Fairfax Votes for a Moratorium on Smart Meters
PG&E is moving rapidly to install Smart Meters throughout Marin County, but one North Bay has opted out of the program. In a Fairfax Town Council meeting Wednesday night, a moratorium was imposed on installing the trademarked devises.
Increasingly, human meter readers are being replaced by digital readers to measure each homes power usage.
"There are a lot of questions about the accuracy of the meters," said Fairfax Councilman Larry Bragman.
He points to unhappy PG&E customers in Kern County after smart meters were installed.
"There were thousands of complaints registered with the PUC from rate-payers who noticed that their bills skyrocketed," said Bragman.
An independent evaluation has been commissioned by the state PUC.
PG&E spokesman Paul Moreno says the utility company endorses the study.
"We've installed three million electric meters, and out of those we've found a mere ten meters that were not functioning properly," said Moreno.
The meters transmit data by wireless signals over radio frequency emissions, which has raised health questions. And there also are privacy and security concerns.
