Public Utility Consumer Abuse For Refusing AMI Smart Meters, PECO Style

By Catherine J. Frompovich

Implementation of the Internet of Things (IoT) main surveillance device, the AMI Smart Meter, has caused much grief, fright, concerns and actual bodily harms from non-thermal microwaves emitted by the ZigBee radios in all smart meters in every state.  Those harms are called electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS), plus any of a roster of symptoms that can/may contribute to or exacerbate numerous chronic diseases.

As an EMF/RF science data researcher, I hear from people all over the globe offering personal tales of woe how electric companies, particularly in the USA, have done some nasty things to cause much grief for customers from whom utilities had received no previous problems, not even unpaid bills.  But why such rather callous treatment?  Well, it all revolves around the retrofitting of AMI Smart Meters on to electric, natural gas and water utility services.

AMI Smart Meters have built-in, two-way microwave communication interaction with each utility customer’s appliances in homes, aka “smart appliances.”  To be able to do that, a ZigBee radio transmitter was built into smart meters so they could interact with appliances and communicate two ways, i.e., 1) send information from customers’ meters/households plus receive instructions for monitoring and surveillance of smart appliances; and 2) the built-in ability to turn off a customer’s service or provide a “brown out” period if the utility thinks the customer is using too much electricity or for some reason only known to the utility.

The above not being to customers’ liking or sense of privacy and freedom, many object to retrofitting an AMI Smart Meter, which costs each customer about $300, paid off as a monthly charge.  Since the AMI SM basically is a computer, it will last only 5 to 6 years, with another updated meter to be retrofitted with the customer paying for a newer, updated model AMI SM.  Based upon an average inflation rate of 3.22% a year for the last several years, in 6 years that’s a 19.32% cost increase, which means that previous $300 meter will cost about $358.

Ironically, AMI SMs are not as safe as utility companies would like consumers and public utility commissions to believe, in my opinion.  I was sent information about a house fire after the Navopache Electric Coop in Arizona recently installed a Landis+Gyr smart meter and it ignited the entire house.  The couple who lived in the house were able to escape with their lives and nothing more.  According to reports I received, Navopache Electric Coop denied responsibility for the fire and blamed it on the homeowners’ wiring!  To add insult to injury, the fire department bulldozed the evidence! I’ve heard quite a few stories like that.

That sad AMI SM story reminds me of the article I wrote “Smart Meters Fire, Living Hell and Bureaucratic Messes” detailing what happened to PECO utility customer Colleen’s house after an AMI SM was retrofitted.

AMI Smart Meters are not safe insofar as the gigahertz (GHz) frequencies that pulse onto homes’ in-house wiring, which is built to withstand 60 Hz.  PECO’s Landis+Gyr AMI SMs are built without surge protectors, which the old safe analog meters had and lasted for decades!  That no-surge-protector-fact was confirmed by one of PECO’s expert witnesses during my two-day hearing in the pro se case I have before the PA PUC for refusing an AMI SM.

All the above pales in comparison to what most customers do not know about AMI SM radiofrequencies emitted, in my opinion.  There are negative health consequences besides EHS from extremely fast radiofrequencies the human body cannot deal with due to those very fast (GHz) frequencies acting as constant biological and/or biochemical stresses/stressors.  Children, in particular, are affected.

One particular parent in the PECO electricity service area has been in contact with me and July 31st, 2017, he emailed me what he sent to one of PECO’s lawyers, whom he sets straight as to how she deceived him and his wife.  This is nothing new; we hear of it often.  However, other consumers ought to know what goes on and what to expect from gung-ho utilities wanting to retrofit unsafe AMI SMs.

I asked and obtained the email writer’s permission to use his email in an article I would write to warn utility customers of what to expect and to be on the lookout for.  Below is that email a distraught father wrote about his child’s neurological issues.

Shawene [sic] Lee,

You intentionally deceived me and my family today and put my child in harms way, shame on you.

Both you & Tom your installer knew I emphatically opposed having a Smart Meter installed without specific details That [sic] I have been requesting regarding long term safety studies on children with neurological issues. You told me you would only get me those studies after the smart meter was installed or you were shutting my power off which I agreed to neither!

We were also discussing ability to turn-off the meter or install a switch, whereby you mentioned you would speak to the engineers to see if that could be done. You had also mentioned on record that the unit only pulses once per day which I know that to be untrue and also know your legal council is aware, so why would you say that?

You intentionally put me on hold and told the installer that I gave my consent and he told that to my wife and installed. How could you, that is shameful, how could you?

The full recording of our conversation will show your level of deception and I am happy to share that with anyone that will listen.

Also on record, you refused to answer me on two occasions when I asked you why you would allow for a customer who does not pay their bills to have a “shut off” exemption for households with medical concerns, but why would that not apply to a good paying customer like myself when it comes to the issue of shutting off electricity? You refuse to answer the question, instead just threatened to shut my power.

