Please add your voice.
With energy company profits soaring — and MPs from all sides failing to even mention the staggering £12bn cost of ‘Smart Meters’ as they seemingly struggle to find ways to help reduce energy bills — campaign group Stop Smart Meters! (UK) is calling for a full Parliamentary Review of the Government’s controversial ‘Smart’ Meter programme – which will add £400 to the energy & tax bills of every household and small business in the UK.
In addition to the huge capital outlay required for the project:
- Question marks surround the legality of Smart Meters
- Consumer group Which? has described the programme as a “£12bn luxury we cannot afford” – and repeatedly called for Smart Meters to be halted
- Serious questions exist in relation to the public health impact of Smart Meters
- Concerns are mounting in relation to the cyber security threats created by a web-enabled energy grid via Smart Meters
- Sensitive household behavioural information – unnecessary for a balanced energy grid – becomes exploitable by hackers, Government agencies and marketers
- Customers are being widely “mislead” on key aspects of Smart Meters (such as being told they are mandatory when in fact they are voluntary) by Big Energy firms who are unlikely to return the predicted savings of just £23/house per year from Smart Meters – and for the requisite 16 year period for returning the £12bn cost
- Energy consumers could be forced onto variable tariffs with Smart Meters – where kWh prices change on a rolling basis – meaning consumers are forced to continuously alter habits at home or face even higher bills
- Industry surveys have shown that Smart Meters lead to much higher bills for consumers
- There has been no public consultation about how “liberated” Smart Meter data could be used in future, for example, in implementing new levies and taxes.
And at a cost to each home of £400?
We want Parliament to review this risky and hugely expensive programme.
Please add your name to the petition here and send a copy of this to your MP and friends also. Make your voice heard.
http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/57900
______
Link to this post: https://stopsmartmeters.org.uk/smart-meters-will-cost-every-uk-household-400-urgent-petition-againstplease-sign/
Please share widely.
The cost is irrelevant, so I won’t sign…Conisdering the fact the real reason they’re doing it is so they can see everything that goes on inside your home in full 3D hologrpahic ‘porn’….
The cost concern is very timely and relevant to a huge proportion of the population who are seeing big bill increases, but you are right in pointing out that there are several reasons for this misguided programme, and it affects numerous aspects of our lives – health, privacy, grid security, safety at home, bills, etc. A full review should take all of these concerns into account.
But there are many ways to speak and act against it. This petition is merely one and, whether we like it or not, those who spend their time in Whitehall can play a (potentially helpful) part in changing things for the better.
If people don’t want to sign, no problem with that at all – if they disapprove of the programme, hopefully they are taking meaningful action in other ways. We’re certainly not going to change things by being awake and aware of problems but doing nothing about them.
the problem with that is what they like to call ‘controlled opposition’….in a sense….best case scenario??? oh, the petition got lots of signatures…..so what they’ll decide to do is give bit of a tax subsidy, or just make poor people exempt….therego…..we listened and addressed your concerns….so no problem anymore…..which is probably what they budgeted for in the first place!
it’s the same with some lunatic president labelling 2/3s of the world’s population as ‘evil’, threatening mass genocide everywhere…..then negotiate it down a bit, oh we only at war in a dozen or so countries now and only killed six million, we lisetned and you got what you wanted….which is exactly what they wanted/ palnned since early 90s at least anyway…..
threaten a lot, create a problem, controlled reaction and then a bit of a solution…..
on this one the real motive behind is what i said i think…..everything else is secondary and only helps to serve as a distraction to what they really want….
Re: first point here – if that’s what they do, then they will have not addressed our concerns.
It does mention privacy, so there’s no reason not to sign.
But regardless of that, does it really make any difference on what grounds we get these things stopped, as long as we do?
No offense but the powers that be must be laughing their heads off when they see comments like that. How easy are we going to make it for them?!
PTB are pissing themselves when people willingly put their names, addresses, IP addresses on those lists/ petitions…that one is direct into govt DB there you know, no third party involved…
They must be building all those detention facilities/ gas chambers for a reason you know….technology makes it so easy for them to identify who needs to be ont he ‘red’ list you know…..
and when did talking actually ever achieve anything regardless? doing soemthing achieves soemthing, talking never does…..like the oscar wilde quote, all art is quite useless….
