Transcript for Hearing for MA DPU 26-20, 21, 22 is Posted: Smart Meter Data Discussion

And We Can Just Forget About Privacy and Health?

Many Massachusetts ratepayers are not yet aware that the new ‘smart’ wireless utility meters being installed by Eversource and National Grid include new technology which not only tracks time of use, but also records exactly what appliances/devices are being used and when, by default.

See more here about the new technology embedded in the meters: Spy Now Pay Later: AMI/Smart Meters in MA: Incremental Pricing/Policy Making and Incomplete/Inaccurate Promotion is Predatory Not disclosing private data collection, and health, and billing accuracy concerns: the smart meter debacle is now front and center in MA

The MA Dept. of Public Utilities recently held a proceeding for the 3 investor-owned utilities with the auspicious title: “Investigation by the Department of Public Utilities on the Advanced Metering Data Access Protocol Implementation Plan and Related Proposals Submitted by NSTAR Electric Company d/b/a Eversource Energy Pursuant to an Act Promoting a Clean Energy Grid, Advanced Equity, and Protecting Ratepayers, St. 2024, c. 239, §§ 79, 127, 128.”

The link to the transcript on the DPU site does not copy and paste, and the link it too long to be accepted for a hyperlink

To read the transcript of the oral hearing, you must access it directly through the docket file here, https://eeaonline.eea.state.ma.us/dpu/fileroom/#/dockets, by entering “26-20” in the “Docket No.” filed, and then clicking on “GO”.

Then you will need to scroll through the docket to find the transcript. Look for the date.

If you are successful, here is what it looks like:

I believe that the DPU agenda was referring to the issue of customers opting out of having their data shared. (even though it is collected by default?)

But public commenters were allowed to speak uninterrupted on a wide range of topics. Many of us did not intend to speak and did not prepare comments, but were incentivized by the alarming disconnect of the large contingent of lawyers and industry reps salivating over the anticipated consumption of data, while ignoring privacy, health, and everything else concerning the smart meter debacle.

In my case I find it incredulous (and nauseating) (and unbelievable) that the fraudulent results reporting of the Worcester National Grid pilot program continues to form the basis for claims of cost and energy savings, as presented by Acadia Center.

If you have not read it, you can read my overview here: https://childrenshealthdefense.org/wp-content/uploads/Report-on-Misleading-Worcester-National-Grid-Smart-Meter-Pilot-Program-Results-Reporting.pdf

This is not rocket science, not that we trust that anyways these days.

I have said it a number of times, this will not end well.

Some Highlights/Low Lights

Page 17: Please let the record reflect that no elected or appointed·officials requested to make a comment.

Page 18: first I am going to move forward with 16· ·those who asked to speak first.· I have the NRG 17· ·Retail Companies would like to make a statement.· Is 18· ·that correct, Attorney Shapiro? 19· · · · · · · ·MR. SHAPIRO:· Yes, that's correct.· John 20· ·Holtz, who is the senior director of market 21· ·development and regulatory affairs, is here today. 22· · · · · · · ·MS. PHILLIPS:· Thank you, Mr. Holtz. []·Let me close by just emphasizing what's ·9· ·most critical for this proceeding is that we 10· ·optimize the investment in advanced metering 11· ·infrastructure, financed by the ratepayers of the 12· ·Commonwealth, in order to achieve affordable, 13· ·cleaner energy.·

