Billions of electronic devices that are constantly on "standby"
are wasting enough electricity each year
to power 80 per cent of Canada's needs.
Globally in 2013, network-enabled devices
consumed about 616 terrawatt hours of electricity.
SMART PEOPLE WANT STUPID METERS
Smart meters may be getting too smart for our own good.
Utility meters that wirelessly transmit energy-usage data
enable two-way power and information flows
between the utility and the consumer
"opening the door of the home".
To Orwell Today,
Hello,
I have recently received a second notice from City of Toronto to make an appointment with Neptune to install the new water meter. Attached is the booklet:
I did my research and came across your website:
You had mentioned how you asked them to install a water meter but the analog version. So as you wrote on your webpage I called the hotline and a first level rep answered. I told her my issue and let her know that I am willing to enroll into the new program as long as they don't install a smart meter in my house. Right away she stopped me and said that it was not a smart meter, it's a meter with a transmitter that is all. I told her that is the same technology that my hydro meter uses and that is called a smart meter.
I then told her that I would rather want a meter with a wired connection rather than one with a transmitter. I told her my health is suffering and I cannot manage to put it at more risk. I am currently suffering from Muscular Dystrophy. I already have ear ringing incidents on a monthly basis from the hydro smart meter. I just don't need another smart meter.
Therefore I would like to get your help in better defending myself and health. I asked the hotline representative to ask a supervisor to call me. So far it's been a week and no response from them. What do I do next? Should I call the program manager for City of Toronto, and what do I say? Could you please help me out in better preparing myself?
Looking forward to hear from you. Thank you for your time and patience.
Regards,
Ousman
Greetings Ousman,
So glad the smart-meter info on ORWELL TODAY is helping you in your water-meter woes although by the sounds of it your municipal government is denying there's an option and ignoring you -- hoping you'll shut your mouth and open your door and let the home invaders in.
As explained, I arranged with City Hall to pay an extra $100 per year to have a 'stupid' wired water meter installed instead of a 'smart' wireless one. I then phoned NEPTUNE (the water-meter corporation hired by the government and paid by the taxpayer) and made an appointment for the installation of a wired analog water meter.
Below is a photo of the water meter they installed in my basement and the job order from Neptune acknowledging "wired meter completed". The wire connects to a transmitter on the wall outside the house where a meter-reader can manually scan it -- although in the almost two years it's been there I've never seen anyone read it.
Above is my most recent quarterly utilities bill for sewer, garbage and water. Notice the $25.00 WATER METER SPECIAL/MANUAL READING fee.
Actually, Toronto was in the news last week for City Council threatening a $50,000 fine for anyone who hadn't installed a smart water meter by July 1st (Canada Day). What's worse I wonder -- the Mayor smoking crack cocaine or Council practising extortion? Both are illegal.
Bylaw enforcement looms for Toronto water meters
by David Shume, Global News, June 22, 2014
Under the City of Toronto Municipal Code it is mandatory for every home and business in Toronto to install a new automated water meter. Toronto homeowners and businesses who have yet to install or upgrade to the city's new automated water meters could face stiff penalties as the bylaw enforcement deadline looms.
The city began the process of changing the water meters in 2010 and the plan was to complete the installation across all wards in six years. So far, ward 6, 10, 13, 14, 16-24, 26-34, and 36 have been "considered complete". Anyone in those wards who have not had their water meters replaced by July 1 may face fines of up to $50,000. In addition, customers with an existing meter will be charged a manual meter reading fee of $80 per reading and flat rate water customers will be charged a Legacy fee of $1,020 per year.
The new water meter, which the city installs for free, will collect and transmit data remotely, therefore eliminating the need for staff to enter people's homes. The program is mandatory and it takes 30 to 90 minutes for the installation process. Customers are encouraged to book an appointment as soon as they receive their orange booklet in the mail.
~ end quoting ~
As to what to do next, yes, I think you should call the manager of Toronto's Water Meter Program and explain your consent to having a water meter installed but NOT an AUTOMATED, WIRELESS, SMART water meter.
All the best,
Jackie Jura
To Orwell Today,
Hi Jackie,
Thank you for getting my story covered on your webpage. However I am still having some issues. As you advised I got in contact with the manager of the water meter program via email. However nothing is working to my benefit.
I have a lot of questions and emailing you everything seems to be intense. Therefore I would like to know how I can educate my self better. Please let me know. Thank you.
Best regards,
Ousman
Greetings again Ousman,
There's a website that lists Smart Meter Opposition Groups in Canada and Ontario is included -- give that a try.
All the best,
Jackie Jura
~ Erika says the Ontario Landowners Association has started a Toronto Chapter to help people solve smart water meter issues
~ Andy is trying to refuse the installation of a smart water meter -- will call City Hall
ORWELL DESCRIBED INTERNET IN 1984 (every day I talk over the telescreen with people in Melbourne and Durban and Washington...)
