How to Replace Your Smart Meter with a Safe Meter

Yes, I am doing everything possible to prevent BC Hydro/Corix from installing a wireless smart meter on my home in the first place. I have sent my registered letters, posted my signs, spoken to the Corix installer on his first sweep through my ‘hood, and erected a barricade on my existing electric meter.

But if all of this fails, if I come home some day to find BC Hydro’s cancer-inducing surveillance device strapped to the side of my home despite my unequivocal protest, then I will take the next step of removing it (with the help of an electrician, of course) and replacing it with an old-fashioned safe meter as outlined above in Jerry Day’s video.

I suspect I will not be alone in this endeavour. More than 15,000 British Columbians signed the petition calling for a halt to smart meters, which NDP Energy Critic John Horgan introduced to legislature on November 24.

Is it against the law to replace BC Hydro’s unwanted device with a safe one? I don’t believe it is if the homeowner follows the steps in the video, which include giving advance notification to BC Hydro of your intention to remove and replace their meter with a safe one, and then noting down your electricity consumption displayed on the smart meter at the time you remove it so no one can claim you are trying to steal electricity by removing the smart meter.

In fact, this action is a corrective measure against BC Hydro’s illegal act of placing a cancer-inducing surveillance device on a private home against the occupant’s express wishes.

In any case, it would likely take a judge’s ruling to determine who is and isn’t breaking the law. And judicial rulings can be a long time coming. In the meantime, I’ll choose safety and privacy, thanks.

Will BC Hydro shut off my power if I do this? We’ll see. They haven’t shut off anyone’s power yet over non-compliance with their anti-democratic smart meter program, despite the corporation’s many threats to abuse their customers in this way. [UPDATE: In April 2013, BC Hydro cut the power to a customer in the Okanagan who has EHS (ElectroHyperSensitivity), and so she had switched her unwanted Smart Meter back to an analogue meter to protect her health. Details here.]

BC Hydro isn’t stupid. They understand the concept of ‘Public Relations Nightmare From Hell’. They don’t relish the thought of news footage of low-income citizens, single mothers, infants in cribs, etc. all shivering by candlelight in their darkened homes in winter – or of this footage going viral on Youtube, Facebook and Twitter.

More to the point, will BC Hydro throw the switch for the 15,000 (and counting) British Columbians who are similarly concerned and ready to take whatever action necessary? Let’s get real, folks. That ain’t gonna happen.

We hold the power. We have the numbers. And thanks to Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms, we also (in all likelihood) have the law on our side. We have the right and ability to say ‘NO’ to wireless smart meters on our private homes. If BC Hydro forces them on us anyway, we’ll remove them. Simple.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

1. To get the Safe Electric Meter Replacement Kit described in video, go here.

2. To download the letter of refusal to be mailed (registered) to BC Hydro and Corix, go here.

3. To download the sign to post on your front door AND beside your old hydro meter that you want to keep, go here.

4. To add your name to the petition calling for a moratorium on smart meters in BC, go here.

5. To pre-register for the Citizen’s Initiative to launch a referendum on smart meters in BC, go here.

6. To view a photo gallery of homemade meter barricades, go here.

7. To order a locking meter-collar made by a welder on Hornby Island for $25 + shipping, go here.

8. To join (or donate to) two separate legal actions currently underway in BC against smart meters, go here.

9. For information on wireless smart meters and their consequences, visit Citizens for Safe Technology and the Coalition to Stop Smart Meters.

10. Stay strong, live long!

Kim Goldberg