Page 21: Joseph LaRusso, with Acadia 18· ·Center.· The acquisition of 20· ·data by AMI alone is not enough.· In order for 21· ·acquired AMI data to provide value and real savings 22· ·for customers, value and savings in excess of the 23· ·billion-dollar plus investment in AMI, that data 24· ·must be readily available in a form that is readily Page 23 ·1· ·usable. ·2· · · · · · · ·AMI data will better enable electric ·3· ·utilities to charge prices that vary by time of day, ·4· ·allowing customers to save money by choosing when to ·5· ·use electricity.· The value of time-varying rates is ·6· ·not hypothetical.· In fact, it has already been ·7· ·proved here in Massachusetts.· In 2015 National Grid ·8· ·installed 15,000 AMI meters with th There are roughly 20· ·three and a quarter million electricity customers in 21· ·New England -- in Massachusetts.· If 15,000 22· ·customers can save $1.8 million in 24 months, the 23· ·aggregate savings for the three and a quarter 24· ·million customers over two years would be almoste capacity for ·9· ·two-way communications, the ability to track 10· ·interval usage data, provide outage notifications to 11· ·the utility, and implement time-varying rates. 12· · · · · · · ·The 15,000 customers who received AMI 13· ·meters and who participated in National Grid's pilot 14· ·time-varying rate program saved $1.8 million over 15· ·the 24 months that the pilot was in effect.· Two 16· ·years, 15,000 customers, $1.8 million in utility 17· ·customer savings. 18· · · · · · · ·We can begin to do the math to begin to 19· ·get an idea of the value of AMI.·· ·$400 million. ·2· · · · · · · ·It's clear that the $1 billion ·3· ·investment in AMI has the potential to pay for ·4· ·itself in a relatively short amount of time.· I said ·5· ·"potential" because to return value to customers the ·6· ·data acquired by AMI must be used.· It must become ·7· ·the basis for implementing time-varying rates, as it ·8· ·was by National Grid in 2015.· And AMI data must be ·9· ·used to drive additional value for customers in ways 10· ·that were not possible in 2015, by better 11· ·integrating behind-the-customer-meter solar 12· ·batteries, managing EV charging, making possible the 13· ·implementation of targeted energy efficiency 14· ·measures, reducing the duration of outages, reducing 15· ·the need for investments in poles and wires and 16· ·transformers by reducing peaks in electricity 17· ·demand, measuring distribution grid utilization, and 18· ·last but certainly not least, by driving third-party 19· ·innovation to deliver new products and services that 20· ·yield still more savings for customers. 21· · · · · · · ·PATRICIA’S NOTE; I REPEAT- THIS IS BASED ON FRAUDULENT RESULTS REPORTING FOR THE WORCESTER PILOT. THE METERS COULD HAVE BEEN INSTALLED ONLY ON PREMISES WITH SIGNIFICANT DISCRETIONARY LOAD - AS GERMANY IS DOING - except for the fact that this is green-washed surveillance.

Page 26 Pasi Miettinen, · And I'm ·7· ·CEO, Sagewell, based here in Cambridge. [] And EVICC specifically will be 13· ·able to use this data to be highly effective in 14· ·articulating what is the value of electric vehicle 15· ·load management and how do we better deploy electric 16· ·vehicles through the grid system and, on the other 17· ·side, how do we deploy virtual power plants or other 18· ·load management methodologies to allow 19· ·electrification to grow, because we don't 20· ·necessarily have to build as many grid assets if we 21· ·can use data to avoid -- or data to do load 22· ·management or otherwise shift load to other hours of 23· ·the day.· [] ·To move to a specific technical aspect ·3· ·of it:· These data centers -- sorry, data warehouses ·4· ·typically include 15-minute kilowatthour consumption ·5· ·data.· What we are encouraging the D.P.U. to also ·6· ·include are things like voltage and alarm data and ·7· ·other metadata that comes from the meter, and ·8· ·provide more extensive access to the data, because ·9· ·that data is required to understand power quality 10· ·implications and other technical things that impact 11· ·the distribution grid. 12· · · · · · · ·The savings are really significant, 13· ·because, as you may well know, 55 percent of the 14· ·transformers in the U.S. right now according to EPRI 15· ·data are basically at the end of their useful lives. 16· ·We simply don't have the resources and the capacity 17· ·to build out the distribution system grid going 18· ·forward.· Only 1 to 2 percent of transformers can be 19· ·replaced in any given year because of supply 20· ·constraints. 21· · · · · · · ·So we are strongly encouraging the 22· ·D.P.U. to not only make more data available than 23· ·sort of the minimum requirements, but also make it 24· ·so that it is available as soon as possible,

