The City of Battle Creek's Response To My Questions

Because the City Commissioners are the "gatekeepers" of the city, at the last Battle Creek City Commission meeting I submitted two questions in regards to my concerns of the safety of the new utility meters the City Commissioners are welcoming into the city:

What evidence do you have of the safety of the new utility meters, all of them, water, gas and electric, other than what comes from the manufacturer?

And do you have any independent third-party testing showing, or proving that the new utility meters are indeed perfectly safe?

Though I did not submit a Freedom of Information Request, the Clerk's office submitted one on my behalf, and was then kind enough to waive the fee, "this one time."

The City Clerk, Victoria Houser, wrote in her letter dated Monday, September 21, 2015:

"The Water Department has indicated they have no documents from independent parties related to the meters."

She also sent a "DENIAL OF REQUEST FOR PUBLIC RECORD," which stated:

Your request is being denied in part for the following reason(s):

Is not in the possession of the City.  No independent 3rd party testing.  No information on gas and electric meters.

They admitted outright that they have no proof that the new utility meters are safe.  They admitted outright that they have not seen documentation of safety from independent third parties, and they have no information about the safety of the new gas and electric meters they are allowing to be installed also.  

Ms. Houser also provided a memorandum that the Water Department received from the City of Grand Haven, Department of Public Works.  The memorandum was written by William Hunter, Director of Public Works, explaining his understanding of RF and Smart Meters.  The memorandum came with two Radio Frequency comparison charts and a propaganda sheet from a "Utility Cooperative" in Hawaii.

Perhaps they don't know that 

the RF comparison charts 

have been proven wrong...

"The problem is, they've compared apples and oranges.  They looked at whole-body exposure from a Smart Meter, and compared it to the dose to the ear from a cell phone, instead of looking at the whole-body dose from the cell phone and comparing it to the whole-body dose from the smart meter." 

"Secondly, they assumed 100% duty cycle for the smart meter, and a 1% duty cycle for the cell phone; you're only using the cell phone probably an hour a day on average.  But they didn't correct for that.  So they didn't look at the cumulative exposure.  Ninety-nine percent of the time the cell phone wasn't producing radiation, but they assumed that 100% of the time the smart meter would.  In the smart meter figure they'd exaggerated a little bit, 50% would probably be a reasonable number.  But in any case, when you correct for these two factors, the whole-body and the cumulative part of it, rather than a cell phone being 100 times more exposure than a smart meter, the smart meter turns out to be roughly 100 times more cumulative exposure than the cell phone."

"...the cumulative whole body exposure from a Smart Meter at 3 feet appears to be approximately two orders of magnitude higher than that of a cell phone, rather than two orders of magnitude lower."

Quotes from Daniel Hirsch, Senior Lecturer on Nuclear Policy at UCSC.  YouTube video link here, another article with the video here, and his Draft Report, "Health Impacts of Radio Frequency from Smart Meters," here.  

In my humble opinion, the information about radiation exposure from Daniel Hirsch, Senior Lecturer on Nuclear Policy at the University of California Santa Cruz, holds more weight than the information from William Hunter, Director of Public Works in Grand Haven, Michigan.  

Is this not serious carelessness on the part of the City Commissioners, allowing these unproven to be safe devices to be installed all throughout the city, exposing the citizens to questionable amounts of radiation?

Bless Us All!

For more information:

• EMFScientists.org
• The BioInitiative Report
• Take Back Your Power
• Smart Grid Awareness
• Smart Meter Education Network in Michigan, USA

If You Live In Michigan...

If you live in Michigan, the time to do something 

about your freedom of choice is now!

[Updated October 31, 2019: If you live in Michigan, please see THIS post.  Thank you!  As of today, we are working on getting new legislation for analog utility meter choice re-introduced.]

Utility companies in Michigan are installing wireless "Smart Meters" all across our state, sometimes without our knowledge and/or consent.  This is a violation of our fundamental property rights, yet they are getting away with it!

[Update: Some companies are saying that they do not utilize "smart meter" technology in their gas meters.  However, I have personally found that what they are are calling AMR - ERT (automatic read - encoder receiver transmitter) natural gas meters, extremely harmful to my health, eliciting many adverse symptoms.  When asked for proof that their devices are safe, they sent me propaganda from the manufacturer, those who stand to profit from the AMR - ERT devices.] 

