British Gas Quietly Removes ‘Safety & Security’ Contentions From Email Slurring Stop Smart Meters!

Over the last few months, Stop Smart Meters! has been on the receiving end of some defamatory and unsubstantiated claims from Philip Bentley, Managing Director of UK energy giant, British Gas. We are currently considering what formal action to take, but something interesting happened recently that we wanted to share with you.

In the few short months since we started our “Don’t Smart Meter Me!” facility, Mr. Bentley has repeatedly bad-mouthed us via email to people issuing him with our Notice of Non-Consent/Liability. In response to Mr. Bentley’s retaliatory emails, many people have asked him to justify his accusations of Stop Smart Meters! claims being (to quote Mr. Bentley):

“misleading at best and completely untrue at worst”

Until recently, Mr. Bentley’s template email response looked like this:

Hi

Many thanks for your email. Smart meters are important for British Gas and our customers. But you don’t have to have a smart meter if you don’t want one. We tried to remove you from our roll-out programme but we couldn’t find you on our customer database. Are you a British Gas customer? If so, please reply with your customer number.

I should say that you are being badly misled by the Stop Smart Meters website. Most of what they say in their template email is misleading at best and completely untrue at worst.

I’m not sure where they’re getting their information from – to give you one example, smart meters are not high-power devices. An average mobile telephone emits significantly more electromagnetic radiation than a British Gas smart meter. I can assure you that smart meters are low-power and that they don’t damage the world around them in the way that you claim in your e-mail.

There are so many inaccuracies and misunderstandings in the email that I can’t comment on them all. But I can tell you something about the benefits of smart meters:

  • The biggest single complaint we receive from our customers is about bills based on estimated readings – our customers simply want to pay for the energy they’ve actually used. But unless your meter is read every day, there will always be an element of estimation. Smart meters will solve this problem.
  • Just as importantly, smart meters will help customers reduce their energy bills. By knowing how much energy they’re using daily, and the impact of each individual appliance, customers will be able to cut their energy use and improve energy efficiency. We know of one family whose smart meter showed that their appliances were costing hundreds of pounds a year through inefficiency or by being left on standby. They cut their bills.
  • In time, we’ll also be able to sell cheaper energy at low-demand times of the day – just like off-peak telephone calls – saving our customers more money. This isn’t possible without smart meters.

These are just some of the benefits. I can also tell you that smart meters are safe and secure, and comply with all relevant legislation – I have one in my own home.

Why don’t you have a look at the information on these web pages and see what you think:

http://www.britishgas.co.uk/smarterhomes

http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/tackling/smart_meters/smart_meters.aspx

If you decide that you would like a smart meter after all then visit www.britishgas.co.uk to switch your energy supply to Britain’s biggest and best value energy company. We’ll look forward to having you as a customer – with all the benefits of smart!

Best Regards,

Phil Bentley
Managing Director
British Gas

In response to these points, some of our supporters asked Bentley the following questions:

  • Please elaborate on which points in the Notice are “badly misleading” or “completely untrue”.
  • Please confirm the exact power output values of British Gas Smart Meters, and provide links or documentation on manufacturer, model, specifications and details of human body exposure values at typical exposure distances – given you claim that they are “low power” and that the “average mobile telephone emits significantly more electromagnetic radiation than a British Gas smart meter”.
  • Please confirm the proven safe distance for British Gas Smart Meter exposure – recognising your assurances of them being “safe”.
  • Please confirm the type of technology used to secure data transmissions and provide any appropriate certifications in relation to their secure nature, given your assurances that they are “secure”.
  • Please confirm whether there are any known instances of this type of security technology being breached.
  • Finally, in your anticipation of smart meters leading to lower energy usage, please provide any published reports or evidence showing smart meters lead to a sustainable change in consumer energy consumption.

To date, we are not aware of anyone receiving answers to any of these questions, or even a further response from Mr. Bentley.

However, a very recent communication from him suggests British Gas no longer wants to invite perfectly legitimate and rational questions on the subject:

Many thanks for your email. Smart meters are important for British Gas and our customers. But you don’t have to have a smart meter if you don’t want one. We tried to remove you from our roll-out programme but we couldn’t find you on our customer database. Are you a British Gas customer? If so, please reply with your customer number which you will find on the top of your bill along with your address details.

If you are not a British Gas customer then we can confirm that we have no intention of installing a smart meter at your property. We suggest that you contact your current energy supplier for answers to your questions and forward any articles onto them for comment.

I should say that you are being badly misled by the Stop Smart Meters website. Most of what they say in their template email is misleading at best and completely untrue at worst.

