Massachusetts Smart Meter Update — Past Efforts and Current Proceedings

Past: MA Smart Meter Bill Hearing Update

Thank you to everyone who provided testimony last month to the MA Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy for Senator Michael Moore’s smart meter opt-out bill, S. 2204. This would apply to both public and municipal utility meter installations. We are awaiting the legislative committee’s ruling.

You are welcome to see/listen to testimonies below, starting at 1:45:00. The video description contains a list of who spoke.

Massachusetts S. 2204 Smart Meter No-Fee Choice Bill

Present: DPU Hearing on Grid Modernization, Deadline Sept. 9

We have an equally important opportunity to testify with the MA Department of Public Utilities (DPU) on Thursday, September 9 at 2 p.m. Eastern.

The DPU has asked the three investor-owned public utility companies in Massachusetts to submit proposals for grid modernization, and for electric vehicles.

Both projects mandate AMI digital/smart meters and/or powerline technology (which creates electrical pollution on the home electrical wiring).

We would be grateful if you would submit testimony on these plans. Our collective children and pollinators are depending on us. See logistics below.

The Backstory

Thank you to those who joined us last December for a hearing in which we taught the DPU about the biological risks of utility digital/smart meters and the need for an opt-out.

We are so grateful they listened — DPU is requiring an opt-out provision to be included in each proposal from the utility companies!

That was a great first step, but it fell short. It is imperative that the requirement be expanded to provide a purely mechanical analog meter for the opt-out, and with no fee/tariff to ratepayers.

Many who are electromagnetically-disabled cannot afford to pay a recurring fee to simply live safely in their homes. There are many others who want to avoid getting sick in the first place and should not be assessed a tariff to have a safe basic utility service.

In addition, the regulator has not addressed the issue of accommodation in multi-family homes or from neighboring emissions.

Massachusetts policy decisions may have far-reaching implications, especially since MA utility companies also operate in NY, RI, CT, and NH.

(See National Grid, Eversource and Unitil grid modernization proposals.)

How to Submit Testimony: Due by 5 p.m. Eastern, Thursday, Sept. 9

How to Submit Testimony: Due by 5 p.m. Eastern, Thursday, Sept. 9

1. We are required to compose testimony in a document file then save it as a .pdf. so the DPU can upload it to their website. The file name should be 50 characters or less.

See sample testimony below, but each must include:

(a.) DPU 21-80, 21-81, 21-82 Grid Modernization

(b.) Your name

(c.) If you are attaching any additional documents include a brief descriptive title of the document(s) in your main testimony document. Files not to exceed 20 MB each.

2. Copy these recipients into an email To: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]

(This list includes the DPU and utility company attorneys, plus us so we can keep track of what’s been submitted.)

2. In the Subject line, please copy in: MA DPU 21-80, 21-81, and 21-82 Comment.
3. In the body of your email, simply write:

Please enter the attached [filename(s)] for the record for DPU 21-80, 21-81, and 21-82. Thank you. [Your name]

4. Attach your testimony as a .pdf file(s).
5. You can later check to see if your files are posted by clicking here and copying in the docket numbers one-by-one (21-80, 21-81, 21-82).

Sample Testimony

Date

Testimony for MA DPU 21-80, 21-81, 21-82

Dear Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities,

[Insert your own reasons for opposing utility digital/smart meters/powerline transmissions, or use/modify the following.]

Crucial questions about the health, safety, and environmental impacts of smart grid and smart meter investments have not been adequately addressed by the energy industry, the utilities, or the MA DPU.

The FCC has just been sued for ignoring 11,000 pages of science and other evidence showing biological effects so we can no longer rely on industry and FCC assurances of safety.

Please redirect proceedings on how to spend the ratepayers’ money to modernize the grid to prioritize health and safety protections for all customers (and utility workers), without cost-shifting the burden to customers, and without discriminatory surcharges.

While public policy catches up to the science, please mandate ASAP a no-fee opt-out to provide safe analog utility meters for electric, solar, gas and water services.

Ratepayers can simply send in their monthly readings on-line or call them in, there is no tariff needed for meter-readers. Other states are already taking analog readings directly from customers.

Thank you for your time and attention to this urgent matter.

Full Name
Title (if applicable)
Email address

Hearing: Thursday, September 9, 2021, 2:00 p.m.

Sign up by Tuesday, September 7

·  To join via Zoom video: please send an email by Tuesday, September 7, 2021, to [email protected] with your name, email address, and mailing address.
·  To comment by telephone: please leave a voicemail message by Tuesday, September 7, 2021, at (617) 305-3632 with your name, telephone number, and mailing address.

Join the Hearing

·  On Thursday, September 9 at 2 p.m. Eastern, join via video by clicking the link, https://zoom.us/j/96502001483. No prior software download is required.
·  For audio-only access to the hearings, dial (646) 558-8656 (not toll free) then enter the Meeting ID# 965 0200 1483.

Hope to see you there!

Future: DPU Hearing on Electric Vehicles

Right on the heels of the grid modernization hearing will be a hearing on the utility companies’ plans for electric vehicle charging stations. More to come next week on that one.

Thanks, as ever, for doing what you can, please let us know if you have any questions!

Adblock test (Why?)