Because I am sensitive to radio frequencies (found out in 2013 with a cell phone), this is very disturbing.  Not everyone is electrosensitive, but about 10% of the population have more adverse effects, while 35% have less adverse effects and may not even know they are being affected by radio frequencies.

There are lots of propaganda charts circulating that state smart meters emit only a fraction of the radiation of a cell phone. That statement is not proven and is being challenged by professionals.

The radiation from Smart Meters 

may be about 100 times that of cell phones...

This video of Daniel Hirsch, California radiation expert, and UCSD instructor, and this video of Professor Glenn Chase, faculty alum at USC, California State, Monterey Institute of International Studies and Naval Post-Graduate School, explains why the radiation from a Smart Meters is about 100 times that of a cell phone.

It's no wonder my "phone ear" started hurting again after SEMCO Energy lied to us three times in order to install two of their AMR meters here, meters that pulse over 10 times per minute, over 600 times per hour.

There are no studies proving the safety of smart meters, 

while evidence continues to surface 

saying they are not so safe.

When asked about the safety of smart meters, utility companies, including the City of Battle Creek Water Department and SEMCO Energy, send out propaganda from the manufacturer of the smart meters.  And now the City of Battle Creek Water Department admits that they are not in possession of any studies proving the safety of their new wireless water meters.

There are several other issues with Smart Meters.  Many are concerned about their safety because Smart Meters have been known to catch fire and/or explode.  

There was a house fire in Portage, MI, on Bellaire, where witnesses and the owner of the home explained that the new smart meter, installed only a few days prior, was the first thing they saw on fire.  However, the Fire Marshal ruled the smart meter out as the cause of the fire (which has been a common scenario when a fire starts after smart meter installation).

Smart metering is a hackable system and will put our privacy at risk.  (Analog meters are not hackable.)  Here's an article about how the FBI found "smart meter hacking surprisingly easy." 

Even if you're already called your representative in the past regarding electronic utility meters, they haven't heard from enough of us yet!  

We've had the old 100% analog meters for over 50 years with none of these concerns.  Why "fix" something that's not broken, with something that is unproven to be safe on many levels?

It's not too late to let your representative know how you feel, even if you already have an electronic and/or smart meter!

It took me about two minutes to call my Michigan State Representatives - Please do the same!

Find your Michigan State Representative here by using your address and zip code.  Call anytime, evenings or weekends if you just want to leave a message, yet still, have your voice heard.

Phone calls carry more weight than emails. If you want to write, call first, then follow-up in writing.

Our representatives are here to represent us, 

it's their job!

Always be respectful. Here's what you can say:

• Hello, my name is ___________, and I'm one of your constituents / I live in (city / county). 
• I'm calling about the no-fee Analog Utility Meter Choice Bill now in the Energy Policy Committee. 
• I want you to support this legislation that will protect my property rights and give me a safe and reliable analog meter choice. 
• Also, please speak to your colleagues in the Energy Policy Committee and encourage them to support this Bill, because it's for The People. 
• Thank you! 

It's very simple to do, and our State Representatives need to hear from us in order to know how we feel.

Please let me know if you have any questions or need help finding your state representative, I'd be happy to help you!

Time is of the essence! Please make that call now!

Thank you and bless you!

Battle Creek City Commission Meeting September 15, 2015

A video recording of the September 15, 2015 Battle Creek City Commission meeting is here.  I begin speaking at about 74:55 minutes in.

Here is the script of what I said:

My issue is with the smart meters the water department and all of the utility companies that service Battle Creek are installing, despite the mounting evidence that smart meters are of no value to customers, and actually bring significant privacy, health, safety, and security issues.

Industry has failed to report peer-reviewed studies on the health effects of smart meters, though there is a growing body of independent research accumulating, proving ill effects.

Michael R. Peevey, former senior executive at Pacific Gas & Electric, wrote in a leaked email:  “There really are people who feel pain… related to EMF… ”

In the news, Southboro, MA, the parents of a 12-year-old boy are suing his boarding school, stating that their son has “Electromagnetic HypersensitivitySyndrome,” and has suffered headaches, nosebleeds and nausea since the school activated a stronger wireless signal in 2013.  Children usually don’t make-up those kind of symptoms. 

Dr. Deitrich Klinghardt, MD, PhD, Founder of the American Academy of Neural Therapy, Medical Director of the Institute of Neurobiology, lead clinician at the Sophia Health Institute, Founder and Chairman of the Institute for Neurobiology in Germany and Switzerland, has said:  “A body of more than 6,000 studies has been accumulated since the 1930’s, producing an overwhelming conclusion that exposure to microwave and electromagnetic fields is significantly harmful to all health and life itself.”