I have made it abundantly clear that not only was a smart meter not to be installed until we had proper safety studies as mentioned above and or ability to shut off, but any Peco employee or Subcontractor must first make an appointment with my supervision. That has been expressed in writing to your staff.

I cannot tell you how disappointed I am in you as a person and in Peco for their coercive harassing deceptive tactics and practices.

Yours truly
john haney
Account Number:

Coincidentally, the day I received the above email, I received another email from a mother of a vaccine-damaged child (DTaP vaccine as a baby), who denied PECO’s new AMI SM because of the child’s extreme sensitivities as a result of that vaccine damage.  The mother is frantic about what will happen to her child now that she’s received a cut off notice and the household needs electricity.

The totally unscientific part about the AMI SM radiofrequencies is their “science” is what’s called “consensus science” meaning industry representatives agree about the science rather than what actually exists in published peer review research and journals.  Those published studies confirm non-thermal adverse health events from microwave radiofrequencies.

As a matter of fact, 32% of microwave-industry-funded-studies FOUND adverse events, while that industry’s premiere trade association, ICNIRP, refuses to accept the fact and contends there are no other radiofrequency damages than thermal (heat), which they’ve been trotting out since the World War II radar studies!  Furthermore, 70% of none-industry-funded-studies found non-thermal microwave frequency wave adverse effects.   Here are hundreds of peer reviewed scientific studies on EMF-related subjects.

In Mr. Haney’s email above, he makes this statement, which prompts the question why there is discrimination against bill-paying customers:

Also on record, you refused to answer me on two occasions when I asked you why you would allow for a customer who does not pay their bills to have a “shut off” exemption for households with medical concerns, but why would that not apply to a good paying customer like myself when it comes to the issue of shutting off electricity? You refuse to answer the question, instead just threatened to shut my power.

The harassment and consumer abuse utility customers are taking from PECO and other electric service companies in Pennsylvania are outrageous and have to stop.

The problem stems from the PA Public Utility Commission not interpreting HB2200/Act 129 (2008) as written as an OPT-IN bill, which the PA PUC made into a mandatory bill with no opt-outs per their contentions.  No opt-out is needed because it was an opt-in bill, as published of record, voted upon and signed into law by then-Governor Ed Rendell.

Other states provide opt-outs and workarounds for their utility customers.  Pennsylvanians are being held hostage by Chairman Robert Godshall, whose son Grey works for Exelon/PECO as a project manager, by not releasing opt-out bills over several legislative terms thereby denying Pennsylvanians of their constitutional rights to seek redress and relief from oppressive governance at state administrative agency level.

Currently there are three bills (HB1564, HB1565 and HB1566) in the PA House Consumer Affairs Committee chaired by the above-mentioned “conflict-of-interest-compromised” Robert Godshall.

Is there too much Republican Party politics at play by Godshall?  Is the Attorney General of the state falling short in not investigating how Pennsylvanians are being harassed and abused by utilities? And, shame on the Consumer Advocate’s office in Harrisburg for refusing to take complaints against the electric companies?

Numerous PA House members (29 for HB1564; 26 for HB1565; and 22 for HB1566) introduced the three bills mentioned.  What will the PA legislature do to get the current opt-out bill HR1564 called up for a vote?

Of the three bills, HB1564 is the only one that addresses some sort of relief for customers’ opt-out; the other two seem like “consolation prizes” for utility companies willing to grant opt-outs!

Furthermore, shouldn’t Godshall either be impeached or made to recuse himself from chairing the Consumer Affairs Committee regarding AMI Smart Meter opt-out bills, which apparently would impact his son’s employer, Exelon/PECO?

The abuses mentioned here are ‘nothing’ compared with the stories I hear daily from Pennsylvanians being abused by utilities as a result of the PA PUC’s apparently illegal “belief” and implementation regulations rather than what was voted into law by the PA legislature.

Pennsylvanians are being harassed, emotionally abused and even threatened using coercion—something the PA PUC should be protecting PA consumers/customers from experiencing rather than compounding consumers’ unbelievable mistreatment.

Catherine J Frompovich (website) is a retired natural nutritionist who earned advanced degrees in Nutrition and Holistic Health Sciences, Certification in Orthomolecular Theory and Practice plus Paralegal Studies. Her work has been published in national and airline magazines since the early 1980s. Catherine authored numerous books on health issues along with co-authoring papers and monographs with physicians, nurses, and holistic healthcare professionals. She has been a consumer healthcare researcher 35 years and counting.

Catherine’s latest book, published October 4, 2013, is Vaccination Voodoo, What YOU Don’t Know About Vaccines, available on Amazon.com.

Her 2012 book A Cancer Answer, Holistic BREAST Cancer Management, A Guide to Effective & Non-Toxic Treatments, is available on Amazon.com and as a Kindle eBook.

