Please attend this meeting and tell the People's

Counsel and Pepco that you Opt Out on having

a Wireless Smart Meter on your home.

The Office of the People's Counsel in Washington, DC will host

an Educational Workshop on Smart Meters, part of the Smart
Grid technology.

6:30 - 8:30 pm
Tuesday, November 16th, 2010
Pennsylvania Avenue Baptist Church
3000 Pennsylvania Ave., SE

Please find below:

Background on the Smart Grid in DC, MD and Va

Smart Grid Explained

The Issues with Wireless Smart Meters

Alternatives to Wireless Smart Meters

News from around the country

Information on Pepco and Dominion Powers Smart

Meter programs

Contact information

Details on the Workshop

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Background n the Smart Grid in DC, MD and VA

Pepco is installing Wireless Smart Meters in Washington, DC

and Dominion Power is installing in Northern, VA. You should
receive a notice one to four weeks prior to the installation. This project
will be expanding into Maryland. While there is a great need to reduce
energy usage and Smart Meters may help with this (est. 6% percent
energy savings), the system does not need to operate on wireless
transmitters using a Mesh Network, which will greatly increase the
overall levels of non ionizing radiation (EMF/RF) in our homes and our
environment. Pepco and Dominion Power could use a wired system,
preferably fiber optics or Power Line Communications.

While all life is electrosensitive there is a population of people who

have a higher sensitivity to the EMF/RF emitted by wireless
transmitters. Common symptoms are headaches, brain fog and the
inability to sleep. The effects are cumulative. Please refer to CELL
TOWERS AND WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS – LIVING WITH
RADIOFREQUENCY
RADIATION http://www.scribd.com/doc/24352550/Cell-Tower-Rpt for
more information/background. Health impacts include sleep
disturbance, headaches, nausea, anxiety, heart palpitations, tinnitus
and ear pain, concentration and memory problems, dizziness, speech
(loss of words), immune, nervous and hormonal system impacts,
behavior problems in children, DNA strand breaks, and long term risk
of cancers.

Forced installation of the wireless meters that Pepco and Dominion

Power are using will greatly compromise the health of more sensitive
people and may cause an even greater population to become more
sensitized to EMF/RF. Often the Smart Meters are installed on outside
walls of bedrooms. High density living spaces will be even more
greatly impacted and the infrastructure of the Mesh Network will add
to the already high EMF/RF levels in our ambient environment. Many
people who have not considered themselves to be highly sensitive to
EMF/RF have found that they have adverse reactions after the meters
are installed.

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Smart Grid Explained

http://emfsafetynetwork.org/?page_id=872

[Wireless] Smart Meters are radio transmitters, sending radiofrequency

microwave radiation (RF) signals from both electric and gas meters.
The electric meter has two transmitters. One RF signal is sent directly
into your home (or business), and the other to a neighborhood data
collector, which could be located on a lamppost, telephone pole,
building or a home. Homes will also be used as repeaters for
neighborhood RF signals.

Smart Grid proponents are expecting consumers to install a Home Area

Network, which includes an RF interior display unit and either retrofit
or purchase new RF ‘smart’ appliances to learn how to manage and
reduce their electricity usage. Installing these interior devices will allow
the Utility company to further control the electric grid, by turning off
certain appliances during peak use time, if needed.

PG&E has given us inconsistent and unbelievable answers to how often

the meters transmit RF, and what the instantaneous peak power of the
RF signal is at certain distances. They do not know what the RF
exposure levels will be for a home with multiple meters installed. They
have publicly stated the meters transmit RF six times a day, every six
hours, and once an hour. Recently they said the RF pulses are 2-20
milliseconds in duration and transmit 45 seconds a day. If true, that
would equal, on average 12,000 RF bursts per day for one meter,
which is actually more like what our RF experts have been recording,
up to 9 times a minute.

There are no RF warning signs and at this time you cannot opt out. The
FCC RF safety standards are for short term thermal effects (5 and 30
minutes), and are configured for a 6 ft 2″ 200 pound male. The meters
are assessed for safety compliance in isolation, not in a mesh network,
in which they are designed to operate, or in combination with multiple
meters, or other sources of RF such as wi-fi, DECT phones, cell phones,
cell towers, baby monitor etc.

