Saturday, October 31, 2015
Thursday, September 24, 2015
PASMA SmartMeter Press Release #21
Pennsylvania Smart Meter Awareness * PASMA
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 9-8-15
Contact: Tom McCarey
Telephone: 610-687-7607
CONSUMER AFFAIRS COMMITTEE CHAIR GODSHALL HELD HEARINGS FOR ELECTRIC UTILITY DISTRIBUTION COMPANIES TO OPT-OUT FROM SMART METER ACT 129 REGULATIONS AS HE REFUSES TO RELEASE SMART METER RATEPAYER OPT-OUT BILLS FOR A COMMITTEE VOTE
September 1st, 2015, a true anomaly occurred in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania regarding the right of redress for grievances before government, its legislature and regulating agencies. PA House of Representatives Consumer Affairs Committee Chair Robert W Godshall acquiesced to corporate demands by staging a hearing wherein testimony was presented by numerous vested corporate interests, i.e., EDCs (electric distribution companies) to air their grievances regarding relief from penalties ranging from $1 million to $20 million regardless of fault in not meeting energy efficiency and peak demand reduction mandates contained in Act 129 of 2008, AND their requests for opt-out privileges, which Godshall said the committee and the PA PUC would take under advisement.
The irony of the hearing that Representative Godshall chaired is that he REFUSES to allow committee voting for various opt-outs bills (past and present) for ratepayer consumers regarding Smart Meters (SMs) that 7 utilities are forcing on to them without regard for, nor concerns about, the problems AMI Smart Meters cause: fires, explosions, EMF/RF health problems due to non-thermal adverse reactions, plus consumers being liable for fire damage caused by SMs that insurance companies refuse coverage for and which utility companies blame on homeowners, when fires occurred after SM retrofits.
Contrasting the two situations listed above, one has to wonder where Godshall’s interests are to be found: with consumers’ affairs or with vested corporate interests, especially since his son, Grey Godshall, works as a manager for PECO/Exelon, the largest electric and natural gas supplier in the USA.
An issue that seems paramount to utilities is that “Act 129 allows EDCs to recover only the costs of implementing energy efficiency and peak demand reduction requirements and caps the cost of the combined programs at 2% of the EDC’s total annual revenues as of December 31, 2006. The law specifically precludes EDCs from recovering the revenue they lose due to customer usage reductions,” as the Energy of Pennsylvania Association president testified.
The Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry Manager of Government Affairs dropped this little hint as to what ratepayers can expect: “It can then be reasonably projected that over the next three years, utilities will spend roughly an additional $735 million to comply with the new targets – all of which will be borne by ratepayers [consumers].”
Representative Evankovich, a member of the Consumer Affairs Committee, questioned the inequity in the system for business customers—not homeowner customers’ inequities—and how businesses that were energy efficient in the first place are now penalized under Act 129. Nothing was questioned regarding how consumers/ratepayers, who dramatically and negatively are impacted by SMs under Act 129, was ever addressed. It was all about corporate interests and “follow the money.”
Newly-appointed PA PUC Chairman, Gladys M Brown, testified that there are five changes coming to Act 129, all of which seemingly may have favorable impacts for Pennsylvania utilities and EDCs. However, nothing was said about favorably impacting ratepayers/consumers. Why?
The Director of Regulatory and Government Affairs for EnerNOC testified that “While EDCs can recover the direct costs of the Act 129 programs [apparently from grants and ratepayer rate hikes], they are not able to recover the lost revenue that results from less energy being used.” He went on to say, “If utilities can’t earn a return on this technology, they will be less likely to deploy it relative to traditional infrastructure investments for which they can earn a return.” What about ratepayers?
The Director of PennFuture Energy Center pointed to “Protect our existing gains—Any action that lowers the Act 129 budgets or lowers the EDC’s targets means that another program will have to do more. At a minimum, we should avoid weakening the program.” With regard to “Rethink our rate designs—In our restructured market, our electric utilities are in the business of selling electric distribution services, not electricity itself. They should be paid a fair price for the service they provide, but the rate design should encourage energy efficiency not waste.”