Nobody is going to be sent to a ‘gas chamber’ for signing a petition
They do far worse to people than just murder them. Guess you don’t really know the kind of country you’re living in now until it happens to you.
Jake, I’m wondering if you are some kind of Troll and if not you are certainly guilty of Fear Mongering.
Living in fear is not living at all, beleive it or not their are some decent People in the Government, although i agree not all, as in any walk of life!
Having watched “Take back your Power” remaining quiet about the Real dangers these meters pose outweighs the worry of been in some GovDB!
It’s not a crime yet to disagree but with more People like you it soon will be?
What’s going on – only 9 signatures? Can someone with some energy please set up one with Change.org or 38 degrees that will gather thousands…
Hi Steph
Yes raised Smart Meters with 38 degrees twice. My MP doesn’t like 38 degrees.
Thanks Chris.
Maybe others could try too?
Could you set up a petition with 38 degrees – a petition doesn’t require their active participation.
Best wishes,
Stephanie
23 signatures now – why so few? It closes today – the response is pathetic. Can one of you please contact 38 degrees to raise the issue of smart metres, and also start a 38 degrees petition? I can’t, I can’t think clearly enough to set one up.
Thank you
It was started this morning (by Chris) and it closes one year from today (2014).
Oops, I’m sorry for misreading – that confirms what I said about not being able to think clearly 🙂
i been like for that 8 years now to…..are you targetted as well? it’s not totally off topic here as they use related tech…..but do you know what i’m talking about?
Sometimes I wonder Jake, in other ways, but not in the way you mean – unless it was inserted inside a capsule of radioactive iodine in 2003.
Stephanie
Stephanie
Sounds like you definately been chipped at least then.
You should look at
http://www.icaact.org
still some info up if you search terms ‘targetted individual’ and ‘gang stalking’, although there has been another big purge of such material in recent months.
there’s a lot more nasty tech they abuse people with beyond the chips, V2s and sleep deprivation—-i regularly go several days without sleep and constant headache for over seven years now, as well as a lot of other pain. I didn’t find out it was happening to other people as well until 2008…..then i knew for sure it wasn’t me that was going ‘crazy’….
i did sign this one, i usually don’t- mostly because it’s just a means of making people feel they have done somthing when they haven’t actually done anything….
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/petition/To_end_a_practice_Worse_than_the_Gas_Chambers_in_Britain/?enZKldb
but Norman has had it abt as bad as any of us get it…..
No I don’t really think I’ve been chipped Jake, why do you think that?
Lots of people who have been to hospital, the dentist, injected by GP or soemthing……they been doing it fo ryears without telling people!
Steph,
It’s 2014. A year yet to unfold. Fire ! someone said: so they shut down the wrong engine. Energy policy is in chaos because of the Election. Wait and see. Best
i don’t think there is any question over ‘legality’- either they have passed a law legalising it or they haven’t. Most of these secret laws are contradictory from what I can gather anyway….Article 8, right to privacy? illegal to break into people’s homes? murder people by shooting them repeatedly int he head? (Jean Charles)- laws are never applied to these people, they’re only used occasionally to justify the abuse of the actual victims….
you’re legally obliged to use force to stop these buggers anyway, otherwise under Joint Enterprise law you’re guilty of what they did as well, apprently….
Jake
I understand your concerns about privacy and perhaps, the chaos and crisis phase; but there is a solutions phase, and solutions will come from the peripheries, persuading the centre, because the RESOURCES aren’t there to do much else. It’s about what is mostly LIKELY to happen, not the WORST that could happen. Best
Chris
The worse is always the most likely to happen….take it from somebody who has already been a target for over 13 years….worse than living death, seriously…..
and another minor point in the scheme of things….European Court some eyars back (3-5 years back, lost all track of time these past few years…) that it is illegal to hold the DNA and fingerprintsof innocent people. So what? did they stop doing it? have any of these children been accused let alone convicted of anything…? there was a guy who ran leavethemkidsalone.com he had some CD ROM, anarchist’s cook book or soemthing….was all perfectly legal at the time but they made some other law to make it illegal and retrospectively applied it to him….labelled a terrorist and put in prison, never been heard from again….
No smart meters for me thanks.
what makes you think they, who they are, will even bother to ask?