Live Blood Analysis shows, when exposed to smart meters, degradation and mutations of the live blood cells; a corrugation, called “bottle-cap formation,” known to occur due to oxidation and free radicals; and rouleaux, which causes the red blood cells to stack up, and makes it very difficult for the blood to deliver oxygen to the tissues.  That would explain headaches from smart meters that myself and other people are reporting.

It is morally unconscionable for ANY utility company to make a profit at the expense of the health and safety of the population they are serving.  And that is why I have a couple of questions (for the City of Battle Creek government):

What evidence do you have of the safety of the new utility meters, all of them, water, gas and electric, other than what comes from the manufacturer?

And do you have any independent third-party testing showing, or proving that the new utility meters are indeed perfectly safe?

Thank you for listening.  May you all be blessed.

Utility Companies, Lies, Deceptions, Cover-Ups & Fires

If the employees and agents of SEMCO ENERGY Gas Company are telling everyone what they told me, that their new utility meters only "wake-up" once a month when the meter reader drives by, they are being very misleading.  David Williams, SEMCO GAS Regional Operation Manager, wrote something quite different about their new utility meters in an email to me:  

"The device... transmits in very short pulses of 5.86 milliseconds 

for a total of about 1.5 minutes per day."

And of course, I did the math.  My mother's father, Buppa, would be proud of me.  He was quite the mathematician and one of the things we did together when I was younger was solve algebra problems.  I enjoyed math, and he did too.  So here's the math on the new gas meters:  

1.5 minutes of pulses per day = 90,000 milliseconds of pulses per day

90,000 milliseconds of pulses per day (divided by) 

5.86 milliseconds per pulse

= 15,358.36 pulses per day of 5.86 milliseconds per pulse

15,358.36 pulses per day of 5.86 milliseconds per pulse (divided by) 

24 hours in the day

= 639.93 pulses per hour of 5.86 milliseconds each

639.93 pulses per hour of 5.86 milliseconds each (divided by) 

60 minutes in an hour

= 10.67 pulses PER MINUTE of 5.86 milliseconds each

It's no wonder my "phone ear" started hurting again after about six months of being pulsed by that meter.  And it's no wonder other "symptoms" of electromagnetic sensitivity (Microwave Sickness) began to occur, such as sleeplessness, extreme tinnitus (ringing in the ears), and achy joints.

The GOOD news is that last night we wrapped a lead sheet around as much of the gas smart meter as possible, and all of those symptoms lessened!  

Two days ago I left a phone message for David Williams, requesting a call back to schedule when he or one of SEMCO's employees or agents could come here and replace their pulse generating smart meter with a 100% analog/100% mechanical meter, but I haven't heard back from him yet.  

And it occurred to me that Consumers Energy, our electric provider, wants us to pay about $200 in the first year to "opt-out" of their smart meter program (which is actually backwards because we never "opted-in" in the first place).

But if Consumers DOES charge us about $200 in the first year to not have a smart meter installed, what would stop SEMCO Energy (gas) from also charging us $200 to "opt-out," and what would stop the City of Battle Creek Water Department from also charging us $200 to "opt-out?"  That would be around $600 per year to utility companies for absolutely nothing.  Well, not really nothing.  It would be paying them to keep microwave radiation pulsing utility meters away, that's what it would be paying for.  Paying the utility companies to not harm me...

After Matthew D. Miller at the City of Battle Creek Water Department explained that the new utility meters were going to be labor saving for them, I asked if our water bills were going down.  He answered with a swift and immediate, "No!"  I later found out that the City of Battle Creek City Commissioners approved a 5% increase to water bills every year for 5 years, which, when you do the math, turns out to be a 28% total increase due to compounding.  

So who stands to benefit from these new meters, anyway?  Not me.  Not you, unless you're a utility company.

After talking to numerous people about the new "smart" utility meters that are being installed all across Michigan by all of our utility companies, I found that not only has Battle Creek done an EXCELLENT job of keeping the citizens in the dark about the deployment of these new meters, but our media and press has also. 

Searching the Battle Creek Enquirer for "smart meter" brings up nothing, no news stories about the new utility meters that are sometimes being forced, and sometimes being deceptively installed, onto our properties.  Who's not reporting the news around here?  

