic hypersensitivity is a growing problem worldwide.
• Understanding and control of this electrical environmental bombardment for the protection of society.
• Consideration and independent research regarding the quantum effects of EMF and RF on human health.
• Use of safer technology, including for Smart Meters, such as hard-wiring, fiber optics or other non-harmful methods of data transmission.

Submitted by: Amy L. Dean, DO, William J. Rea, MD, Cyril W. Smith, PhD, Alvis L. Barrier, MD 

(End of that email)

I did heard back from Vice Mayor Gray, and wrote about it here.  

We've also heard back from Perry Hart, Utility Administrator at the City of Battle Creek Water Department, who had written to us on July 31, 2015:  "Please let me know if we need to remove the existing devices or if this action can be delayed until a policy is developed."  

We responded the same day:  "...please remove all of the Water Department's radio devices from my property as soon as possible."

October 3, 2015 Update:  

Here is Utility Administrator Parry Hart response on August 18, 2015:

The City is considering the development of an opt-out process to accommodate your request to have the current read device removed. Until that process is developed and implemented, providing the Water Division direction on how to uniformly proceed with an opt-out option, we are not able to take action at this time. Thank you for bringing your concerns to the City and for your patience in this request.

(End of that email)

The City of Battle Creek Water Department has not yet removed their radio transmitting devices from the property, and today, October 3, 2015,  it's been over two months since we first requested their removal.  We have emailed them a few times since August 18, 2015, and a few of the city government employees have read the emails (read-receipt returned), but no one has responded... yet. 

May We All Be Blessed!

*

Canary In The Coal Mine

1. 

Domestic canaries have long been known as an animal sentinel for men who worked in coal mines.  Before coal miners started bringing canaries into coal mines with them, miners would occasionally succumb to undetectable toxic gases that filled up the coal mine shaft, with no one aware of what was happening.

In the early 1900's, a man named John Scott Haldane, a Scottish physiologist, first proposed bringing canaries, or other warm blooded animals, into coal mines to act as an early warning sign.  Canaries, being delicate and sensitive creatures, would show the effects of breathing toxic gases before human beings, and helped save the lives of countless coal miners who took heed of the early warning sign the canary gave with it's life.

Now the term "canary in the coal mine," is being used in reference to people like me, who are hypersensitive to radio frequencies.  Are we really the early warning sign that something is amiss?  An estimated 3% to 10% of the population are hypersensitive to radio frequencies, and experience mild to debilitating reactions.  I've also heard that approximately 35% of the population experience some type of effects, though most don't even realize it.

A few months ago, I became extremely concerned when I learned that the Commissioners of the City of Battle Creek had approved the installation of smart meter/radio transmitting devices by the Water Department, and immediately emailed the Commissioners about my concerns.  That didn't get me very far.  They sent me two documents from the manufacturer, stating that these devices were safe.  Of course the manufacturer is going to tell us that they are safe.  I'm looking for independent third-party long-term, peer-reviewed studies, and I don't think they exist.

Having reached a dead end with my initial contact with the City of Battle Creek's Commissioner Helmboldt and City Manager Fleury, I then started making comments during the Battle Creek City Commission meetings, in hopes of educating the Commissioners about these devices.  It is my desire that the Commissioners of Battle Creek reconsider their decision to allow the installations of these smart meter/radio transmitting devices that cause harm to some, if not ALL people, not to mention the birds, bees, and other forms of life.  

We ALL have a right to not be harmed by utility company's equipment.

In California, the state known for being the first in many health and safety related decisions, dozens of cities and counties have either banned smart meters, or have put a moratorium on their installation, citing, among other things, possible health risks.  I've also learned that over 30 municipalities in Michigan (where I'm at) have passed resolutions against smart meters due to concerns about safety, security, and health affects.  

The first two posts of my "smart-meter-saga" are on my other blog:
Smart-Meter-Free, Please
Smart Meter - Radio Transmitting Devices

However, I will continue posting my smart meter saga here, until it becomes no longer necessary, or I move to California, or New Mexico, or...

Thank you for reading ~ May We All Be Blessed!