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The Issues with Wireless Smart Meters

http://stopsmartmeters.wordpress.com/sample-letter-to-local-
government/

1) Health and EMF Emissions from Smart Meters

Smart Meters emit EMF/RF radiation 24/7 into your home. Thousands
of studies show evidence of health effects to low level EMF/RF
exposure at levels far below the FCC Safety Standard. See -

http://rparticle.web-p.cisti.nrc.ca/rparticle/RpArticleViewer?
_handler_=HandleInitialGet&journal=er&volume=18&calyLang=eng&
media=html&articleFile=a10-018.pdf
http://docs.cpuc.ca.gov/efile/A/116285.pdf
http://www.who.int/peh-emf/research/children/en/index4.html
http://www.emrnetwork.org/position/noi_response/noi_epa_response.pd
f
http://www.niehs.nih.gov/research/resources/library/consumer/hazardo
us.cfm
http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/59296/title/Interphone_stu
dy_finds_hints_of_brain_cancer_risk_in_heavy_cell-phone_users
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/27/opinion/27dowd.html?
scp=1&sq=right%20to%20know%20dowd&st=cse
http://emfsafetynetwork.org

2) Smart Meters: The Wrong Kind of Green

The Smart Grid is estimated to cause a savings of 6% on energy usage.
The use of wireless transmission uses more energy than fiber optic
systems and will erode some of this negligible savings. The technology
will also require that our appliances will have to use wireless
transmissions in order to communicate with the Smart Meters
effectively turning all appliances into "vampire" energy users and
requiring the purchase of new appliances that are compatible with the
Smart Meters.

3) Privacy and control issues

Wireless transmissions are easily hacked into. This will allow
monitoring of energy use by unknown entities. They will also allow
utilities to turn on and off our appliances from a remote location. See
-

http://www.eff.org/press/archives/2010/03/09
http://www.sott.net/articles/show/209844-Smart-Meters-Raise-Privacy-
Concerns
http://consumercal.blogspot.com/2009/09/emerging-privacy-threat-
posed-by-smart.html
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/12/03/smart_meters_confirmed/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8N7_iryR1A&NR=1

4) Billing issues
There have been many cases where utility bills have greatly increased
after the installation of wireless Smart Meters. While some of these
are due to better tracking of energy usage, others are due to
malfunctions of the meters. See -

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?
section=news/7_on_your_side&id=7424533
http://www.ucan.org/forum/forums/energy/sdg_e_disputes/billing_dispu
te

5) Fire and Electrical Safety

At least one home fire is attributed to a wireless Smart Meter. There is
also a petition to the CPUC that the San Bruno gas line fire may have
been sparked by wireless Smart Meters. See -

http://emfsafetynetwork.org/?page_id=1280
http://stopsmartmeters.wordpress.com/2010/09/17/could-a-smart-
meter-have-ignited-the-san-bruno-inferno/
http://www.bakersfield.com/news/business/economy/x1685665931/Vac
uum-shop-fire-raises-SmartMeter-questions

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Alternatives to Wireless Smart Meters

Fiber Optics - Chattanooga, TN is installing Smart Gird Meters with a

fiber system

http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2010/jun/04/epb-speeds-

fiber-optic-service/

Power Line Communications (PLC) -

Wireless Mesh Versus PLC ...The meters need to be communicated

with by the electricity suppliers using the Wide Area Network (WAN).
There are a number of technologies that may be considered to do this -
these are well discussed in the industry documents (linked above).
However, it is regarded by both government and industry as crucial
that they cannot assume a phone-land-line connection, nor a
broadband connection. So that only leaves PLC or Wireless for the
WAN.A wireless WAN can be by a variety of means, but the cheapest
and most resilient against failure is a MESH network such as is being
installed in the USA and Canada. This allows every electricity meter to
"talk" to all nearby meters within about 100 metres and pass on
messages and only requires one external Access Point (= base station)
for every 1000 or so homes. This means that the meters in houses
close to the Access Points will be passing on messages for hundreds of
other meters 24-7. So they are proposing to use their equipment inside
your house to transmit and receive other people's data using
microwaves.

Low-bandwidth (up to 28k8 bps) Power Line Communications (PLC)

uses low frequency RF signals to communicate between equipment in
the local electricity substation and your meter using the electricity
supply cables. It is cheap, reliable and more secure that wireless. It
does put small amounts of LF RF onto the wires, but this can easily be
filtered inside the Smart Meter so that it does not come on to your
home wiring. The only downside is that the communications equipment
will have to be located at each local substation (it could be in an
external cabinet) and it will be difficult for many different companies to
openly compete to supply and maintain it. As the Government is
proposing a central Data Collection Agency (in order to protect privacy)
they can co-ordinate the PLC provider(s) and we do not see
'competition' as a valid objection to using PLC.

PLC networks are already well proven in practice. See

- http://www.powerwatch.org.uk/news/20101018_smart_meter.asp

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News from around the country

California: PG&E’s meter program represents the largest system

technology roll out in the history of California, yet they have not even
done a basic Environmental Impact Report, which could have caught
the massive violations of health, privacy invasion and increased costs
to customers. The meters have been plagued with problems since the
beginning, starting with widespread reports of inflated bills, privacy
violations, electrical interference and reports of health issues from
residents who have received the new meters. ‘Smart’ Meters use
microwave radiation (similar to a cell phone) to transmit customer data
back to the utility, and are being installed just as the public learns of
evidence that brain tumors and other health damage can be traced to
similar wireless devices. The California Public Utilities Commission
(CPUC) which sanctioned PG&E’s $2.2 billion program to install 10
million new meters throughout California at the expense of ratepayers,
has not allowed individuals to opt out even in cases of severe health
impacts.