However, it was the testimony of the Industrial Energy Consumers of Pennsylvania (IECPA) that delineated what’s involved when he presented Slide 6 of his PowerPoint presentation regarding “Concerns and Facts About the Opt-Out,” which applies to power company suppliers, not ratepayer consumers—a BIG difference regarding the word “consumers.” Those Opt-Out Concerns, as appeared in the PP presentation, include:
• “Opt-Out reduces Residential & Small Business Participation
• Opt-Out will reduce large consumer energy efficiency
• Opt-Out allows consumers to collect grants & leave the Program without paying
• Opt-Out reduces energy industry jobs in the Commonwealth
• Opt-Out reduces funding to large consumer market segment
• Opt-Out allows large consumers to avoid investment in PA or energy efficiency”
How can EDCs present their grievances and be taken seriously regarding the impacts of Act 129 of 2008 when homeowners/ratepayers/
PASMA respectfully asks the Pennsylvania legislature to enforce Robert W Godshall’s recusing himself, as he apparently is playing favorites in not allowing Smart Meter Opt-out Bills to be called for a vote and also has a conflict of interest in his son’s employment with PECO/Exelon. Should there be a recall referendum instituted against Godshall?
###
If you would like more information about this topic, or to schedule an interview with a member of PASMA, please call Tom McCarey at 610-687-7607.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 9-8-15
Contact: Tom McCarey
Telephone: 610-687-7607
CONSUMER AFFAIRS COMMITTEE CHAIR GODSHALL HELD HEARINGS FOR ELECTRIC UTILITY DISTRIBUTION COMPANIES TO OPT-OUT FROM SMART METER ACT 129 REGULATIONS AS HE REFUSES TO RELEASE SMART METER RATEPAYER OPT-OUT BILLS FOR A COMMITTEE VOTE
September 1st, 2015, a true anomaly occurred in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania regarding the right of redress for grievances before government, its legislature and regulating agencies. PA House of Representatives Consumer Affairs Committee Chair Robert W Godshall acquiesced to corporate demands by staging a hearing wherein testimony was presented by numerous vested corporate interests, i.e., EDCs (electric distribution companies) to air their grievances regarding relief from penalties ranging from $1 million to $20 million regardless of fault in not meeting energy efficiency and peak demand reduction mandates contained in Act 129 of 2008, AND their requests for opt-out privileges, which Godshall said the committee and the PA PUC would take under advisement.
The irony of the hearing that Representative Godshall chaired is that he REFUSES to allow committee voting for various opt-outs bills (past and present) for ratepayer consumers regarding Smart Meters (SMs) that 7 utilities are forcing on to them without regard for, nor concerns about, the problems AMI Smart Meters cause: fires, explosions, EMF/RF health problems due to non-thermal adverse reactions, plus consumers being liable for fire damage caused by SMs that insurance companies refuse coverage for and which utility companies blame on homeowners, when fires occurred after SM retrofits.
Contrasting the two situations listed above, one has to wonder where Godshall’s interests are to be found: with consumers’ affairs or with vested corporate interests, especially since his son, Grey Godshall, works as a manager for PECO/Exelon, the largest electric and natural gas supplier in the USA.
An issue that seems paramount to utilities is that “Act 129 allows EDCs to recover only the costs of implementing energy efficiency and peak demand reduction requirements and caps the cost of the combined programs at 2% of the EDC’s total annual revenues as of December 31, 2006. The law specifically precludes EDCs from recovering the revenue they lose due to customer usage reductions,” as the Energy of Pennsylvania Association president testified.
The Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry Manager of Government Affairs dropped this little hint as to what ratepayers can expect: “It can then be reasonably projected that over the next three years, utilities will spend roughly an additional $735 million to comply with the new targets – all of which will be borne by ratepayers [consumers].”
