Just Say No to Big Brother’s Smart Meters by Orlean Koehle WW: We received only two weeks of training before they sent us out to do the installations.
Though the procedure is relatively simple, if you get it wrong this can lead to arcing, shorts, even house fires. The blades on the back of the meter have to be aligned properly with the jaws on the socket the meter gets placed in. I kept hearing one of the managers say, “you guys weren’t trained properly.” SSM: What did he mean? WW: Many of the installers would come back to the yard and report that they had come across meters that were hanging by an electrical wire, or other clearly unsafe conditions. There was a lot of pressure on workers to install as many meters as possible in a day in order to earn bonuses. One employee went out into the Santa Cruz Mountains, and I think he is still out there somewhere he got so disoriented. Needless to say, improper training, and being under incredible pressure, there HAS TO be error, especially with new people working in new territory. I overheard numerous times while at work, “you could have burned that goddamned house down.” SSM: Did you personally come across safety hazards? What happened when you tried to report them? WW: The more you called Wellington, the worse it looked on your record- because you’re wasting time. I saw sparks coming from one of the meters on a home. I reported it but am not sure what- if anything- was done. SSM: Based on your observations while working for Wellington, what are your fears about the
risks they are taking with the public’s safety? WW: First off I can only speak about what I personally observed. I believe - based on what I observe - that there is a chance that due to inadequate training some meters were not installed properly. I do feel that Scotts Valley, Boulder Creek, Ben Lomond, Corralitos, to name a few should be informed enough to prepare for what could realistically turn into another San Bruno. (Emphasis added.) SSM: Of course, at the time of the explosion, San Bruno was 100% installed with Smart
Meters. Are you aware that PG&E and the CPUC have not yet responded to questions about what safety precautions they took while installing Smart Meters adjacent to gas lines? Seems like a fairly reasonable question given that the technology can generate sparks. WW: It really doesn’t surprise me that they haven’t answered questions regarding the smart meters and San Bruno. When I asked one of my managers who was in charge of training, “is it possible in your opinion that a fire could start from an arc from a meter located above a gas meter” (which always has some blow off gas emitting from it) he would not give me a direct answer! He avoided the question like the plague, quoting some plumber he knew and on and on, avoiding an answer. Could the San Bruno fire have been started by an arc from a meter?
I’ll let you decide.
The definition of an electrical arc is: “a sustained luminous discharge of electricity across a gap in a circuit.” The definition of ignition: the process or means (as an electric spark) of igniting a fuel mixture. Gas is a fuel. I’ll leave it at that. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to put it all together.
Smart Meters Can Be Hacked Written by Jordon Robertson, AP Technology Writer, March 26, 2010 (
http://www.TheBusinessJournal.Com/Energy/4343-AP-Exclusive-Smart-Meters-Can-Be-Hacked)
(AP) — Computer-security researchers say new "Smart" Meters that are designed to help deliver electricity more efficiently also have flaws that could let hackers tamper with the power grid in previously impossible ways.
At the very least, the vulnerabilities open the door for attackers to jack up strangers' power
bills. These flaws also could get hackers a key step closer to exploiting one of the most dangerous capabilities of the new technology, which is the ability to remotely turn someone else's power on and off.
The attacks could be pulled off by stealing meters — which can be situated outside of a home 47
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