It now looks like coal-to-biomass fired Eggborough will close because government departments took Cameron’s brilliant “cut the green (levies)” comment seriously. At a stroke the closure of Eggborough would wipe out any margin in electricity supply over demand. Power cuts in the winter 2015 are getting very real indeed. Bear in mind that the 2015 winter is in advance of the smart meter programme.
create a problem, manipulate the reaction….what u think the solution is going to be? it’s all a bit obvious isn’t it….
Variable Tariffs are mentioned in the Consultation Documents in a round about way:
“…A major prize could be more efficient use of demand-side response. Innovation in tariff structures (such as time-of-use tariffs), energy services and payment methods can also bring significant benefits for consumers and markets.”
“…Our contention is that market development will be constrained by current arrangements, such as their relatively basic approach to measuring consumption.”
Note this bit:
“…Positive consumer engagement will be vital to delivering the benefits of smart metering.”
“…However, market developments will also present new risks for consumers. Increasing sophistication, for example in tariffs, could impact negatively on participation in the market.”
I read here that if the tariffs are so complicated and aggressive, the energy suppliers could kill the golden goose.
“…Evidence on current levels of disengagement highlights the challenge of helping shape market development such that all consumers can benefit – not just the engaged or active.”
The Daily Telegraph has run an article. Gosh, if the Daily Mail takes up the same “wasteful” position the government might HAVE TO rethink Smart Meters. As an update and resource this is what I sent To Emily at the Telegraph:
1. The domestic Smart Meter technology is not that smart. It’s very little more than the freebie energy monitors that we were given a few years ago (and some I discovered, used common, not customised, broadcast frequency bands). DECC and OFGEM aren’t forthcoming about the physical demand management advantages of Smart Meters, so if we accept their overview, these 3% savings could be achieved with the simple shelftop monitors (apart from the wireless issues and meter reading aspects) at a much lower cost than the £12bn presently envisaged.
2. We are told that this is an end to estimated bills, no more meter reading. While many Smart Meters do include fraud detection, the utilities will still need to inspect meters, not least for safety reasons.
3. In replacing any meter, smart or otherwise, the utility will face a dilemma. Gas and electrical installation standards have moved on, installations and appliances are not always well-maintained. Contractors quite expect domestic gas installations to fail pressure retention tests for example. If the utility finds an obsolete or defective installation, will it replace the meter and reconnect the supply or cut off the consumer and suggest repairs or regulatory upgrades ? Smart Meters could turn out to have some safety benefits, but the costs will probably be unwelcome to many consumers and might be seen as exploitative.
4. Who pays for the WEEE disposal of all those old meters and is that cost in the £12bn budget ?
5. We should always worry about complex government IT Projects. Firstly, the Smart Meter project is very complex and it is largely industry-led, with inconsistencies already appearing between suppliers and causing delays.
6. At strategic level, government worries about energy security. The DCC datastream of Smart Meter broadcasts would be connected as a means of controlling the grids. Remember, that was one of the supposed benefits that the energy suppliers tell us will help bring down their infrastructure investment costs – perhaps if demand can be managed down. But doesn’t the idea of allowing millions of terminals to really influence the grids strike you as a national security risk ? The reality is that Smart Meter datastreams cannot be relied upon to control for example, loading power stations onto the grids. Apart from the technology being too slow, imagine the risk of hacking.
7. I therefore conclude that Smart Meters are for a quite different long term purpose, which is to physically intervene in demand management, which is presently very difficult and not very selective. There is some discussion of future demand management and the Minister has admitted that future Smart Grids could interrupt electricity and gas supplies as part of normal grid management. They could also regulate demand, preventing consumers loading more than say 1kW, otherwise the meter would cut them off.
8. Do bear in mind that Smart Meters for the first time allow the utility to VARY the unit price (p/kWh) of electricity and gas, also water although the uptake is lower so far. We should ask whether we can trust the energy suppliers, especially the ones that are most keen on Smart Meters, with variable tariffs.
9. The government has toyed with the idea of PENALTY COSTS for those that do not choose (and it is rarely mentioned that it is a choice) not to have Smart Meter. In time, I quite expect Smart Meter tariffs to initially be made to look attractive and the “old” tariffs look increasingly costly. The ultimately prize for some energy suppliers is that they could de-risk wholesale prices, simply passing on costs instantaneously through variable tariffs. Quite possibly, a prize for the government is that Smart Meters allow domestic consumers to be selected and cut off or consumption regulated down remotely – the minister has admitted this is a facility intended for the future Smart Grid.
