PG&E Shuts Off Power to Sickened Families 2 Weeks Before Christmas

See: PG&E Threatens to Disconnect Families Protecting Their Health (Part 1)

[News links follow.] Frightened by the prospect of a large scale public backlash against their stupid meter program, the cowards at Pacific Grinch and Ebeneezer have cut off power to at least 3 people in California who had been sickened by ‘smart’ meter radiation and had acted reasonably to have a safe analog meter replaced on their homes. [UPDATE: As of 2pm, Dec. 14, three more persons have been cut off by PG&E.]

Although PG&E has a policy of not disconnecting anyone during the holidays, they made a special exception for these families.   Apparently PG&E feels it is more appropriate to force people to shiver in the cold and stumble around in the dark than simply replace an analog meter on their home (which of course they have millions of).

Seventy-five year old Peggy Lindsay, who spoke about the ‘smart’ meter’s toll on her health and returned her meter last Wednesday to PG&E- is one of those who has been disconnected.

We’re worried about her safety, living alone, having been left in the cold and dark in the middle of December.  So far, none of our ‘elected leaders’ have intervened on her behalf.

Monise and Peter Sheehan made every effort to get PG&E to work with them to eliminate the terrible ringing that had plagued their house ever since the meter went in.

PG&E refused to fix the problem, and the Sheehans took reasonable action to replace their meter with an accurate analog model.   They got home last night and their home was dark and cold.   They were interviewed by local station KION news last night.

We need to be clear about this situation.  The utilities are acting like a criminal syndicate, switching off power to those suffering from their unsafe and poorly executed smart meter ‘deployment.’

They are getting increasingly nervous- and they should be.

What do we do?  The utilities are expecting that people will back down if they switch the power off.  They are expecting that people care more about their electricity and their gadgets than their ability  to sleep at night or live without headaches and tinnitus.

Having spoken to thousands of people who are suffering from these meters, I’m going to go out on a limb here and say- THEY ARE WRONG.  It is no time to back down and allow the noose of pulsed EMF to slip silently back over our heads.

If you are lucky enough to have had the foresight to lock up your analog meter before they came around, you might be reading these developments and thinking to your self, “well these people removed the meter- that’s why PG&E cut them off.

Surely I’m safe with my locks and chains or my sign- I even called the opt out line.”

I’m sorry to burst your bubble, but they want to switch off your electricity as well if you refuse to allow them to install a ‘smart’ meter- regardless of what you are reading about a possible opt out.  PG&E admits so themselves in a recent filing:

“For customers who continue to refuse to allow access to the meter, PG&E will have no choice but to temporarily discontinue service in accordance with existing Rules.”

If you still have your analog meter, make sure it is locked up and begin to make plans to live off the grid, or generate power locally with your neighbors. It’s not as hard as you think if you are willing to make a few lifestyle adjustments.

Convince your local authority- or perhaps general assembly- to take back the power and establish a municipal utility.  For now (if you are able- at least for part of the day), turn off your power at the breaker in solidarity with those being plunged into darkness.

Have a romantic candlelit dinner.   You may even feel a whole lot better in your home.

And no matter what your electrical situation is, now is the time to unite together and take care of each other- take care of your community- making sure that your elderly neighbor has enough wood and candles- perhaps a propane fridge- to make it through safely.

Our government/ utility is failing pretty miserably in this regard.

Monise Sheehan (left) came home to a dark home on Monday- retaliation for speaking out publicly about the damage PG&E has done to their health, and taking action to remove the hazard on their property. The others have been threatened with disconnection.

This threat is not isolated to California.  In the last few days, we’ve heard reports that more than 200 families in Minnesota who refused wireless water meters have been cut off.

Other scattered reports of disconnections from around the US have also been coming in to StopSmartMeters.Org

Let’s be clear about what’s going on here. This is an attack by PG&E and other utilities- who are owned by the 1% on Wall Street like Goldman Sachs, against the 99% whose exorbitant utility bills lead to investment returns of more than 11% in some cases.

This is when you can’t even get 1% from a savings account and many homes are being foreclosed on.

The rich are getting richer and the rest of us are left choosing between a headache and a blackout.  Welcome to 2011.

NEWS LINKS:

http://www.kcra.com/news/29997155/detail.html

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45673076/ns/local_news-sacramento_ca/t/woman-says-pge-smart-meter-was-causing-health-problems/

http://nation.foxnews.com/pge/2011/12/14/utility-company-turns-power-couple-who-removed-their-smart-meter

Visit and Support StopSmartMeters.org Today – Cross-Posted at Ask Marion

PG&E Threatens to Disconnect Families Protecting Their Health

StopSmartMeters.org December 12, 2011 Bianca Carn, Santa Cruz mother of 2, is now...

