Digital Meters That Look Like Analogues
The Snowflake Tower, The Trojan Meter, The Stealth Meter, and Holy Moly- Is my meter a MEDUSA?
12/10 Correction: we inserted a direct quote from a newspaper report about decision about a cell tower near a community devoted to serving those with environmental illnesses (MCS/EHS). The article identified Nina Beatty as a commenter at the hearing, however the actual spelling of her name is Nina Beety. We copied the text verbatim.
“A purely mechanical meter does not have any electronic circuits inside.”
Image Courtesy Flo Freshman
In this new series about electric meters, which is geared for customers in states now facing imminent deployment, we have talked about three foundational issues.
The utilities in partnership with the wireless industry and their partners did not conduct premarket safety testing, and did not investigate reported harm when analogue electric meters were converted to digital or powerline technologies. (This includes state utility regulators.) This is not a health and safety test:
The vast majority of information about the downsides of digital meters has been provided by members of the public (citizen science). The historical data was intended to be accurate when it was quantified, but in some cases has become outdated. As we bring it forward again, we are offering updates, qualifiers, corrections and disclaimers. Please let us know if you see the need for further refinements.
Some states converted their analogue meters to digital meters back in the 2000s, and some customers were happy that they didn’t have to shovel a path in the snow for the meter reader anymore. But many ratepayers had no idea what the implications of the new meters might be. Now that a few of the remaining states are approaching “smart” meter deployments, like whack-a-mole, the problems are rearing their heads again.*** They are not going away.
*** Note that many states have stopped referring to the new meters as Smart Meters, or AMI, making it more difficult to research regulatory rulings, etc. Massachusetts adopted the terminology AMF- advanced metering functionality.
Some customers are being told that their meters have reached the end of their lifespan, or are not accurate, without full transparency of the implications of the replacement meters. While early deployments were accompanied by great fanfare about the supposed benefits (reduced outages! more information about your usage! save money! fewer truck rolls! less carbon! robust architecture!) many of those conversations have been muted in favor of more covert meter change-outs.
We provided a resource for understanding the difference between an analogue and a digital meter.
Unfortunately, it is possible that some customers may look outside, see a spinning dial, and assume that their meter is analogue.
The resource mentioned above, EI Wellspring, has provided an explanation of The stealth meters: Analog meters with hidden transmitters
From the PDF:
Analog meter with hidden wireless transmitter. The serial number is blanked out to protect privacy.
Analog electrical meters sometimes transmit to the utility, just as a digital smart meter. Many people with these meters are unaware that they have a transmitter on their house, as these meters look like regular analog meters.
These “stealth meters” have been in use for well over a decade. New analog meters are probably no longer installed, but it is possible to upgrade some models by installing a transmitter. There are meters available which transmit by wireless or by PLC, which both can cause health problems.
Analog meter with hidden PLC transmitter. The serial number has been
blanked out to protect privacy.
“All wireless meters must display a label with an FCC ID number. This identifies the type of transmitter, not the individual meter. See the end of this document on how to look up what the FCC ID number means.” PLC transmitters are not considered wireless (even though they radiate). A PLC meter does not have an FCC ID, except when it also has a wireless transmitter (this author is not aware of any dual-transmitter analog meters).
Are they smart meters? The definition of a smart meter is usually that it has two-way communication. Some of the stealth meters have such two-way communication, using TWACS or Turtle TS2. Many stealth meters use simpler one-way communication, which has various names, such as ERT, AMR, “bubble-up”, “wake up” and Turtle TS1. The health issues are essentially the same for all these technologies.
For more information about smart meters, see www.eiwellspring.org/smartmeter.html
From the PDF: Stealth Meters
Please Don’t Investigate by Walking Up to a Meter
The article from EI Wellspring invites customers to inspect their meter in search of the FCC ID number. But as explained in this article Smart Meter Science: If It's a Digital/Electronic Meter, It's a Problem we advised, Please don't walk up to your electricity meter, - take a picture from a distance if needed. Unless a meter reader has been coming to your house over the years, it's an electronic meter.
We also suggested contacting your electricity provider or state regulator for data.
Customers have reported heart arrythmias, a collapsed auric field, dizziness, lightheadedness, nausea, and headaches when in proximity to a transmitting meter, including the first-generation one-way meters.
What is a Medusa Meter?
When the Worcester National Grid smart meter pilot program came to town, several activists visited neighborhoods that were being outfitted with newer meters. Behind bush coverage, one home had been outfitted with a meter that looked like 1 1/2 meters combined, stacked on top of each other.
It turned out that the special meter was a medusa “collector meter.”
It was not only recording household electricity usage but was also apparently acting as part of the data collection architecture of the smart grid. When checked using a RF-detection meter, it had many more transmissions than the others, which was confirmed by looking up the specifications. National Grid described the new Itron meters as working in a daisy-chain, transmitting through a mesh network.
