![[Most Recent Quotes from www.kitco.com]](http://www.kitconet.com/images/quotes_7a.gif)
HARLINGEN - The Public Utilities Commission of Texas on Thursday voted in favor of beginning the process of allowing consumers to opt out of having smart meters used at their homes.
Smart meters are wireless electronic meters that send signals back to the utility company to measure how much electricity is used.
Some residents say the wireless signals cause health problems. Hundreds have complained to the state.
Dr. Dorothy Nesmith of Harlingen does not have a smart meter in her home. AEP let her keep her old meter when she complained.
"I was having difficulty studying, reading," she said.
Nesmith now shields her home with metallic drapes to keep the radio signals away from her home.
"They've already tried this in other places. They were rejected for this in Dallas. So they have tried to bring this harmful technology to people across this country," Nesmith said.
She uses an electrosmog meter to measure radio frequency signals in her home.
The areas behind the metallic drapes showed a considerable drop in radio frequency signals.
A spokesman for the public utilities commission said customers who choose to opt out using the smart meter will have the radio capability disabled on the meters.
Gail Moore, Nesmith's neighbor, said she also has health problems caused by radio frequency signals.
"To hear that people might be able to opt out of the smart meters, that doesn't seem to probably give you a whole lot of comfort. It does give me some because it's a beginning but the fight is by no means over," Moore said.
The public utilities commission said power companies have installed 6 million units across the state.
There is no word yet on how much customers will have to pay to get the meters' radio features disconnected.
No comments:
Post a Comment