Page 30 I'm Bobbie Elliott.· I'm here with my ·6· ·husband, John Elliott. ·At no point has the public actually been 23· ·assured that attaching a microwave oven to your 24· ·electric box is safe technology.· [] All that I have Page 33 ·1· ·heard today have been, "Oh, you're going to save so ·2· ·much money," and that cost savings seems to be ·3· ·driving the narrative, and I certainly understand ·4· ·why that would attract attention more than dangers ·5· ·of this technology. ·6· · · · · · · ·We also have concerns about privacy, ·7· ·because it sounds like we're inviting the electric ·8· ·company into our home, from some of the descriptions ·9· ·that I have heard. 10· · · · · · · ·Microwave technology has not been 11· ·designated totally safe.· We certainly know of cell 12· ·tower issues and other similar events that have 13· ·caused health problems. 14· · · · · · · ·I heard that there were significant cost 15· ·savings -- I think $1.7 million in a study was 16· ·cited -- and I wonder if part of those savings, 17· ·knowing, as I do, how statistics can be twisted, if 18· ·those savings were a result of the penalties not 19· ·being levied, which the electric company has 20· ·informed me an opt-out option cannot be had without 21· ·a penalty, a stiff penalty, amounting to hundreds of 22· ·dollars a year -- and if subtracting those hundreds 23· ·of dollars from these supposed electric savings was 24· ·what they actually were [] Please, please be better, more 22· ·transparent about educating end users who are going 23· ·to be living with this technology.

Page 35 Ken Gartner ·I have not seen that the management 13· ·teams of Eversource and National Grid, with whom I 14· ·have personal experience, understand the gravity of 15· ·the health situation that is engendered by their 16· ·mesh implementation.· This has been a problem since 17· ·the AMR implementation, and it's made worse now. 18· · · · · · · ·Despite any statements to the contrary, 19· ·we can obviously see that these meters emanate 20· ·several thousand times per day, day and night, and 21· ·some people have been made quite ill, to the point 22· ·of having to leave their house. [] ·So they are not taking seriously the 13· ·fact that they are engendering a health crisis. 14· ·They pooh-pooh it.· They say, "Oh, it's almost 15· ·nothing.· If you use a cell phone, then this is no 16· ·worse than having a cell phone," which is false. 17· ·They say it only updates information a couple of 18· ·times a day.· That is false.· It's very easy to 19· ·verify that this is false. 20· · · · · · · ·People's lives and their health are 21· ·being ruined, and they don't care.· They just don't 22· ·care.· Why can't people have an analog meter?· If we 23· ·have someone driving to the house, what do they care 24· ·if it's electronic or not?· Why can't it be a Page 37 ·1· ·safe -- like it has been for 80 years beforehand? ·2· · · · · · · ·So a second thing, I know at least three ·3· ·people who have paid for the opt-out, had it ·4· ·installed, and find that it is actually still ·5· ·emanating, that it was a -- a mistaken one was put ·6· ·on the house, risking their house.· Why are the ·7· ·people not trained when installations are done? ·8· ·What equipment do they have to verify that they have ·9· ·properly installed? 10· · · · · · · ·This is all invisible.· But some people 11· ·they hurt immediately, and it's a few percent of the 12· ·population, but not everyone knows if they're in 13· ·that population until it happens.· Fetuses and 14· ·people fighting cancer, they shouldn't have to have 15· ·this inflicted on them.· There should be an opt-out 16· ·path that is easy. 17· · · · · · · ·In fact, only people who want this 18· ·should opt in and everyone else should just be left 19· ·alone.· Nobody here really cares about the amazing 20· ·savings to the Commonwealth.· They just don't want 21· ·to go to the emergency room.· And I am not 22· ·overstating the case

Page 38 Helen Walker · Today we're including ·4· ·speeches about opt-outs, outreach, and education. ·5· ·The Department needs to know that the opt-out and ·6· ·the education efforts for customers are not ·7· ·satisfactory as they are now.· People call for ·8· ·information.· They're told somebody will call them ·9· ·back.· Nobody calls them back.· People ask for an 10· ·installation date so they can be present.· No one 11· ·will tell them when the installation is coming.· In 12· ·fact, it seems that the installation is timed in 13· ·hopes that the people will not be home, so that the 14· ·advanced matter can be placed on their house even if 15· ·they've asked not to have one. 16· · · · · · · ·People are told just to take the 17· ·advanced meter and to work it out with the company 18· ·afterwards.· The person's at the site; you should 19· ·let him install it.· Unfortunately, there's a fee 20· ·for removing a meter that's already there, that the 21· ·customer isn't told about.· People with solar panels 22· ·are charged two opt-out fees.·