Nearly two dozen local governments* have called for a

moratorium. The State’s Division of Ratepayer Advocates (DRA) last
month also demanded public hearings be held to study potential health
risks resulting from exposure to radiation from the meters.
California local governments demanding a moratorium include: the
City and County of San Francisco, Santa Cruz and Marin Counties,
Sonoma County Supervisor Efren Carrillo, the cities of Sebastopol,
Berkeley, Cotati, Fairfax, Santa Cruz, Piedmont, Scotts Valley, Capitola,
Watsonville, Sausalito, San Anselmo, Belvedere, Monte Sereno, Novato,
Richmond, Ross, Bolinas, and Camp Meeker.
http://stopsmartmeters.org

Scarborough, Maine asks CMP to postpone installation of smart

meters
http://www.pressherald.com/news/Scarborough-asks-CMP-to-postpone-
installation-of-smart-meters.html

In Maine, dissenters have sent dozens of e-mails and letters to

regulators and health officials just as the state’s largest utility, Central
Maine Power Co., begins its smart-meter rollout. A louder protest has
come in California, where cities have passed moratoriums on the
meters, demonstrators have blocked installation of the devices, and
regulators have received thousands of complaints.
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=11884807

Chicago area court halts smart meter program

http://www.suntimes.com/business/2816920,comed-smart-meter-
program-hold-101910.article

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Information on Pepco and Dominion Powers Smart

Meter programs

Information on Dominion Powers Smart Meters

http://www.dom.com/about/conservation/about-smartmeters.jsp

Information on Pepco's Smart Meters

http://www.pepco.com/_res/documents/SmartMetersFAQPepcoWebSite.
pdf

http://www.pepco.com/energy/blueprint/smetersdc/

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Contact information

In DC -

Office of the People's Counsel

http://www.opc-dc.gov
ccceo@opc-dc.gov
1133 15th Street N.W., Suite 500, Washington, DC 20005
Tel: (202) 727-3071 | Fax: (202) 727-1014

Pepco
http://www.pepco.com/home/
https://www.pepco.com/contact/online/
701 Ninth St., NW, Washington, D.C. 20068
202-833-7500

DC Public Service Commission

http://www.dcpsc.org/contactus/contactus.asp
websupport@psc.dc.gov
1333 H Street, N.W. Suite 200, West Tower, Washington, DC 20005
Phone: (202) 626-5100 | Fax: (202) 393-1389

In Maryland

Maryland Public Service Commission

http://webapp.psc.state.md.us/Intranet/home.cfm
http://webapp.psc.state.md.us/Intranet/capa/complaintform_new.cfm
All Official Filings should be addressed to Terry Romine, Executive
Secretary at the address below:
William Donald Schaefer Tower, 6 St. Paul St., 16th Floor, Baltimore,
MD 21202
(410) 767-8000
MD Toll Free: 1-800-492-0474

Pepco
Same as Above
In Virginia

Virginia State Corporation Division

http://www.scc.virginia.gov/pue/index.aspx
EnergyReg@scc.virginia.gov
Division of Energy Regulation
P.O. Box 1197, Richmond, Virginia 23218
Phone: (804) 371-9611
TDD: (804) 371-9206
Toll-free: (within Virginia) 1-800-552-7945
Fax: (804) 371-9350

Dominion Power
http://www.dom.com/dominion-virginia-power/index.jsp
http://www.dom.com/contact/customer-service-for-electric-
customers.jsp
Dominion Resources Services, Inc., Shareholder Services 6th FL, P. O.
Box 26532, Richmond, VA 23261-6532
1-800-552-4034 (toll free)
804-775-2500 (Richmond, VA area)

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Details on the Workshop

The Office of the People’s Counsel and The Dupont Park Civic
Association Pesent a
Smart Meter Education Workshop

Tuesday, November 16, 1010

6:30 – 8:30 p.m.
Pennsylvania Avenue Baptist Church
3000 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE

Topics Discussed will include:

How To Prepare
What To Expect
Future Benefits
Anticipated Challenges

Dupont Park Civic Association

PO Box 6825, Washington, DC 20030
Website: www.dupontparkcivicassociation.org
Phone: 202-583-4205

Office of the People's Counsel

1133 15th Street, NW, Suite 500, Washington, DC 20005
Phone: 202=727-3071 Fax: 202-727-1014
Website: www.opc.dc.gov
Email: ccceo@opc-dc.gov

An online form of this Action Alert may be found at -

http://www.scribd.com/doc/42518759

For more information contact Angela Flynn, Wireless

Radiation Alert Network (WRAN) angelaflynn80@msn.com
301-229-0282