A month or so back I wrote a letter to the Battle Creek Enquirer about smart meters.  The letter was edited down to a fraction of it's original size and returned to me for approval.  I explained to the Editor, Michael McCullough, that my strongest points were edited out, and submitted a rewrite, which was never published.  

The Battle Creek Current, the city's newsletter that comes periodically in water bills, did announce Consumers Energy's new meters, but they did not call them "smart," even though they are.  The new meters are being called all kinds of things now.  Perhaps they are avoiding the word "smart" due to some bad press.

Image from here courtesy of Shirley Bayliff

Another thing: I've read several news stories of smart meter fires where the smart meter was ruled out as the cause of the fire, and the blame was put on the homeowner, for having older, worn-out wiring immediately BEHIND the smart meter. This gives us reason to stop an electric smart meter installation by demanding the electric company give us time to have a licensed electrician inspect the wiring prior to installation, lest they (the electric company) be grossly negligent and held 100% responsible if they do not allow us the time to arrange for such an inspection.  

May we all be blessed!

More information:

• BioInitiative Report
• EMFScientist.org
• Smart Meter Education Network in Michigan, USA
• Smart Grid Awareness
• Take Back Your Power
• We Are The Evidence

Update: SEMCO Smart Meters

It took some time, but finally got some information back from David Williams, the Regional Operation Manager at SEMCO Energy, our natural gas provider, regarding the new meters they installed here late last year.  This is the email we received on September 8, 2015, from David:

Here is some information I have on the type of automated device that Semco uses to collect meter reads. The device we use is a 100 series ERT that only transmits in very short pulses of 5.86 milliseconds for a total of about 1.5 minutes per day. I would be happy to bring one out to show you. We have had these installed in the Battle Creek area since 1996-97. The original devices were called a 40 series vs the newer 100 series we install today. 

 David Williams
Regional Operation Manager
SEMCO ENERGY Gas Company
269-660-5501

I did the math, which is taking the 1.5 minutes per day total and dividing that by 5.86 milliseconds.  Spread out over 24-hours, what you get is 10.67 pulses at 5.86 millisecond each of man-made microwave radio frequency radiation per minute.  Then I responded:  

Thank you, David, I thought you had forgotten about me!  

Thank you for the information.  No wonder!  It totally explains why my symptoms returned.  With 10.67 pulses per minute, I'm being zapped continuously day and night.  And the fact that they are short pulses, explains why it took about 6 months for my symptoms to return.  

NO, absolutely do NOT bring any more of those "devices" on this property!  Two were installed over 6 months ago, and the installers gave us misinformation, just like you did.  They and you said these meters were only "woken-up" once a month, when the meter-reader came by, which is not correct.  They send pulses all day long, 24 hours a day, in mini bursts, that disrupts my biology enough to cause adverse health symptoms.  

I'm one of those people who can feel them.  They are calling us "the canaries in the coal mine."  Coal miners used to bring canaries into the mines with them because of the delicate nature of the bird, the canary would succumb to deadly yet undetectable gases before the miners would.  They were an early warning sign of trouble. 

I am hypersensitive to radio frequencies, they cause me pain and other neurological disruptions.  SEMCO's new meters are causing me pain and must be removed.  We demand that you/SEMCO remove the two meters that were installed on our property under false pretenses, and replace them with 100% analog meters.  

And regarding the information from the manufacturer that you sent.  It holds no weight, because it's from the manufacturer. 

The fact is that there are no independent, third-party, long-term tests done on these automated devices that PROVE they are safe, while more and more people, every day, are beginning to experience adverse effects from them, and more and more scientists and medical doctors are attesting to the ADVERSE biological and health effects from wireless devices such as the new utility meters. 

The fact is that there is an appeal in front of the World Health Organization, signed by over 200 scientists, based upon over 2,000 peer-reviewed and published studies.  The Appeal asks the WHO to reevaluate the guidelines based upon the over 2,000 studies that show adverse biological and health effects.  https://www.emfscientist.org/ 

There's also the BioInitiative 2012 Report, published by 29 authors, MDs, PhDs, and other professionals, that conclude that "bioeffects are clearly established."  http://www.bioinitiative.org/  

I'm sure there are more studies and reports out there about the adverse health effects wireless devices like your new meters have on the human body, not to mention other animals, the birds, and the bees, if you want to keep digging.  There's several interesting talks Dr. George L. Carlo gives about the studies he was head of, that clearly proved adverse health effects from wireless devices, and what happened to him after he started reporting these findings.  The wireless industry has tried to discredit him for obvious reasons.  