Page 41 Anna Nelson I am the mother 23· ·of a disabled child, and our family is affected by 24· ·radio frequency radiation already, and we've had to ·move already because of that.· We've spent thousands ·2· ·of dollars and gone to great lengths to create a ·3· ·safe environment for my son and for our family. ·4· · · · · · · ·I've already opted out from the meters, ·5· ·but it still says when I log into my Eversource ·6· ·account that I'm scheduled for a smart meter ·7· ·installation.· Even though I have logged out, it ·8· ·says they're going to install the smart meter, and I ·9· ·don't understand that [] And I'm going to be paying the fees 22· ·for -- I'm in a multi-family apartment.· I'm going 23· ·to be paying the fees for my apartment and my 24· ·neighbors' apartment [] ·So I want you guys to know that we 11· ·exist.· We're here.· We exist.· This affects people. 12· ·And the only way that I knew about this public 13· ·hearing was because of Massachusetts for Safe 14· ·Technology sending out an email.· I didn't see any 15· ·announcement from the utility about this public 16· ·hearing.· I didn't get anything in my bill.· There 17· ·was no announcement from the utility about this 18· ·public hearing. 19· · · · · · · ·

Page 45 Patricia Burke ·When the D.P.U. issued its order 12-76 the D.P.U. itself solicited the testimony from Peter ·2· ·Valberg, who is a mercenary tobacco scientist, to ·3· ·override the concerns that were being registered ·4· ·with the D.P.U. about the initial order, 12-76. ·5· · · · · · · ·And we submitted significant complaints ·6· ·about the Valberg testimony.· First of all, he ·7· ·provided no written testimony, but comments were ·8· ·attributed to him in the order that was subsequently ·9· ·issued by the Department of Public Utilities. 10· · · · · · · ·One of the comments that was included, 11· ·or the implications, is that the FCC guidelines are 12· ·sufficient to protect against both thermal and 13· ·nonthermal impacts of nonionizing radiation.· And 14· ·this indicates either gross incompetence or gross 15· ·corruption, because the comment is completely false. 16· · · · · · · ·And I posted subsequent testimony to the 17· ·Department of Public Utilities after the lawsuit, 18· ·after the court ruling against the FCC where the 19· ·court ruled that they needed to explain why they 20· ·were not revisiting their 1996 exposure guidelines, 21· ·as a result of a lawsuit with the Environmental 22· ·Health Trust and the Children's Health Defense. 23· · · · · · · ·And I explained to the Department of 24· ·Public Utilities why the implications of this court Page 47 ·1· ·case would require the D.P.U. to look at the issue ·2· ·of smart meters, because smart meters were part of ·3· ·that court case. ·4· · · · · · · ·The other piece that has been submitted ·5· ·to the D.P.U. repeatedly -- and I know some of you ·6· ·may not have been working there when we sent this ·7· ·in.· But after Eversource conducted pilot programs ·8· ·in Connecticut and in Massachusetts, they came to ·9· ·the conclusion that the full deployment of smart 10· ·meters was not necessary to modernize the grid, and 11· ·they suggested an opt-in, rather than an opt-out, 12· ·because of the utter failure of the pilot program in 13· ·both Connecticut and Massachusetts. 14· · · · · · · ·Then, with the National Grid smart meter 15· ·pilot program, we filed basically the equivalent of 16· ·a fraud report, because the information that's being 17· ·presented about how much money the ratepayers saved 18· ·has to be evaluated against the program design. 19· · · · · · · ·So I would make two requests to the 20· ·Department of Public Utilities or some other agency 21· ·in Massachusetts, that the results reporting that 22· ·people are basing their economic models on I believe 23· ·was fraudulent, that came from the Department of 24· ·Public Utilities ·I'm living in Gloucester right now. I ·2· ·just got invited to join a municipal aggregation and ·3· ·to lock in my utility rate for three years, and I am ·4· ·already paying for smart meters to be installed on ·5· ·people's homes, and the ratepayers who will benefit ·6· ·the most are those who have the ability to shed ·7· ·load, who have discretionary load. ·8· · · · · · · ·And this is why Germany in fact is only ·9· ·installing a transmitting meter on the homes of 10· ·people with over, I think it's 6,000 kilowatthours 11· ·per year.· We're putting smart meters on the homes 12· ·of people like we did in the Worcester pilot who 13· ·have a phone charger and a fan and an air 14· ·conditioner