Hundreds of Households Having SmartMeters Removed as Health Toll Mounts

Capitola, CA- Last Wednesday, more than a dozen Santa Cruz County residents- including mothers and grandmothers- assembled outside Pacific Gas and Electric’s Capitola Payment Center with their unwanted wireless electric meters in hand, and spoke about what prompted them to defy their utility and replace the ‘smart’ meter on their homes with widely available analog meters.

After being interviewed by the media, they quietly got in line and waited for the next clerk. But before they could speak to anyone, PG&E called out half a dozen Capitola Police Officers, and kicked everyone out of the office.

The unwanted ‘Smart’ Meters were left piled up on the counter. Late last week, PG&E sent letters threatening to disconnect power to those who returned their ‘smart’ meters on Wednesday, including a family of four with headaches and a single woman in her seventies.

The dozen residents who assembled last week outside a PG&E office just 30 miles south of Silicon Valley are the most visible part of a growing movement of people suffering from insomnia, headaches, tinnitus and other symptoms linked to smart meters- fed up with being ignored by the monopoly utilities and state regulatory agencies (who have received over 10,000 health complaints about the new meters).

Many have begun taking matters into their own hands and having their smart meters removed from their homes. Their efforts have been bolstered by online videos showing how to do the switch, and ‘smart meter replacement kits’ are now being sold online for $49.95. (See FreedomTaker.com)

Despite thousands of threats, not one household has had their power disrupted for refusing or removing a ‘smart’ meter in California. According to many legal experts, utilities do not have the legal right to force a carcinogen on people’s homes. Nevertheless, the threats continue.

Last week’s events in Capitola should send shivers down the spines of utility executives, who are facing a growing backlash against their ‘smart’ meter programs.

While investment banking and tech firms are looking forward to potential profits of $49 billion from rolling out the ‘smart grid’ worldwide- mainly through utility rate hikes- increasingly customers are rejecting ‘smart’ meters as surveillance devices, fire hazards, and as dangerous sources of non-ionizing electromagnetic radiation- what the World Health Organization now identifies as a Class 2B carcinogen.

“The ‘smart’ meter was installed outside my children’s bedroom,” says Bianca Carn resident of Santa Cruz and mother of an 8 and a 6 year old.

“Since the meter was installed, they are both complaining of headaches. I asked PG&E multiple times to take it off- they refused. So we hired an electrician and had it removed.”

PG&E’s ‘smart’ meters emit radiation bursts that are more powerful than wireless consumer devices and have been measured at levels that would exceed safety limits for RF exposure in much of Europe.

“PG&E does not care about health and safety and does not respect private property rights,” said Joshua Hart Director of Santa Cruz County based Stop Smart Meters! “Threatening to turn off the power to a family who are simply trying to protect their children from radiation-induced headaches- two weeks before Christmas- is about as Scrooge-like as you can get.”

The County of Santa Cruz, all 4 municipalities in the county, and 42 other local governments throughout the state have demanded a halt to deployment because of health damage, privacy violations, and safety concerns.

At the time Santa Cruz County was “deployed” with ‘smart’ meters, a County Ordinance prohibiting their installation was in force and PG&E chose to ignore it. According to Hart, “it appears that PG&E’s chickens are coming home to roost as hundreds are returning unwanted utility equipment that was installed illegally in the first place.”

Source: The Intel Hub – Cross-Posted at AskMarion h/t to Jean Stoner

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“I Want My ‘Smart’ Meter Off, Too!” The Widening Call for Return of Analog Meters

Tuesday’s post documenting the return of Caitlin Phillips’ analog meter by PG&E brought a great number of emails to Stop Smart Meters! in the days that followed.

This was confirmation of what we already knew: many of California’s ratepayers are very eager to have their “smart” meters removed and replaced by an analog—often these are people who have been suffering with persistent health complaints, like insomnia and headaches, since installation.

Caitlin jumped through many hoops before PG&E stooped to her simple request: to regain what she never consented to have removed—her old, fully functioning electric meter. She wrote to PG&E, the CPUC, and when her requests were ignored, bought a replacement analog meter and had the smart meter removed.  Only when she spoke at a CPUC meeting on Oct. 20th and told the Commission what she had been forced to do, did President Peevey direct PG&E to replace the analog meter on her home.

