Just Say No to Big Brother’s Smart Meters by Orlean Koehle
Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) Report A Comprehensive – 200 Page Study of the Itron Smart Meter done in 2010
Much of this data refutes the assertions by PG&E - so this appears to be a lack of due diligence (on their part). You can download the report free (public domain) via the Direct URL below.
http://my.epri.com/portal/server.pt?Abstract_id=000000000001021126 ____________________________ Gabor Mezei, MD, Ph.D. Electric Power Research Institute 3420 Hillview Avenue Palo Alto, California 94304 (650) 855-8908
An Investigation of Radiofrequency Fields Associated with the Itron Smart Meter
Product ID 1021126, Sector Name: Environment, Date Published, 12/22/2010, File Size: 10.79 MB, File Type: Adobe PDF (pdf)
Abstract: Smart meters represent one component of the advanced metering infrastructure (AMI). Although data to and from smart meters may be transmitted through wired connections, many smart meters make use of miniature, low power radio transceivers to wirelessly communicate with the electric utility and with the Home Area Network (HAN) that provides home owners with the ability to interact with electrical appliances and systems within the home. Deployment of smart meters has raised concerns by members of the public about possible adverse health effects that could be related to exposure to the radiofrequency (RF) emissions of the meters. As part of on- going efforts to address public concerns on this issue, this report documents the collection of information on RF exposure related to the operation of two particular models of Smart Meters produced by Itron Inc.
Objective: This report is focused on the RF aspects of smart meters and in particular, the strength of the transmitted RF fields that may be produced by the meters from a human exposure perspective. The greatest difficulty in arriving in determining realistic time-averaged exposure from smart meters is associated with determining transmitter duty cycles since the meters only emit RF radiation for very brief periods at intervals that are not necessarily periodic.
Approach: The project team conducted laboratory and field measurements of the RF emissions of Itron smart meters. One objective was to determine realistic estimates of the operational duty cycle of meter transmitters. The team also investigated the effectiveness of metal meshes and stucco walls in shielding smart meters.
Results: The smart meters studied in this report are currently being deployed by two electric utilities in California. The meters are part of wireless mesh networks consisting of approximately 500 to 750 “end point meters”; for each of these networks, one meter is configured as a collector point referred to as a “cell relay” by Itron. The cell relay collects data from the various end point meters and conveys these data onto the cellular wireless wide area network (WWAN) for communication back to the electric utility company’s data management system. Mesh network
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