EDIT intended to say refrigerator with insulin, and no air conditioner

and we're pretending that 15· ·it's an equal-opportunity issue to give them a smart 16· ·meter so that they can save money.· And these 17· ·assumptions are really more propaganda than they are 18· ·customer education. 19· · · · · · ·[] the last thing I want to mention is, 23· ·on the AMI site for mass.gov you start with the 24· ·docket, 12-76, and then you jump ahead from 2012 to Page 49 ·1· ·2020.· No information about the smart meter pilot ·2· ·programs, how much they cost, no information, acting ·3· ·like nothing happened for that entire eight years. ·4· · · · · · · ·And this administration is claiming that ·5· ·they're focusing on energy affordability and ·6· ·transparency.· They need to put that information on ·7· ·the site if we're really serious about the ·8· ·transparency.· Thank you.

Page 49 Paul Bolduc ·There was a smart meter installed at our residence. ·9· ·It is just a single-family home.· And that was about 10· ·early February.· I did not opt out.· In hindsight I 11· ·probably should have.· And since then, the bills 12 · ·along with the electric usage on said bills have 13· ·tripled. 14· · · · · · · · [] And so to give a timeline, smart meter 14· ·installed early February.· February-to-March bill 15· ·was $400.· My typical -- I have oil heat.· Typical 16· ·bill is about 100 to 150 dollars. 17· · · · · · · ·Then the next bill, the February-to 18· ·March -- sorry, the March-to-April bill, was another 19· ·$380.· Again, typical bill for my household in the 20· ·winter is around 100 to 150 dollars.· Both of these 21· ·bills are -- they show 2.5 to 3 times the amount of 22· ·electric usage.· And the April-to-May bill was back 23· ·to the mean, $150. 24· · · · · · · ·I also took a look at the 15-minute ·interval periods which the smart meter provides, and ·2· ·it's showing when we are dead asleep in the night, ·3· ·midnight to 5:00 a.m., there are multiple cases -- I ·4· ·don't even want to say "multiple" -- there are ·5· ·numerous amounts of cases in which the electricity ·6· ·usage spikes to about .6 kilowatthours for a ·7· ·15-minute span. ·8· · · · · · · ·And I looked up what that is the ·9· ·equivalent to.· That's like running three 10· ·industrial-sized washing machines at one time.· And 11· ·nobody can provide me an explanation as to why the 12· ·electric usage is demonstrating that.· And many 13· ·nights throughout those bills I'd have a whole 14· ·spreadsheet as to the data, and I actually just 15· ·submitted a complaint to the Attorney General's 16· ·Office earlier today. 17· · · · · · · ·They also, when I called National Grid 18· ·and they were going to review all of this, I called 19· ·once the bill came out in May.· They said that they 20· ·would not give me a case number when this was under 21· ·review, and they also offered me a $100 credit for 22· ·providing me misinformation that the bills spike up 23· ·when the smart meters first are installed and then 24· ·they come back down to the mean.

Page 55 I'm Randi Jordan, 13· ·J-o-r-d-a-n, Great Barrington, and National Grid. 14· ·Am I allowed to ask a question that you can answer? ·I'm not clear like what is going to happen with the ·2· ·comments that people have made, how they're going to ·3· ·be dealt with, and how we see that they're dealt ·4· ·with, and how there's any -- there's a lot of very ·5· ·substantial things that have been brought up, and ·6· ·how D.P.U. is going to deal with them.· So I'm not ·7· ·clear on that. ·8· · · · · · · ·And my comment is:· We're homeowners, ·9· ·and even people who are renting.· This is my 10· ·personal information, how I use my electric.· And 11· ·when did it become policy that the electric company 12· ·gets to see how I use my electric -- how I get to 13· ·use my appliances?· And are they doing this -- you 14· ·know, why are they focusing on residences? 15· · · · · · · ·But anyway, this is my personal 16· ·information, and it's -- to me, it's -- I don't even 17· ·think it's lawful to be doing this without our 18· ·consent and knowing.· And then you're going to be - 19· ·I know eventually that the utilities will be sort of 20· ·controlling how we use our power.· This is our power 21· ·that we're paying for -- that if we don't use it in 22· ·certain ways, we're going to be penalized. 23· · · · · · · ·You know, this is my liberty as a free 24· ·person in this country to be able to use energy how Page 57 ·1· ·I want it as long as it's not hurting anybody if I'm ·2· ·paying for it. ·3· · · · · · · ·So this to me is a whole other issue ·4· ·that I don't feel like the utilities have any right, ·5· ·unless we consent, to go in and monitor.·