Best Regards,

Phil Bentley
Managing Director
British Gas

What should we make of this shortened version with previous claims of Smart Meters being “safe and secure” now rescinded?

Where is the claim that Smart Meters “are low power and don’t damage the world around them”?

Where is the claim that an “average mobile telephone emits significantly more electromagnetic radiation than a British Gas smart meter?”

Where is the claim of there being “so many inaccuracies and misunderstandings in the email that I can’t comment on them all”?

Where is the claim about helping customers to “reduce their energy bills”?

Where is the claim that selling “cheaper energy at low-demand times of the day… isn’t possible without smart meters”?

And why were our original questions seeking substantiation from Mr. Bentley met with silence?

Mr. Bentley – if you are reading this – people deserve answers to all of these questions. This issue impacts on the well-being, safety and security of tens of millions of people. Continue defaming us if you like; we are already considering what action to take against you and your company for it.  But if you continue ignoring some very important questions, we think that will be the least of your worries.

As an example, our Notice of Liability which has been served to you includes provision for any harm caused by British Gas ‘Smart’ Meters, whether these meters are on the named individuals’ properties or not (since you cannot mitigate for individuals being impacted by meters whilst roaming elsewhere).  These Notices (note: not “template emails”) provide people with lawful evidence that you have been warned that your Meters represent a potential threat. These Notices can serve as recourse for those people should they wish to pursue a Private Criminal Prosecution against you – individually – for Vicarious Liability, as an Accomplice, in Law, for Assault, Actual Bodily Harm and/or Grievous Bodily Harm.  This would be on the grounds that you are involved with – and therefore liable for – instructing or assisting employees of British Gas to install, operate, maintain and/or service these devices which may be directed at individuals by virtue of their indiscriminate placements.  If anyone is harmed or suffers loss as a result of your Smart Meters, Mr. Bentley, they will be within their rights to pursue prosecution against you individually.

It is also worth noting in this regard that any private criminal prosecutions which people pursue against you for Assault, Actual Bodily Harm and/or Grievous Bodily Harm could carry severe penalties for you, including imprisonment, if found guilty. The list of 34 points which have been served to you by in excess of 500 people (to date) can be used as evidence, at their discretion, as can any other suitable evidence available to them at the time. You should be aware that second offences of Grievous Bodily Harm or similar carry mandatory life sentences.

Please consider yourself duly forewarned.

25 Comments
  1. Well done to ‘STOP SMART METERS! UK’ all power to you.

  2. E-Mailed to Phlip Bentley, 2 minutes ago:

    Subject: “Now you’ve been told publicly, Philip”

    Body: Link to this URL, followed by

    “Your dismissive (current) final paragraph provides even more grist to our mill, on the day when we may need to prosecute you because it proves that you know you have been informed.

    (What a silly thing to do! All you have to do is to provide full and substantial answers to the 34 points raised. Instead, you resort to slurs. Is that a result of Common Purpose so-called ‘training’ and ‘graduation?)”

  3. Excellent job Mike et al! Thanks & keep going. Same thing’s happening on our end of the world, ie. a slow and steady erosion. Liability is key, as well as the lack of testing / approval.

  4. British Gas removed my smart meter when I contacted my local newspaper. They refused to do that when I complained that I was having deep headaches, have been feeling lethargic so did my husband, who is normally very fit and healthy. I thought I was going to have to battle it out. I waited 2 weeks for them to reply to my complaint that it was illegal and that they should remove their smart meter right away. Their staff were rude and not very helpful. Then when the newspaper reporter got in touch with their press officer, they sent someone straight away to remove the bit that they had put on the meter.. My headaches have cleared and I feel better now.
    Thank you for your fight. We do not want to see so many with cancer, especially children. Keep up the pressure. Thanks again. Much appreciated.

    • A couple of months ago e-mailed Philip Bentley, head of British Gas, and told him (chapter & verse) how we can & will prosecute him if ANYONE suffers as a result of Smart Meters.

      This may explain why they so smartly responded when the local press got hold of the situation.

      The fact is very simple: They know what the result will be if proof of any ‘adverse effects’ leaks out.

      They have obviously invested so much money into the scheme that they think can still get away with it – if they ‘put out the fires’ before any serious publicity leaks out.

  5. Seems to me that the meat-head advocates of drowning in deadly mind and body frazzling frequencies of smheart meters etc, simply don’t give a damn about any dissent because they know the majority will willingly comply. Voluntary culling has been happening in plain sight for years already! The majority of people are their own worst enemies, acting like zombies, keenly hooked to their mobLie phone and whyfry cook n kill WMD deVices, mindlessly frazzling the fragile electromagnetic interface between Life and it’s fundamental origin to chaotic oblivion.