Unfortunately, right now, anyone wanting to get back an analog meter will also have to work hard to get this to happen. If you are within driving/transit distance of San Francisco, we urge you to come to the next meeting of the California Public Utilities Commission, on Thursday November 10, 2011, 9 a.m. Arrive 15 minutes early to sign up to speak. Chandu Vyas and Elizabeth Barris both asked for and were granted analog meters during the public comment portion of CPUC meetings. (CPUC, 505 Van Ness Ave. San Francisco CA.) For those who cannot make the trip, see the end of this post for a way to participate via phone.

Make sure you ask for—and get—an analog meter, not a “non-transmitting” digital meter, as these have also been linked with health effects. Basically, it is your home and no one has the right to force a device on your home that you don’t want—it’s as simple as that! Don’t give your utility the power over you by asking them if they can please remove the meter—demand that they do so immediately and let them know you will contract with a professional to get the job done if they refuse.

Other news: Article on SFGate.com confirming the huge number of data pulses each day from electric “smart” meters:  “SmartMeters send almost 10,000 signals a day”. Some ‘smart’ meters send out over 190,000 signals every day!  We’ve been warning the Commission and the public about this for months and it turns out we were right!  Read more analysis of the radio-frequency problems of ‘smart’ meters disclosed by the utilities  in this recent post on EMFSafetyNetwork.org.

Participating via phone in the public comment portion of the CPUC meeting: If you cannot make the trip, then, please contact the CPUC and request accommodation to speak during public comments by phone. They say they need three days to arrange accommodation, so contact them by Monday morning Nov. 7. The Public Advisor’s office is (415) 703-2074

  Originally Posted on November 4, 2011 by admin at Stop Smart Meters! – Cross-Posted at Ask Marion

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Government Mandated Energy Efficient Light Bulbs Are Killing Us!

Why Smart Meters Produce Higher Bills

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The Night Shift Isn’t Called Graveyard for No Reason

Often the night or graveyard shift, usually 10:00PM to 6:00AM, 11:00PM to 7:00AM, or 10:00PM to 8:00AM with variations, is the entry level shift at large 24-hour companies, social service care facilities, prisons, medical facilities and for emergency service personnel and first responders.  But it is also the shift of choice, in many cases, for working students, working moms and single parents, people that work two jobs or for some who just like the perks it sometimes brings including more time off or the extra time during conventional waking or productive hours.  But this shift comes with a grave cost.

I came from 5-years at a job like this and have several friends who are still working that job and shift; some 5-days a week and some long 4-day a week shifts, but none with special time off benefits or shorter work weeks so I know the hazards first hand. It took me almost 3-years to physically get off that shift and get back to a semi-normal sleep pattern, and after 5-years, I still don’t sleep as soundly as I used to.

Another friend, Jack Reeder, has worked the same shift at a local hospital for 18-years because it allows him to work one week on and one week off and he likes the flexibility to travel and pursue his hobbies, but it still comes with a price.  He and most of my friends working these shifts are now chronic insomniacs.  According to the American Heart Association, weekly changes of sleep time affect the cardiac sympathetic and parasympathetic autonomic controls in our bodies.  The sympathetic nervous system accelerates body functions, including heart rate and digestion. The parasympathetic nervous system slows down some of these systems causing what some researchers say afflicts many people who work a shift schedule – higher rates of accidents and cardiovascular disease. 

What this means is that the natural circadian, or daily, rhythms of your biological clock are constantly wrestling with your work schedule if you are required to work during the hours when your body and brain would normally be resting.  The tug-of-war happens because your circadian rhythm and your lifestyle are not in sync. Circadian rhythms are, in part, tied to the 24-hour cycle of the Earth’s rotation and the amount of daylight to which you are exposed.

According to Raffaello Furlan, MD, a professor at the University of Milan and the lead author of their sleep study, “This resistance of the body’s internal ‘clock’ to change with varied work schedules indicates that people don’t adapt as easily as we think to shift work.”  Certain processes like cell division and DNA repair happen at regular times while we sleep and are missed by shift workers.  Circadian rhythms also seem to control the amount of and time when various hormones are released in the body, such as cortisol, growth hormone, melatonin and testosterone, which control weight, energy, and reaching the ‘deep sleep’ state among many other processes.  Because the release time of these substances might not match your schedule, it can lead to health problems say Furlan and other Italian researchers.

The researchers believe that the higher rate of sleep disturbances, gastrointestinal and cardiovascular diseases, and accidents that shift workers experience may be due to the stress that the frequent changing of sleep and awake periods place on the body’s nervous system.