Page 58; So my name is Rafida, and I 16· ·work for Good Energy.· We're one of the municipal 17· ·aggregation consultants.· And we are actually 18· ·planning to comment on the [] So we actually kind of did some research ·2· ·that in D.P.U. 21-80, 21-82, the utility had stated ·3· ·that they would be providing hourly interval data ·4· ·via the bulk platform.· And we just wanted to know ·5· ·if that is still the case in this docket, because in ·6· ·the joint testimony it wasn't very clear if that's ·7· ·still happening. ·8· · ·

Page 59: My name is Loretta Baskys, 18· ·B-a-s-k-y-s, and I live in Barnstable County, and my 19· ·electric provider is Eversource. · ·Basically, I'm just concerned about 23· ·opting out and how the fees have been set · ·I take issue with this because my ·4· ·utility bill now, two thirds of it is going toward ·5· ·other issues besides the supplies -- in other words, ·6· ·the delivery fees, maintenance, green energy fees. ·7· ·And it's two thirds of the supply amount. ·8· · · · · · · ·My issue is that adding another fee - ·9· ·there should be enough money there to have people 10· ·come and read my meter, and I think that the issue 11· ·is that the fee has been set way too high.· There 12· ·are other states that actually have no fee.· Other 13· ·areas have very minimal fees, other areas of the 14· ·country.· And just like your utility rates, I think 15· ·these fees are probably the highest of any other 16· ·area that has these smart meters. 17· · · · · · · ·So I'd like that issue addressed, that 18· ·the fees seem to be very exorbitant, and I think 19· ·that for the people that are EMF-sensitive -- and 20· ·there are quite a few, and as we heard today with 21· ·testimonies -- there are quite a few people who 22· ·really just want to opt out.· We just want our data 23· ·to be our data.· We just want our health to be our 24· ·health.· We don't have to remediate our houses to ·not have this energy coming through. [] · It seems ·8· ·like we're really just getting bulldozed with this. [] · It seems ·8· ·like we're really just getting bulldozed with this.

Page 63 Jean Lemieux, , I have given 18· ·testimony in the past not only for personal 19· ·information, as a person who is living with chemical 20· ·sensitivity and some degree of sensitivity to 21· ·electrical issues, but as the president of the 22· ·Massachusetts Association for the Chemically 23· ·Injured.· And since 13-83, back in 2013, I have been 24· ·giving testimony and was in live at the State House [] So it comes to communication, which has ·6· ·been lacking since the beginning and is still ·7· ·ongoing, as other speakers have mentioned, as to ·8· ·what did I have in my house as far as a meter.· It's ·9· ·inside my house.· It's not even outside.· When did 10· ·they change the meter, such that they now are 11· ·collecting some kind of data?· I received a notice. 12· ·I called the third party, and they told me I had to 13· ·call my utility company.· I still have never gotten 14· ·an answer from National Grid as to what this data 15· ·is. 16· · · · · · · ·In wanting to hear today's hearing, I 17· ·actually paid a visit to my City, City Hall, and 18· ·talked to the person dealing with the municipal 19· ·aggregate, because that's mentioned in today's 20· ·hearing, about municipalities that have aggregate 21· ·programs. 22· · · · · · · ·So where does this fit with the opt-out? 23· ·Does that mean because I will be having to opt out 24· ·of meters that I'm going to have to drop my program Page 65 ·1· ·with my community, because they won't be collecting ·2· ·data?·