    Public transport and motorways serve as stealth deployment zones … random assorted microwave emitting devices in a metal tube = an experimental microwave oven! And every agency involved has pre-shifted the blame to individual ignorant users, eg. they advise ’emergency use only’ for children, ‘minimising exposure’ generally, and there are disclaimers re health in serVice providers’ contract small print.

  6. Hi Josh, way to go and thanks for all the great work you are doing here in B.C./Canada, in my case, Surrey, B.C. re the wireless meter killers here.

    To Mr. Bentley: You are truly evil and care not what happens to the people in your country, not even your own family. You are in my opinion, a liar, totally knowing how harmful the smart dumb wireless meter fire starters are to the lives, safety, privacy and general health and well-being of the people, a lot of which are babies and young children of your country. Shameful and absolutely dispicable and inhumane behavior on your part and you should be deeply sorry for the lives you are destroying if you were even half human. Wireless meters kill, so unless you have them all removed, you are a greedy leader of a greedy corporate killing organization and I hope the laws in your country try you and when found guilty, put you behind bars for the rest of your traitorous life, in prison.

    Like the great Dr. David Chalk says here and around the world, -These wireless smart meters are 100% penetrable and will be hacked within 2-3 years and throw countries into complete blackout for an undetermined amount of time. He is willing to go anywhere and on any TV/media, meeting, and debate anyone anywhere. I am here to tell you if you have any guts at all then take him on. Cowards like you always hide when you are found out and refuse to debate, knowing full well you are lying and would be proved to be as corrupt as your actions.
    You will have no problem contacting him if you have the balls. I for one will be happy to watch him destroy you in a debate.
    Jean D. from Canada

  7. Hey well done all you guys at “Don’t Smart Meter Me”. And indeed everyone who is against such devices. I had felt very much on my own, a voice in the wilderness, trying to speak to people about the dangers of EMF and PMT etc., it’s just so encouraging to know there are other people on board who are concerned about the wellfare of their fellow brothers and sisters on this planet as well as the environment, plants, animals and insects. Just wanted to say well done to each and every one of you and keep up the good work!xx

  8. Really…you think Phil Bentley should be held responsible? Surely your campaign from a UK perspective should be aimed at the European Union in Brussels – afterall, it’s European legislation that is ‘forcing’ smart meters on all energy consumers in all EU member states.
    I would urge those of you allegedly suffering from the ill effects of smart meters to take a good look at yourselves, you’re allegedly suffering ill effects whilst typing away on a computer (maybe even a wireless laptop/tablet). Rather than looking for people to blame, go see a Doctor and find out what’s really wrong with you – I’m pretty sure they won’t find any scientific/medical explanation which can mean only one thing…it’s all in your mind.

    • Thanks for stopping by, Dr Evil, especially with your busy schedule. I see from your IP address you made that comment from the IP subnet of a company called ‘O2 Holdings Ltd’. Oops – looks like your lair has been compromised…

      In answer to your questions:

      1. Yes, really. Mr. Bentley – as well as others listed in our Notice – ARE responsible for their actions, whether the EU is pulling their chain or not. We make this point very clear in both our Notice of Non Consent and also the post above. The same applies for anyone else who is knowingly deploying technologies which have been identified as a threat to people’s health, security and safety. The Nuremberg trials showed us that “I’m just following orders” is not an acceptable line of reasoning for causing harm to people. British Gas, along with every other energy/utility firm, have the responsibility to provide their utility services safely without causing harm. They do not have a mandate to install harmful spyware into people’s homes, a mandate to ignore people’s questions, a mandate to slur our campaign (or maybe so), nor a mandate to mislead or lie to customers about the full facts about Smart Meters. If they do so, then they can be held accountable for any adverse consequences under the law, which provides a disincentive for people to run rampant around the country causing harm – whether they are “just doing their job” or not.

      2. Thanks for the strategy advice. Smart Meters are not obligatory. EU or no EU. And whilst we think lobbying the EU could be extremely effective for many private interests and mega corporations, we don’t fancy our chances. That said, the EU did take note of the BioInitiative Report in 2007 and a year later voted the UK’s ICNIRP standards for wireless technologies as “out of date” and “obsolete” – although that hasn’t stopped the UK HPA from continuing to use them anyway. Also, the Council of Europe in May 2011 also issued a report entitled “Potential dangers of EMFs and their effect on the environment” in which they called for an IMMEDIATE reduction in exposure to EMFs by children. They go on to advocate a precautionary principle be applied to wireless emissions to prevent a public health disaster akin to “tobacco, leaded petrol and asbestos”. ‘Smart’ Meters will significantly increase the EMF exposure to members of a household and their neighbours – not decrease them. So it looks like EU advice in this regard is being ignored.

