Marin County Issues Moratorium On SmartMeters
SAN RAFAEL (KCBS) – Pacific Gas and Electric has been told to stop installing SmartMeters in unincorporated Marin County, as county supervisors on Tuesday imposed a moratorium on the installation of the devices.
But a company spokesman told the Marin Independent Journal that the state Public Utilities Commission, not the county board, has jurisdiction over the meters, and that the utility will continue installing them in Marin until it hears differently from the state commission.
KCBS' Dave Padilla Reports:
Several speakers at the Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday claimed they were suffering ill health effects from SmartMeters, including Sarah Riley, who said she has hyper-electro sensitivity, or overexposure to electromagnetic radiation.
"You are approaching the floodgates of an epidemic in your county if something is not done about the SmartMeter rollout," she said.
Riley lives in Fairfax, a town that has already banned the installation of the devices.
Barry Smith, a member of an environmental health group, said he supports the moratorium, but detected a flaw in the ordinance.
"In the moratorium, I do not see anything about deinstallation," he said. "There are people in this room with children who are suffering right now. It's very important for us as a community to deinstall."
The Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to implement the moratorium, saying SmartMeters present a potential health and safety risk for residents.
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