Plus the fact that the new chairman of the FCC, Tom Wheeler, has been active in the wireless industry since the 1970's, and now he's in a position to regulate the very industry that has been his bread and butter for over 40 years, explains why the FCC refuses to reevaluate their standards and guidelines.  That's what's called the fox guarding the hen house.  Good for the fox.  Not so good for the hens.  

SEMCO has 30 days, until October 9, 2015, to remove the two "automated" devices they installed here under false pretenses, and replace them with 100% analog meters, because the automated devices are making me ill.  If SEMCO does not comply, we will arrange to have the devices removed and replaced ourselves.  We appreciate your cooperation.  

This is a legal notice.  Notice to principal is notice to agent and notice to agent is notice to principal.  All rights reserved.

It's really interesting, because I get the feeling that David Williams really did not know about the health effects people are having from these new smart meters, nor how they actually pulse all day long.

I haven't heard back from him yet, but will update when I do.

Bless Us All!

[March 11, 2016 Update]:

• SEMCO Energy states they have no opt-out.  
• The Michigan Public Service Commission has been of no help.
• The Better Business Bureau has been of no help.  
• We wrapped the meters in lead sheeting (though I've heard that aluminum works just as well).
• I turn all the electric breakers off at night except for the furnace.  
• These measures have helped tremendously, and most of my severe 'symptoms' have subsided, though, the City of Battle Creek is planning on installing 24 new antennas this summer.

If you want to do something about this situation regarding smart meters, talk to your local government about a no-fee smart meter opt-out with the choice to keep the old, safe and reliable analog meters.

If you live in Michigan, please read this about Utility Meter Choice Legislation, House Bill 4916.

For more information:

• PubMed: Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity - an increasing challenge to the medical profession
• Pathophysiology Journal: Electromagnetic Fields Stress Living Cells
• PubMed: The microwave syndrome - or electro-hypersensitivityhistorical background
• Electromagnetic Radiation Safety: Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity
• Economic Times Healthworld: Electromagnetic Radiation "Wake-Up Call" For Everyone 
• Cellular Phone Task Force - Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity (EHS)
• EM Watch: EMF Pollution
• Is Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity Real?  (YouTube)
• Care2: What is Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity?
• A Personal Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity (EHS) case study
• Comments on the Draft Report by the California Council on Science and Technology "Health Impacts of Radio Frequency from Smart Meters"
• How Smart Meters Affect Your Body (YouTube)
• Dr. Dietrich Klinghardt - Smart Meters and EMR Health: The Health Crisis of Our Time
• Isn't the FCC protecting us?  (Cell tower attorneys explain)
• An Expose of the FCC: An Agency Captured by the Industries it Regulates 

Thank you for reading ~ Bless Us All!

September 1st City Commission Comment

Picture via @JoelDeLorge on Twitter

The video of the September 1st City of Battle Creek City Commission meeting is here.  I begin speaking at about mark 62:00.  Below is basically what I said:

In regards to the new smart meters Consumers Energy will be installing in Battle Creek, putting all residents at potential risk.  Last week I emailed you a news story about a house fire on Bellaire Avenue in Portage, Michigan.   

Neighbors and eyewitnesses say the house fire on August 23rd started at the Consumers Energy smart meter, though the Fire marshal has ruled the smart meter out. 

Here are some comments from an eyewitness, that appeared on the MLIVE news story (here):  

"Wow!  This is a darn shame!  It was the METER!!!  Why did consumers 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, (the smart meter), was the only thing on fire." 

Now to the City of Battle Creek Water Department's new smart meter water meters.  If these new meters were so wonderful, then why aren't water bills going down with their installation?  And why has the Water Department not only snuck these new meters onto private properties without property owner's knowledge or consent, but forced some people to accept them with the threat of water shut-off? 

The idea of an opt-out program is actually backwards, because we never opted-in in the first place.  We were never asked if we wanted these new meters.  They were forced upon us.  And not only are they harming some people, like me and others sensitive to radio frequencies, but there are no independent third-party long-term tests that prove they are safe, while every day, more controversy arises over their safety, security, and health effects. 

Over thirty Michigan municipalities have passed resolutions against smart meters.  It is never too late to join the lead dogs in this issue and reconsider your decision to allow these unproven to be safe new smart utility meters into the City of Battle Creek.  It is never too late. 

Thank you for listening.  May you all be blessed!

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