      3. You make the observation that people with EHS are using a computer to post here. Do we really need to explain the difference -to an O2 employee!- between static electric fields and pulsed microwaves from wireless devices? Did you know you can disable wifi on computers and use ethernet/wired modems?

      4. You claim that it’s “all in people’s minds”. This is a common fallacy. In 2010, Prof. Dominque Belpomme, a french oncologist, laid out the following (here: http://www.emfacts.com/2012/01/electromagnetic-intolerance-elucidated):

      “We know with certainty that electromagnetic hypersensitivity is not psychosomatic”

      “EMFs provoke major effects in the brain. The most important of these is the opening of the blood-brain barrier. This allows mercury, organochlorines and other pollutants to enter in the brain, where they cause various neurodegenerative diseases. ”

      The article also goes on to explain that Belpomme and his team have developed a technique to SHOW the causal link between EHS and electromagnetic fields:

      “Dr. Belpomme’s team has developed a diagnostic method based on blood tests and a special brain scan (pulsed Doppler echography) to visualize blood flow. “These patients clearly have vascular disorders in the brain, said the oncologist. In addition, our biological tests show that 30% of them have high levels of histamine, 50% have too much stress proteins, most have low levels of melatonin (a potent anti-cancer hormone), and 30% have levels of antibodies and proteins that are tell-tale signs of thermal shock and brain damage.” He adds that half of his patients suffer from Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) and that MCS and EHS share the same brain abnormalities.

      “The oncologist explained that there are three distinct levels of sensitivity to pollutants. First, there is intolerance, caused by polymorphism. “This means that we are all different. For example, 30% of the population is most at risk of developing cancer.”

      “Second, there is the susceptibility factor demonstrated by Swedish oncologist Lennart Hardell who studied 16 families who were electrosensitive because of shared genetic factors. There are also active susceptibility factors, “such as dental amalgam that behave like antennas capturing airwaves”, explains Belpomme.

      “Finally, electromagnetic hypersensitivity appears in two stages. “The first phase is induced by exposure to a specific EMF frequency, either an acute or chronic exposure, such as talking on a cell phone 20 minutes every day. The first signs of hypersensitivity are pain and a heat sensation in the ear. In the second phase, the disease sets in. That’s when you become intolerant at all frequencies.”

      So it’s evident that electromagnetic hypersensitivity is not “all in the mind” as you put it. Chronic ignorance, however, is.

      • Thanks for this excellent reply – I’ll keep a not of the information it contains in case I need it in my attempt to have my United Utilities meter removed.

  9. Great response to Dr Evil!

    Keep up the great research and keeping us informed. So much depends on it for the future of our children. Thanks STOP SMART METERS! UK.

  10. I suffer from Chronice fagtigue and have been advised to not use a mobile phone – I have one for emergency use only and 99.99% of the time it is turned off. I used corded telphone handsets. I don’t have wireless internet …….. I have done my best to limit my exposure, so you can imagine how upset I felt when I read about these smart meters, my meter is due for replacement, I thought this is going to really make my health issues 10 times worse and I was really down about it, because you can’t turn it off and it works 24/7 and while you are asleep.

    My husband found out that we can refuse to have a smart meter and found your website – I have joined your petition. I support your campaign -the general public are sleep walking into major health problems and there are studies showing the effect on humans, it is not a myth. I can also tell you from experience that our medical profession are neither trained or equipped to deal with this growing problem. Keep up the good work.

  11. ” would urge those of you allegedly suffering from the ill effects of smart meters to take a good look at yourselves, you’re allegedly suffering ill effects whilst typing away on a computer (maybe even a wireless laptop/tablet)”
    Wireless connectivity is anachronistic and obsolete, an inferior medium, a backward case of radiating one’s entire environment in order to have slower download speeds. Same goes for radiating one’s brain using a DECT phone instead of using speaker on a hard wired phone. Cell phones are an addiction, albeit a trendy way to die while driving and texting.
    The argument that if some poison exists, more poison is fine, is lame.

  12. Well done Smartmeters. Keep up the pressure on these gangsters.

    Quote from Phil Bentley
    “In time, we’ll also be able to sell cheaper energy at low-demand times of the day – just like off-peak telephone calls – saving our customers more money.”