The homeowner was not aware and had not given consent.
A Note about Snowflake Arizona and the Commitment to Human Rights and Safe Housing
Those who follow the issues around safety and technology have probably read the news about a recent decision in Snowflake AZ not to authorize the installation of a cell tower, as reported here:
NC BOS nixes cell tower east of Snowflake
After two public hearings, the Navajo County Board of Supervisors denied the application for the White Antelope Wireless Communication Facility, a proposed 120-foot cell tower east of Snowflake, during their Nov. 12 meeting. The decision followed hours of public comments and extensive research presented by the applicant and residents, both those with multiple chemical sensitivity and those that live nearby, with deliberations weighing the rights and well-being of all involved parties.
EI community background
At the heart of the debate is a one-of-a-kind MCS community east of Snowflake, known as the Environmentally Ill Community, and approximately 2 miles north of the proposed cell tower site. This rural area, which started with the building of four housing units by the State of Arizona in partnership with Old Concho Community Assistance Center about three decades ago, is a haven for people with severe multiple chemical or electrical sensitivities. More than 35 households live in specially built or modified homes in this area.
In an email submitted to Navajo County by Nicole Riggs, a former case manager for OCCAC, she wrote that residents chose the area for its distance from urban centers and lack of electromagnetic frequencies, which can exacerbate their health conditions.
“These individuals moved here to escape toxic chemicals and EMF exposure,” Riggs wrote. “Building this tower essentially in their backyard could be life-threatening. While I understand the need for improved connectivity, people’s lives depend on reconsidering this location.” []
In her appeal to the board, Nina Beatty, who phoned in, said, “Consideration of the White Antelope tower is fundamentally a civil rights issue and a disabled rights issue. I request that you deny the project on the basis that it would discriminate against members of a protected class, whose civil rights are protected by the State of Arizona and federal laws. The Telecommunications Act does not void or invalidate those civil rights.”
Beatty continued, “This facility would block the only access road to essential services and federal facilities, which are their mailboxes. The Americans with Disabilities Act, the Fair Housing Act, state rules and issues of discrimination were not considered by the board or mentioned by the county staff at the Sept. 24 hearing, even though the county accepted the disabled status of a number of these individuals who asked for and were granted disabled accommodations so they could testify remotely.”
Read more of this important story here: NC BOS nixes cell tower east of Snowflake | News | wmicentral.com
Safe Housing - in Your Own House
The fact that Arizona recognized that there was a need for environmentally protected housing 3 decades ago demonstrates that it is possible to put the right information in front of the right people.
Individuals who have been on the front lines of the MCS/EHS issue are heartened by reports about the support that was offered by realtors. They and others advocated not only about the threat to property values, but also regarding reasoned decision making with respect for basic human rights.
Now there is an unacknowledged and urgent need in every state for protected housing for the MCS/EHS population and others with health conditions exacerbated by exposure to RFR and electrical pollution. We are going backwards.
Rather than states taking an inventory to determine the scope of health-vulnerability and need for accommodation prior to installation, the drive to impose electronic meters has continued, unabated.
The Snowflake article notes, Carlyon said, “Some people stated they have disability and the nature of disability that denying a tower in this area is a reasonable and necessary accommodation. The FCC would appreciate understanding why you are denying the cell tower.”
The fact that the FCC hasn’t adjusted course is a terrible example of what happens when decision-making stays in the hands of the wrong people.****
Thank you to all of those in Snowflake and beyond who have contributed to the citizen science, including maintaining the EI Wellspring site.
Boston and Philadelphia, 2013
In a 2013 filing with the FCC, the cities of Boston and Philadelphia in their joint submission accused the FCC and Federal health agencies of negligence for failing to investigate whether electrosensitive persons are harmed by non-ionizing radiation.
"The 1999-2000 judicial challenge to the FCC’s 1996 rules never reached the issue of “electrosensitivity” as a cognizable disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act. [ ] an agency responsible for ADA implementation acknowledges that the impairment may be disabling but has promised merely further inquiry. After more than a decade, that investigation remains unopened.” .-SOURCE
The question is not only about whether or not the health harm is real and requires accommodation.
And instead of building protected housing, should we be more protective of all environments, including nature?
Is it even possible that the meters are the cause of the disability, and that so many agencies and individuals have been complicit?
Even if you are new to this, concern about the safety issue has been building for decades.
****Read about the 2021 court ruling that the FCC has ignored, about its refusal to justify its exposure guidelines, here. EHT Wins in Historic Decision, Federal Court Orders FCC to Explain Why It Ignored Scientific Evidence Showing Harm from Wireless Radiation - Environmental Health Trust
(This new substack dedicated to smart meters is a companion to Patricia’s Substack for Safe Tech International, where we summarize news like the Snowflake decision, and also publish blogs about additional technology concerns. Please share, and thanks for being here.)