DTE Acts Illegally in Shutting Off Power to People with Locked Meters

Wednesday, March 18, 2015. A three-vehicle convoy from DTE drove to five homes in widely disparate locations—Ann Arbor, Dexter, and Webster Township—and shut off their electricity. DTE justified their action by saying that the locking devices on the meters created a health and safety hazard for the homeowners and their neighbors.

DTE's action is illegal. It is an illegitimate use of the public safety exception found in MPSC Rule 460.136. A locked analog meter is not a public safety hazard. It won’t cause a fire. It won’t irradiate you. It won’t fill your home with dirty electricity.
 

Molly Cleary is a nurse and her husband a surgeon at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Ann Arbor. They locked their meter with a Tatar Guard because Molly is very concerned about the potential effects of the meter on their family’s health. 

The Clearys had been away on vacation for the last two weeks. They arrived home on Sunday to lots of mail and busy work schedules. Molly opened her mail on Tuesday, and saw the letter from DTE we mentioned above. The next morning, she and a group of women were at her house for a sewing lesson when the power suddenly went out. She went outside to find a five-vehicle crew from DTE cutting off the power to her home at the pole. The crew includes Nikki Willinger, a DTE Security Supervisor. who accompanies DTE crews when they shut off power.


Molly requested that DTE not shut off her power, asked why she couldn’t keep her analog. They told her they’d lose their jobs if they didn’t cut off her power. What a bunch of baloney! They all have cell phones and could easily have called Joe McCormick, head of the AMI Department. Molly called the Smart Meter Education Network, then called Channel 7 news. Her story was shown Wednesday night on the 11 o’clock news. An hour after Molly called me, another member of the Smart Meter Education Network called to say that DTE had shut off his power. DTE proceeded to cut power to the other two families.

Molly was proactive! Her story appeared on Channel 7 news. Let’s make the most of it. Get on the phone to your legislators. Call the news outlets. Ask them to do stories on the other people who had their power cut. Right now, the public sees just a single individual. We want all the stories out there, especially the one of the mother whose son has to take insulin. That insulin has to be kept in the refrigerator. What’s she supposed to do?
 
Meanwhile, DTE cut power to another Ann Arbor home. The man's daughter came home at 4 p.m. to find the power out and all of her tropical fish dead. 

DTE, of course, “remains confident in the safety of its metering equipment” and does not consider the damage to health, appliances, and wiring caused by smart meters, nor the fires they have started, to be a health and safety hazard!

DTE Not Turning Off Transmitters on All Opt-Out Meters

We already have one definitive report that DTE does not turn off the radio-transmitter on all its opt-out meters. This meter continued to transmit, even after DTE came out, supposedly turned it off, and put a "Radio-Off" sticker on the meter. The homeowner measured the transmissions with a highly sensitive RF meter, and it was pulsing constantly, just as much as the neighbors' smart meters.

We just received a second report via Facebook: "Wanted to share my most recent experience. As you may remember, DTE replaced our meter last month against our wishes. I called and arranged for someone to come out this afternoon to remove the transmitter, which required me to take time off work. They were to arrive between 12:00 and 4:30. Imagine my surprise when I arrived home at 11:55 to find that they had already come and gone. Even more concerning, there was a dusting of snow on the ground, showing footprints that walked into my backyard, looked into my doorwall and walked back out of my yard...after putting a "transmitter off" label on my meter. Those footprints did not stop in front of the meter. They did not even face the meter, so it's obvious that a label was simply slapped on as he walked past. I am now concerned that the transmitter was not removed at all. If you got stuck with a meter, and you requested that the transmitter be removed, PLEASE take the ENTIRE day off so that you can be there to actually SEE if it was removed. That was why I took time off from work - to actually watch them remove the transmitter. Now, I'm in limbo, and it's a horrible place to be."

Warren City Council

The Warren City Council is considering doing something about DTE smart meters. Please write them. Here is link to their emails and phone numbers: http://www.cityofwarren.org/index.php/government/city-council. Councilman St. Pierre especially needs to hear stories about health effects, so please tell him your story.

Justice Denied in DTE Opt-Out Case

The Michigan Court of Appeals decision on Thursday regarding the DTE opt-out is disappointing but

not unexpected. In a decision that defies common sense and a clear reading of the law, the Court of Appeals ruled that DTE gets to keep installing its “opt-out” meter. Linda Kurtz, Cynthia Edwards, and Leslie Panzica-Glapa’s main argument was that in order to charge customers a fee for opting out, there must be a benefit of the opt-out to the customer. Basically, what the court ruled is that DTE doesn’t need to show a single benefit to the opt-out. In other words, DTE can set up any kind of progam it likes; if you are foolish enough to sign up for such a program, then DTE gets your money, although you receive no benefit. We also argued that the opt-out mandates smart meters, and cannot do so. The court refused to accept this argument, and others, as well. You can read a synopsis of our arguments  here. You can read the court’s decision here. What a sorry piece of judicial work! Shallow, sloppy, a regurgitation of DTE’s arguments.