Two of Catherine’s more recent books on Amazon.com are Our Chemical Lives And The Hijacking Of Our DNA, A Probe Into What’s Probably Making Us Sick (2009) and Lord, How Can I Make It Through Grieving My Loss, An Inspirational Guide Through the Grieving Process (2008)

Catherine’s NEW book: Eat To Beat Disease, Foods Medicinal Qualities ©2016 Catherine J Frompovich is now available


Activist Post Daily Newsletter

Subscription is FREE and CONFIDENTIAL
Free Report: How To Survive The Job Automation Apocalypse with subscription

10 Comments on "Public Utility Consumer Abuse For Refusing AMI Smart Meters, PECO Style"

  1. Navopache Electric Cooperative is a small rural area cooperative, and is SUPPOSEDLY governed by the customer-members. However, they are run just like every major utility and are running rough-shod over the rights and wishes of their members with regard to their smart meter roll-out project. I had posted “No Smart Meters” posters on my gate and on my meter; they removed my analog meter and installed the smart meter against my wishes regardless of the notice.

    I am curious as to the root source of funding for this push for smart meters… is it the CIA? Who else would really care about the minute-by-minute usage of power at a rural log cabin vacation property? I pray every day that the smart meter does not cause my house to burn up like it did my neighbor’s. I also hope some solar company identifies Navopache customers as a good target market for off-grid solar systems – sign me up!!

  2. Why are they pushing smart meters so hard? Because it is the hub of the technocratic elite’s plan to spy on you in your home. All of your “smart” appliances work together to give them a comprehensive picture of pretty much everything you do at home. No more privacy for you! How can they bring in total tyranny if they can’t spy on you 24/7? Plus, it gives them all kinds of new ways to “track and tax” you.

  3. AMI Smart meters, cell phones and other microwave tech are weapons of mass destruction supported by the Agenda 21 lifestyle changes for planet Earth as demanded by the alien/military/industrial/complex. Peace, freedom, privacy and your right to say “NO” are illusions.

  4. We just received the notice from West Penn Power that they are installing smart meters in our area soon. Unfortunately others have told us there is no opt out, they will shut your power off. I feel like I’m being forced to pay for a new meter, which is not mentioned in the notice at all, as well as being microwaved to death. The only precaution I can take is a Faraday cage around the meter. My neighbors are oblivious to the harm this will cause.

    • The Faraday cage DOES work (be sure to ground it). As long as it is not touching their meter and a live meter reader can still see the face, they have no legal grounds to touch it! Be sure to also add screening to the wall behind the meter in the house. Use copper screening (still available at Home Depot because it is the best blocker.

    • It is not your energy company but a 2008 state law (129) which requires all electrical companies to install smart meters. i suggest you not sleep outside next to your smart meter.

  5. “Navopache Electric Coop in Arizona recently installed a Landis+Gyr smart meter and it ignited the entire house. ” I can find no reports of this incident. Perhaps it was a house wiring problem. How could a meter using radio frequency cause a fire?

    nfpa reports: “Between 2010 and 2014, U.S. municipal fire departments responded to an average of 45,210 home structure fires involving electrical failure or malfunction. These fires caused annual averages of 420 civilian deaths, 1,370 civilian injuries, and $1.4 billion in direct property damage.”

    I can find no reports of even one fire being caused by a smartmeter. I myself chose to refuse a smartmeter, which costs nothing, but I think this article is fear mongering. TV, radio, wireless phones, and smart phones cause much more damage INSIDE the home! Smartmeters at least are outside, and unless you sleep next to your outside smart meter instead of your radio or smartphone, you are probably ok.
    Who is promoting the myth that smartmeters should be the focus instead of smartphones which soe people hold next to their brain for many hours a day? Who benefits from redirecting focus from the actual dangers to the least dangerous source of RF, an outside installation?

  6. The Ontario (Canada) government attempted to mandate smart meters throughout the province about 3 years ago. Where they screwed up is by having Ottawa as their first area. This is where all Members of Parliament and Ministers live…BAD MOVE. As soon as the MPs got their first bill (40% higher than their old bill) and received many articles such as this along with real scientific research, all of the AMI meters were pulled and a law passed through Parliament prohibiting involuntary installation of “smart” meters.

    • I don’t know where you get your information from; but almost 5 million smart meters have been installed in virtually all homes and small businesses in Ontario. They are not optional, but required by the utilities’ terms of service. Several thousand defective meters needed to be replaced – but with other smart meters. The cost of energy has increased due to shutting down coal-fired generation plants and building wind and solar facilities – not because of installing smart meters! Furthermore, the meters have not given rise to any health issues or any increase in the incidence of residential fires.

      The Ontario experience provides no support whatever for the narrative promoted in this article. Quite the contrary, in fact!

      BTW – the smart meter roll out in Ontario began 10 years ago; and it didn’t start in Ottawa. Every part of your comment was contrary to the facts. But, your spelling and grammar is spot on!

  7. We were strong armed into getting these digital meters…but if they don’t have surge protectors and they start a fire I’m suing.

    Old analog meters had surge protectors.

    TX should have an OPT OUT.

Leave a comment