The man in charge of SaskPower’s advanced metering program was at Craik town council’s meeting Wednesday to give an overview of the new smart meters.
Lloyd Crookshanks, consultant for SaskPower’s advanced meter infrastructure, attended the meeting to explain the benefits of the new wireless meters that, over the next year and a half, will be installed across the province.
The new meters will send a signal once every hour that provides regular information on electrical and natural gas consumption to SaskPower and SaskEnergy using a secure two-way wireless communication system. This transmission will allow both companies to use actual consumption information instead of generating estimates for billing purposes
In November, when she learned a smart meter was going to be installed on her house, Craik resident Ernady Destre approached town council with her concerns about the meters. She also wrote a letter to SaskPower’s CEO notifying the company of her refusal to have a meter installed.
“I refuse your wireless smart meter on the grounds that it has the capability of being a surveillance system, used by you or other parties, which could violate my right to privacy. Also my fundamental democratic right to protect my health from a possible carcinogen specifically radiofrequency electromagnetic fields emitted by your wireless smart meter, supersedes any right you have to install a wireless smart meter on my property,” Destre states in her letter to Robert Watson.
Crookshanks said they have heard some concerns from people who do not want the meters installed on their property.
Many of these concerns are associated with the potential health impacts of radiofrequency energy emanating from the meters.
Crookshanks said SaskPower has done tests on the meters being installed, measuring the radiofrequency from distance of 8 inches away from the meter and the measurements come in at 0.5 per cent of Health Canada standards, which he said is “well, well below federal government regulations.”
He said this is much less than radiofrequencies coming from common devices such as cell phones.
To read more please see the December 16 print edition of The Davidson Leader.