Even if we had won, the court would have remanded the case back to the Michigan Public Service Commission, where the chance of prevailing would have been slight. That is the sad reality of a corrupt system. So, while I felt, and communicated to all of you that our arguments were very good (and they were), a corrupt system decided to ignore them. It is and always has been my firm belief that we are going to win through

Grassroots Resistance!

When I got the news on Thursday that we had lost the case, I was neither saddened nor frightened. I just saw it as business as usual, and continued to work on the tasks we have set forth for ourselves to win this fight!

What Does This Mean for Us?

We keep resisting. As you probably know well, California won its analog opt-out because people refused to be cowed by the corrupt corporations and the government that is in bed with them. Refuse, Resist, Fight Back! Never Back Down! If everyone stands strong and together, we will win. They won in California. So will we!

You keep saying the same thing to DTE when they knock on your door: “I refuse installation.” Remember, DTE cannot cut off your power unless they give you 10 days written notice.

DTE's "Advance" Notice

From one of our members: "Funny thing, DTE sent me a letter that in a few weeks i will get an advanced meter installed. Do they mean the one installed 8 days ago?"

Yep, ever so frequently, DTE manages to install smart meters days or weeks they send their notice.

DTE Falsely Threatening Shut-Off If You Don't Allow Smart Meter to Be Installed

DTE representatives have started coming to customer’s doors and telling them they have 2 weeks to accept a smart meter or their power will be shut off. The are not legally able to take such action. Read more on our How to Respond page.

Says one customer: “Had a DTE rep at my door today, telling me I have two weeks to decide in participating in the AMI Opt-Out Program. Insinuated that if I don't accept the opt-out meter, possibly my power may be shut off. He went and took pictures of my meter and my Tatar Guard.”

Read more on our How to Respond to Installers / DTE Security at the Door page. We repeat, DTE has not shut off anyone’s power for refusing a smart meter. They have been threatening this for well over two years. DTE cannot shut off your power without giving you a 10-day written shut-off notice.

We know that DTE is getting more and more worried about the thousands of people refusing smart meters in Michigan. This is why they are resorting to more heavy-handed tactics.

Ann Arbor, Washtenaw County, Livonia, Pinckney, South Lyon, Ypsilanti, Plymouth, etc.

Commission Head Admits Smart Meters Cause Health Problems

In 2010, the head of the California public utility commission, Michael Peevey, said that SMART METERS MAKE PEOPLE SICK!  He believed PG&E should do something about it. However, instead of regulating the utility to ensure public safety,  he deferred his lawful responsibility to PG&E.

All this came out when 65,000 emails were gotten under as part of a federal and state investigation into what appears to be systemic corruption involving former senior executives at PG&E and the California Public Utilities Commission, 65,000 emails have been publicly released, revealing collusion and conspiracy. The emails also reveal that Peevey and the head of PG&E conspired to delay hearings until the entire smart meter roll-out was complete.

Reports EMF Safety Network:

Michael Peevey wrote [in an email to PG&E], “One thought for the company: If it were my decision I would let anyone who wants to keep their old meter keep it, if they claim they suffer from EMF and/or related electronic-related illnesses and they can produce a doctor’s letter saying so (or expressing concern about the likelihood of suffering same). I would institute such a policy quietly and solely on an individual basis. There really are people who feel pain, etc., related to EMF,etc., and rather than have them becoming hysterical, etc., I would quietly leave them alone. Kick it around. And, it sounds like the company may already have taken this step, based on a couple of the comments at yesterday’s public hearing.

He writes, “If it were my decision”.  As the Commissioner assigned to the proceeding- it was HIS decision. Yet, Peevey defers his lawful duty to PG&E.  And he delayed on this case for years.

Check out the YouTube video. It is well worth watching.

Among other things, at his farewell party, he was lauded for "always watching out for the poor, the elderly, and the disabled amongst us." He was compared to the Pope! Then, when people began to speak against him, the mike was turned off. This starts at about 9:18. The guy gives an impassioned (and accurate) speech, and then Peevey shuts him down again. So much for free speech!

Very little reporting in mainstream media, surprise, surprise.
See stories at

• Take Back Your Power
• EMF Safety Network
• SFGate
• KQED television: only reports on judge corruption case
• LA Times: only reports on overbilling, not health

Itron -- 4G Smart Meters--Killing Us Softly

Killing us softly, silently.  This network will cause even worse radiation from smart meters. "Provides broad territory coverage, low latency and network longevity, using the fastest 4G LTE technology available today. The solution will be commercially available by the end of the first quarter of 2015."
http://www.utilityproducts.com/articles/2015/02/smart-meters-itron-unveils-new-4g-lte-smart-meter-solution.html