10. Also Baroness Verma has said that as from the END OF 2013 there will be “no backward step”, that is once you have a Smart Meter, you may not be able to get rid of it. It is unclear what happens if you move in and find a Smart Meter; and not very clear if you can get an “old” analogue meter from a new energy supplier to replace an existing smart meter from your old energy supplier.
11. OFGEM tell me that it has not established WHO will be nominally responsible for any HEALTH effects from Smart Meters, saying that’s up to the courts – will it be DECC whose pointless programme this is, or will it be the energy suppliers who chose the devices ? OFGEM don’t seem to mind.
12. Public Health England admit that research on Smart Meter health effects is going on WHILE THEY ARE BEING ROLLED OUT. Elsewhere, some people are claiming distinct health effects, and some experts are extremely concerned about the relatively powerful wireless emissions the UK intends to allow from Smart Meters.
13. Smart Meters are a proposal to connect millions of consumer terminals as a datastream that we are told, will at least partly controls the gas and electricity grids – for example by connecting power stations. The reality is that the datastream and central processing will be too slow to do this effectively on the supply side and Smart Meters are really intended as a demand-side measure.
14. As you say, there is evidence that this £12bn proxied investment will save consumers very little indeed – and a significant risk to consumers in variable tariffs, charging more or less for the same kWh units. Even DECC research suggests this is as little a 3% and some evidence says no savings at all.
15. It is difficult to see how for example many pensioners could interact with their Smart Meters to achieve any savings, or start acting as energy or carbon traders. No doubt we’ll be told that this is perfectly expected by the Smart Meter programme, in which case what is the point of rolling out Smart Meters to every house in the land ?
16. To me there is no “sweet spot” where variable tariffs can force consumers to delay or cut consumption but which also avoids significant social pain, bill shock. Pilot studies show that consumers need to have electricity units as low as 4p/kWh to switch on and advance consumption, and as high as 67p/kWh to switch off or delay consumption. In short, at these penalty tariffs, there will be “bill shock” and the concept of Smart Meters simply does not work.
17. There are major privacy concerns with the introduction of Smart Meters. The obvious one is the misuse of consumption data to sell consumers some service or appliance; OFGEM do recognize this area but remember that the objective is to cut emissions. More subtle concerns highlight the risk of the Smart Meter broadcasts being hacked and used by burglars to determine whether a property is occupied.
18. Also privacy and consultation-related – Smart Meters offer the ideal chassis for government to introduce carbon credits, carbon taxation, perhaps aggregated carbon trading, or energy quotas at DOMESTIC LEVEL using the DCC Consumption Database. I suspect that this is the ultimate purpose of Smart Meters, a provision for when incentives are shown to have failed.
19. One should ask WHEN exactly we were consulted about Smart Meters; that is when we were given a balanced review of the pros and cons, not least the staggering cost of £12bn to consumers ? Yes, they are mentioned in the Coalition Agreement, but on detail OFGEM refer to consultations that never dropped through my letterbox or are still incomplete. A very large proportion of people are completely unaware of Smart Meters. Some people think that this could be an area for legal challenge.
20. There is an epetition: http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/57900
nice list, but you seem to have missed off the most important one with regards to privacy, which i think i sthe REAL reason they’re doing….namely they can have you and your family recorded in full 3d holographic porn 24/7…..it’s their perverted view of economies of scale….it gets expensive to break into people houses and install cameras and those ‘other devices’ under RIPA…..they also get found, and when theyget caught installing them the victim is always murdered and blamed on burglary gone wrong….
everyhting else whilst all valid seems to be secondary to the real motive behind it.
I have to say, once more people watch the documentary “Take back your Power” even those in Government not in the Know i think will be very concerned!
If they have children and grandchildren that is, unless of-course they have an affinity with unnecessary amounts of Microwave Radiation frying their Brains?
But what really concerns me most is how Ignorant people in today’s modern age have become!
I once read an account of a Radio Ham who picked up a strange transmission and tracked it a long way to its source. It sounded like a man who lived alone with his dog. He knocked on the door and told the occupant “I think you are being bugged”. I am not surprised said the man, adding “I am being blackmailed”. Now we have TV sets that can listen in and apparently it is advised not to talk of things personal. What with software companies developing software to analyze the energy consumption and voice recordings as well,
welcome to the creepy world of having nothing private.