    Translation- “we will be able to charge more for peak periods so we will make even more moneyfrom our sucker customers”

  13. you lot are so sad, i come across this in my research, smart meters are the future and for one i have one and have saved a lot of money, when i got bills quarterly i just paid what i used but never understood what i used, i now understand usage, my meter can take meter readings daily and shows me what i am using and when im using the most at peak time. The government are pushing smart meters anyway, do you really think british gas and any other company want to pay millions of pounds for smart meters just for fun, you really are a sad person!!!! GET A LIFE

    • Hi Steve

      You already have a Smart Meter, but you’re still doing research on it, five days before Christmas? And you think we need to get a life?

      British Gas would not do it for fun – but they would do it for massive profits. Your bills reducing today is contrasted by many other people’s doubling. Enjoy it while it lasts – because it won’t. You could have measured your usage with a £20 energy monitor and not needed to communicate private data about your usage to a company that has no business knowing about it. Guess that didn’t come up in your research?

    • “do you really think british gas and any other company want to pay millions of pounds for smart meters just for fun”

      @Stephen Mcn – British Gas or any other company are NOT paying for the meters, the consumer will be and it will cost £11Bn.

  14. ALL THE BEST, SSM U.K Tommorrow in front of Commons Select Committee.

    Please do tune in Dr evil and remember

    “There is no right to strike against the public safety by anybody, anywhere, any time.”

    I did borrow this line,,
    but you must own it.

  15. can we have the two smart meters removed by british gas and replaced with the old meters after reading all info onthe smart meter we were well and truly conned replys wejcome

    • Yes you can – they may want to charge you a small, one-off fee for the replacement effort but they cannot force you to have one (or two). If your present supplier tries to say otherwise, you may wish to consider doing business elsewhere.

  16. Can I point out that part of the smart metering is the provision of a HiD to allow you to monitor your consumption. This is supplied as part of the installation but it will ONLY be guaranteed for a year, after that you will be responsible for replacing it.

    A Smart Meter is dumb without a HiD!

    Additionally they have to comply with legislation for people who have visual issues and may even be blind, this adds enormously to the cost of the device.

  17. I have a United Utilites water meter, installed last autumn. At the time I didn’t know it was a ‘smart’ meter sending automated readings, I thought it was an old-fashioned meter from which I must take a reading to give to United Utilities. Their site states that I can go back to un-metered billing but that they will not remove the meter, that it must remain in place because future occupants need it (see here http://ask.unitedutilities.co.uk/help/meters/remove_meter ) (Please note I have no plans to move or sell). Has anyone had experience of persuading United Utilites to remove their meter, or at the very least disconnect it? Many thanks, Alan

    • Hi Alan,

      I have responded to your email on this too, but there are definitely successful cases where people have suddenly realised that they were not given full disclosure about their meters before agreeing to have them installed and have subsequently had them removed.

      A recent case was kindly emailed to us by a subscriber:

      Thought I would share this with you.

      I owe [redacted water co.] £1,500 in unpaid water bills and they are charging me a monthly flat rate which is higher than my neighbours who all have water meters (to ‘save money’). I have always held out and refused to have a water meter as I see it as rationing and introducing artificial scarcity when water is plentiful in the UK. Recently friends persuaded me to have a meter fitted as it will ‘save you money’.

      I was expecting a simple mechanical device that measured flow rate in litres, linked by a cable to a black disc (like an ice jockey puck) outside the house on the external wall, which is read by [redacted water co.] using a ‘touch reader’. This is not what I got.

      They only went and fitted an RF smart meter inside my bathroom next to the toilet! I was not informed that it was a ‘new type’ of meter that could be read remotely (from 100 yards away) until AFTER it had been fitted. As the man left, he gave me some leaflets ‘about your water meter’ saying that they can only switch them off if requested (not remove them) and anyone removing it themselves would be guilty of a criminal offence!

      Naturally I rang them back and demanded they return and remove their device from my property, as they had failed to obtain ‘informed consent’ from the householder prior to installation. I was successful and the device has now been removed.

      Although I did not record the telephone conversation, I explained that I would be requesting the audio recording that [redacted water co.] tell me they keep of all customer calls (using a Subject Access Request under the Data Protection Act). I will have to write to [redacted] Headquarters requesting it and enclosing a cheque for £10.

      During the conversation I also suggested to the customer service woman that she should look up stopsmartmeters.org.uk.”

  18. Thanks, that could be very useful. I can’t wait to be rid of this thing