Page 66: My name is Kathryn Levin. ·9· ·I'm the vice president of the Scientific Alliance 10· ·for Education, also known as SAFE.· Our website is 11· ·safehelpsyou.org, I work with various people who have been 16· ·harmed from radio frequency radiation, which is why 17· ·I'm here, [] You know, I remember when cigarettes 19· ·were common and everybody smoked and it was a great 20· ·thing, until we learned that it was bad for you. 21· ·And I feel like the same thing is going on now with 22· ·the whole radio frequency radiation, there's so many 23· ·people getting sick.· From my experience, I would 24· ·say that smart meters are the leading cause of we Page 69 ·1· ·call it now electromagnetic radiation syndrome, ·2· ·which is why it could be tinnitus, people that have ·3· ·heart issues, there are kids that get nosebleeds. ·4· ·It's a wide variety, from rashes to itching to ·5· ·neurological to depression, all kinds of effects ·6· ·from this stuff. ·7· · · · · · · ·And it's being rolled out.· People don't ·8· ·know about the harms.· It's like everybody's going ·9· ·forward because it's - 10· · · · · · · ·You know, I'm all for the advancement of 11· ·technology.· I just think it has to be known that 12· ·there are side effects and people are not aware of 13· ·it. 14· · · · · · · ·The other thing, too, is a lot of people 15· ·are threatened by Eversource or saying that they 16· ·have to get something.· I don't believe there's any 17· ·Massachusetts statute that tells an unelected 18· ·organization, gives them the right to, you know, 19· ·determine what kind of technology you have to have 20· ·at your home.· If we have an old mechanical analog 21· ·meter and it counts our kilowatthours, that's 22· ·wonderful and that's good. 23· · · · · · · ·[] our Fourth ·6· ·Amendment is violated by the use of a smart meter ·7· ·because it's like having a bug inside your house ·8· ·that knows -- because of nonintrusive load ·9· ·monitoring and disaggregation technologies.· The 10· ·frequencies are like fingerprints to your light 11· ·bulb, to your refrigerator, is it Energy Star, is it 12· ·not? 13· · · · · · · ·So these companies and whoever is on 14· ·board with them have access to this information, and 15· ·it is worth way more than energy that we are using. 16· ·And there's Miles Keogh and many people have spoken 17· ·out about this greatly, that it's really data 18· ·collection.· It's about getting data.· And I really 19· ·consider this an invasion of our private -- our life 20· ·in the private - 21· · · · · · · ·Normally it would take a court order to 22· ·collect what were you doing at this hour in your 23· ·home, you know, who was there, what lights were on, 24· ·what room were you in?· They know all of this stuff. []There's plenty of evidence of the harm 10· ·of radio frequency radiation.· There's 11,000 pages. 11· ·The D.C. Circuit Court case, the Environmental 12· ·Health Trust versus the FCC, in which the judges 13· ·remanded the FCC, you know, and asked them to 14· ·rewrite their safety guidelines because they aren't 15· ·adequate, they don't address long-term use, they 16· ·don't address the ubiquity of devices.· They do not 17· ·address the effects on children or smaller bodies, 18· ·and they do not address the environment. 19· · · · · · · ·There are six categories they mentioned. 20· ·So there is evidence, and substantial evidence.· And 21· ·it's like everybody is so compartmentalized in their 22· ·own little area and nobody is aware of everything

Same old same old?

A colleague wrote to hearing officer Kerri Phillips to thank her and to ask in what form we should expect the written response mentioned by Staci Rubin. Her response to the question:

In response to your question, the Department values public participation in our proceedings and, to the extent practicable, follows up on comments through our discovery process. In other words, comments and questions raised by members of the public help to inform the Department and other parties to our proceedings as we explore issues related to the documentation submitted on the records before as and, where applicable, interpretation of any new or recent statutory directives. In an adjudicatory proceeding, such as the current consolidated proceeding, my agency’s practices and related discovery requirements are governed by the state’s Administrative Procedure Act (M.G.L. Chapter 30A), our procedural regulations, 220 CMR 1.00 et seq., and relevant state precedent within our jurisdictional authority. The Department ultimately addresses public input through our final Orders in proceedings, which may also reflect certain directives to the petitioning parties on the matters subject to the investigation.

Thank you to the many individuals who took the time to submit written comments to the docket, and thanks for reading along. (Comments closed May 28,)

It’s never too late to do the right thing and/or to stop doing the wrong thing.