Sandi Maurer is the founder of the EMF Safety Network, which filed an application for modification against PG&E Smart Meters in April of 2010 and formally appealed the dismissal of that application in January of 2011. The EMF Safety Network is calling for dismantling of the wireless grid and a return to the analog meters based on numerous reported health and safety problems.

ABOUT SMART METERS
The SmartMeter system uses programmable solid-state meter technology that provides two-way communication between the meter at your home or business and the utility, using secure wireless network technology records hourly meter reads and periodically transmits the reads via a dedicated radio frequency (RF) network back to Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E).

The new meters have been a public relations nightmare for utilities around the country as well as the state commissions that regulate them. The public rebellion has been especially heated in California as residents flood utility call centers with demands to remove the broadcasting meters from their property. Some who have been sickened by the pulses of radiation are increasingly turning to private electricians to remove the wireless meters and replace them with analog meters commonly available from electrical supply shops.

According to California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) documents obtained through FOIA requests, wireless meters are cited in thousands of reports of adverse health effects. The SmartMeter program has also raised concerns of privacy advocates who believe that the devices' data collection capabilities violate constitutional privacy protections.

There have been a growing number of reports linking the meters to instances of fires, explosions, and surges. On August 25th a power surge hit East Palo Alto and disabled hundreds of new smart meters leading to questions by major utility watchdogs about the safety of the 'smart' grid being rushed into place without adequate safety precautions or testing. Utilities have rushed to dispose of solid state analog meters that often lasted eighty years or more without incident.

UC nuclear policy lecturer Dan Hirsch has determined that the wireless meters emit 100-150 times the radiation of a cell phone, invalidating utility claims that the radiation is insignificant.

On May 31st, the World Health Organization declared non-ionizing radiation of the kind emitted by smart meters as a class 2B carcinogen - the same category as DDT, based on cell phone brain tumor studies. Last week, an article in the peer-reviewed Journal of Neuroscience concluded that "EMF hypersensitivity can occur as a bona fide environmentally-inducible neurological syndrome."