Consumer privacy concerns with the-internet-of-things (technology monitoring every aspect of our lives) & Smart-homes controlled by smart-phones coming soon, PCWorld, CBC, July 2014
Rise of the connected car puts web behind the wheel (wireless/digital telematics send/recieve inside vehicle) GlobeMail, July 2014
Angry householder posts smart meter back to Irish Water, Examiner, Jul 4, 2014
Homeowner Dermot Murphy told the Westmeath Examiner last Friday afternoon that he had decided to take out the meter that was installed on June 19, as it had been installed despite him informing Irish Water, by letter and on the phone, that they did not have his consent to do so. He says that he also informed the foreman of the crew contracted to install the meter. "Irish Water can put in the water meter at your home and if you say nothing, that is called a tacit agreement, but in the letters that I sent I told them that I was not giving my consent... They have no contract with me because I have not given my consent". Mr Murphy, who says that he knows of at least 50 other householders in Mullingar who are going to follow his example, says that he is prepared to go to court to argue his case, and believes that he has a sound legal argument. "They might make an example of me and bring me to court and I'll go. I'll tell the judge that I never gave any consent. I have the letters here and I have the telephone conversation. The foreman (of the installers) also said that he'd bypass my house. The judge has to rule in my favour. "They would have to show me the legislation that they can put in a meter outside my home without my consent. There isn't any. I've checked it out. Under consumer and contract law to put anything in at your home, or to sell you anything, they have to supply documentation. They haven't given me anything".... "I've done everything legally on my side. If they want to take me court, they can, because I have backing behind me. A lot of people are taking them out in Dublin".... "They are tearing like mad to get these in, usually when people are at work so that no one will confront them. The whole reason they are putting these in is to pay bond holders. This has nothing do with services".
Intimidation and extortion in Ontario re water meters, Citizens For Safe Technology, Jun 22, 2014 (Because people did not fight the electric smart meters, the water company is feeling bolder about these things. Sadly, many people have their water meters inside their homes, often in the basement. This means the meters will have to send out stronger signals to get through the cement walls to reach either the meter reader of the collector transmitter....)
Bylaw enforcement looms for new automated water meters, Global News, Jun 22, 2014
CANADA MAYOR SMOKES CRACK (The crack-smoking, binge-drinking mayor of Toronto seems to think his drug use is purely a personal problem.... Ford seemed surprised when this outburst of honesty after months of denials did not result in a healing reset with the media. Instead, the admission opened international attention to the serial embarrassment lurking inside Toronto's City Hall.... There is a troubling tip-of-the-iceberg aura around Ford's exploits, incidents that reek not just of self-abuse, but abuse of power. Thanks to the indelible digital evidence of the Internet era, Ford's past denials can be exposed as the attempted fraud they are. But as more evidence piles up, as it inevitably will, we might see something sinister beneath the hard partying in Toronto's City Hall. After all, incompetence in an executive is usually exploited to mask more serious corruption.
Electronic devices soaring energy hogs: report, by John Spears, TorontoStar, July 2, 2014
Billions of electronic devices around the world that are constantly on "standby" are wasting enough electricity each year to power 80 per cent of Canada's needs, says a new report. And it's only going to get worse, says the International Energy Agency, unless we do something about it. The report says that demands of businesses and consumers always to be connected comes at a price. Devices like refrigerators and coffee makers are now being made with connections to the Internet -- which means they always have to be powered up to receive instructions. Meanwhile, televisions and computers are always in "standby" mode so they can be flicked on instantly. "In many such devices, standby is a misnomer," says the report. "It suggests the device has gone to sleep and is "almost off". In reality, most network-enabled devices draw as much power in this mode as when activated to perform their main tasks." Consumers pay for the power, it says. And energy companies have to generate enough power to meet the new demand. Globally in 2013, network-enabled devices consumed about 616 terrawatt hours of electricity, according to the agency. The report says that better policies and technology could substantially reduce the waste, which is set to almost double by 2025 if nothing is done.
Study: 7 in 10 concerned about security of Internet-of-Things, by Tony Bradley, PC World, June 23, 2014 (The Internet-of-Things is a thing. If you haven't heard about it yet, get ready because we're in the early stages of an explosion of technology that will connect, monitor, and in some cases share almost every aspect of our lives....
Your Outlet Knows: How Smart Meters Can Reveal Behavior at Home (What We Watch on TV), by Jordan Robertson, Bloomberg, Jun 10, 2014
Smart meters may be getting too smart for our own good. As businesses look for new ways to gain insight into consumers, utility meters that wirelessly transmit energy-usage data are increasingly drawing attention because of what they can reveal about our behavior at home, such as when and how often we use certain appliances. Last month, a unit of WPP, the world's biggest advertising agency, announced it was teaming up with London-based software company Onzo to study ways to collect smart-meter data on household energy use. Onzo CEO Joel Hagan told Bloomberg News that the information has the potential to "open the door of the home".... Smart meters "enable two-way power and information flows between the utility and the consumer"...
WEATHER/WATER/FOOD/AIR CONTROL
3.Surveillance (...With the development of television, and the technical advance which made it possible to receive and transmit simultaneously on the same instrument, private life came to an end.)
20.Thought Police (...They could plug in your wire whenever they wanted to.)
Jackie Jura
~ an independent researcher monitoring local, national and international events ~
email: orwelltoday@gmail.com
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