Frances Lepp is worried about her new smart meter, despite the radio-off option that she chose. Photo by Lyonel Doherty
An Oliver resident is upset that FortisBC threatened to turn her power off if she didn’t comply with its new advanced meter project.
Seventy-five-year-old Frances Lepp originally informed FortisBC that she didn’t want a “smart meter” installed on her home.
The reason is she claims to have a medical sensitivity to electromagnetic fields emitted from electrical devices, such as cell phones and smart meters.
“I’ve got too much electromagnetic sensitivity, and I’ve got a heart problem . . . I don’t know why I’m still alive, really,” Lepp said.
She noted that radiation from electromagnetic fields can cause disabling medical conditions over time. She added that people can suddenly find themselves physically unable to tolerate many products.
“Low levels of exposures in their daily lives now make people ill,” Lepp pointed out.
The woman found out that she couldn’t work anymore, and spent a month in hospital for heart problems; she has atrial fibrillation (an irregular heart rhythm).
“They (the doctors) could not figure out why I did not die years ago.”
The woman wrote to FortisBC insisting that the utility not install a smart meter on her home on Road 18.
“I did not want a smart meter and they knew about my own electromagnetic health.”
Lepp said FortisBC gave her two choices – a smart meter or a radio-off meter, an option that disables the wireless signals.
“If I did not take one of these I would be getting two letters from the power company. If I ignored these letters, they would turn my power off.”
In the end, she was given a smart meter with the radio signals turned off.
“I do not trust them . . . they can’t prove that it stops the radiation. How do you know?”
On top of all this, she has to pay extra for the radio-off option – the installation fee and a monthly monitoring fee.
“Sick, eh? I’m on a pension, just like a lot of people here.”
Lepp has collected nearly 400 names on a petition opposing the installation of smart meters.
Recently the Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen passed a resolution asking that FortisBC halt its advanced meter project and remove the ones it has already installed.
But the utility has no plans to do that.
FortisBC spokesman David Wylie said a small number of customers have asked for meters that are not wirelessly connected. The radio-off option allows customers to receive an advanced meter with the wireless signals disabled, effectively turning it into a modern digital meter.
Providing this option involves extra costs, including administrative costs and ongoing costs of manually reading the radio-off meters.
The BC Utilities Commission has approved fees for customers who choose a radio-off meter to ensure that the costs of providing this option are not subsidized by the majority of customers.
They include a one-time per-premise fee of $88 (reduced to $60 for those who choose a radio-off meter before exchanges begin in their region) and an $18 per-read fee, usually charged every other month.
Wylie said the commission approved the exchange of all 130,000 electricity meters in FortisBC’s service territory.
“As this is a utility equipment upgrade across FortisBC’s service territory for all of our customers, there is no option to keep the old meter.”
As installations have progressed, Wylie said they have worked with a small number of customers who have continually refused to choose either a standard advanced meter or a radio-off meter.
“Unfortunately, and as part of the terms and conditions of service, we have no other choice but to disconnect electricity service, which we have done in two cases.”
Wylie noted that disconnection is a last resort, which follows a minimum of two letters mailed to the customer, in addition to other points of contact.
Wylie said that advanced meters make it less costly for FortisBC to deliver electricity to customers by reducing electricity theft and reducing meter reading costs.