Max Hirshkowitz, PhD, director of Baylor College of Medicine sleep research center in Houston, and the author of Sleep Disorders for Dummies says that the biological clock is a strong force in determining people’s sleep habits.

“These are three basic processes that govern and regulate sleep patterns – circadian rhythms, homeopathic rhythms, and anything that activates the sympathetic nervous system and can interfere with sleep”, says Hirshkowitz, “For most people, it’s more difficult to sleep during the day.  Light is a stimulant, and there is more noise during the day.”

Your biological clock tells you that the sleepiest time of the day is 4:00AM, Hirshkowitz says, yet many shift workers drink coffee around that time to stay awake. “Then they can’t go to sleep, or they sleep but wake up a short time later,” he says.  “It’s equivalent to drinking coffee after dinner.”

Shift workers also often develop destructive habits like trying to change their sleep patterns on the weekends or their days off because they want to be with their friends or families.  But according to Dr. Hirshkowitz, this is the wrong thing to do!  “It creates a cycle of sleep deprivation”, he says.  He advises that if you have to work a night shift, you should keep your sleep patterns the same on your off days, and you should protect the time slot when you’re supposed to sleep.  If you have to change shifts constantly and it involves the night shift, you should do whatever you can to protect your sleep time.  Don’t exercise within two hours of trying to sleep, but do exercise, and use blackout curtains and earplugs.  In other words, practice what Hirshkowitz calls “sleep hygiene”.  More sleep rather than “less”… which shift workers tend to get is also critical; 8 hours during the day under ‘ideal’ conditions is like 5 ½ or 6 during the night, 6 hours of day time sleep is like getting about 4 at night, and so on down the scale.  And broken sleep, a hazard of day-sleepers, is almost worse than no sleep.

Hirschkowitz says it’s easy to see these effects.  What happens if you haven’t had enough sleep?  With sleep deprivation, your balance is off; you have gastrointestinal upset, your eyes ache, and you are more prone toward colds, headaches and whatever else is going around.

Most shift workers know that they need more sleep.  Some chose not to take the step to correct their chronic sleep deprivation because of activities or because they like the extra money. Others have no choice because of family responsibilities, childcare or because it is the only option for them to afford to go to school.

The schedule is the worst for day people who naturally like to go to bed early and get up early”.  Evening or night owls do better but eventually the shift affects everyone. Night people will often say the first five years they worked this shift, they didn’t have a noticeable problem with going from night sleep to day sleep or sleeping day hours in general.  But eventually it takes its toll.  Studies show that extended graveyard shift work, can affect longevity.  It’s not called “graveyard shift” for no reason.

Studies have shown links to graveyard workers or shift change workers that include the night shift to increase breast and prostrate cancer, diabetes, weight shifts and obesity, mood swings, forgetfulness, chronic fatigue and a weakening of the immune system in general for years.  In 2007, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, the cancer arm of the World Health Organization, added overnight shift work as a probable carcinogen, just like UV rays and diesel exhaust fumes.  It is a surprisingly positive step validating a concept once considered wacky or at least improbable.. And, it is based on research that finds higher rates of breast and prostate cancer among women and men whose work day starts after dark.   

Many companies and organizations in the U.S. and worldwide have begun to recognize the sacrifice of night shift workers and have compensated them for their sacrifices, as well as trying to cut-down the related increases in their accident and sickness ratios with shorter shifts for 40-hours pay, shorter work weeks, and non-traditional rotations including flextime and the options of part-time and job-share types of positions. Graveyard workers are generally compensated with 10% higher wages than their day-worker counterparts. They are also often compensated with additional sick or compensatory time or allowed extra time off without pay, but also without attendance penalties. Perks like areas for naptime on break or between shifts or recreational facilities are also common. In New York, some companies are supplying sleep capsules for 20-minute naps for both shift workers and day workers in high stress positions. New studies suggest the use of ‘light boxes’ in a special area where shift workers work or in the break room will make them sharper. Workers who do not have physically or mentally challenging positions or are in an observation capacity with lots of sitting should always work with a partner and be allowed access to television, radio, a computer or something that interests them to keep them alert, between or after their duties are done. Eating healthy foods rather than excessive amounts of caffeine and sugar is advised and wearing sunglasses in the morning, from sunrise until bedtime to cut out a lot of the blue light which tells the body that it is morning, is also helpful.

Let us hope that these and additional balancing measures will become common knowledge, uniform in practice and mandatory before more people end up far too young in the graveyard for which their shift is nicknamed.

By: Marion Algier – Ask Marion 

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