Representative Evankovich, a member of the Consumer Affairs Committee, questioned the inequity in the system for business customers—not homeowner customers’ inequities—and how businesses that were energy efficient in the first place are now penalized under Act 129. Nothing was questioned regarding how consumers/ratepayers, who dramatically and negatively are impacted by SMs under Act 129, was ever addressed. It was all about corporate interests and “follow the money.”
Newly-appointed PA PUC Chairman, Gladys M Brown, testified that there are five changes coming to Act 129, all of which seemingly may have favorable impacts for Pennsylvania utilities and EDCs. However, nothing was said about favorably impacting ratepayers/consumers. Why?
The Director of Regulatory and Government Affairs for EnerNOC testified that “While EDCs can recover the direct costs of the Act 129 programs [apparently from grants and ratepayer rate hikes], they are not able to recover the lost revenue that results from less energy being used.” He went on to say, “If utilities can’t earn a return on this technology, they will be less likely to deploy it relative to traditional infrastructure investments for which they can earn a return.” What about ratepayers?
The Director of PennFuture Energy Center pointed to “Protect our existing gains—Any action that lowers the Act 129 budgets or lowers the EDC’s targets means that another program will have to do more. At a minimum, we should avoid weakening the program.” With regard to “Rethink our rate designs—In our restructured market, our electric utilities are in the business of selling electric distribution services, not electricity itself. They should be paid a fair price for the service they provide, but the rate design should encourage energy efficiency not waste.”
However, it was the testimony of the Industrial Energy Consumers of Pennsylvania (IECPA) that delineated what’s involved when he presented Slide 6 of his PowerPoint presentation regarding “Concerns and Facts About the Opt-Out,” which applies to power company suppliers, not ratepayer consumers—a BIG difference regarding the word “consumers.” Those Opt-Out Concerns, as appeared in the PP presentation, include:
• “Opt-Out reduces Residential & Small Business Participation
• Opt-Out will reduce large consumer energy efficiency
• Opt-Out allows consumers to collect grants & leave the Program without paying
• Opt-Out reduces energy industry jobs in the Commonwealth
• Opt-Out reduces funding to large consumer market segment
• Opt-Out allows large consumers to avoid investment in PA or energy efficiency”
How can EDCs present their grievances and be taken seriously regarding the impacts of Act 129 of 2008 when homeowners/ratepayers/
PASMA respectfully asks the Pennsylvania legislature to enforce Robert W Godshall’s recusing himself, as he apparently is playing favorites in not allowing Smart Meter Opt-out Bills to be called for a vote and also has a conflict of interest in his son’s employment with PECO/Exelon. Should there be a recall referendum instituted against Godshall?
###
If you would like more information about this topic, or to schedule an interview with a member of PASMA, please call Tom McCarey at 610-687-7607.
Thursday, August 20, 2015
Public hearing on Act 129 - Sept. 1, 2015 at 1PM
Dear Pennsylvania Residents:
As you probably know, utility companies are retrofitting AMI Smart Meters which place non-ionizing radiation into your homes electrical wires (and YOU), which also will monitor what's going on in the house: anything from working appliances to what's on TV to even causing a brown out or turning off your electricity IF they want to!
Penna, unfortunately, has no opt-out provisions in Act 129 that every utility company is legally using to make you have an SM on your house for electricity, natural gas and water meters! Other states have opt-out provisions.
However, there are several bills in the PA state legislature to provide opt-outs, but Rep. Godshall, who chairs the Consumer Affairs Comm., will not release them for a vote because he knows they will be passed and he's apparently holding the line for utility companies' interests. He's killed several opt-out bills in the past!
Sept. 1, 2015 at 1PM, Godshall is holding a public hearing on Act 129, which by the way is ILLEGAL since it was passed with NO mandates for SMs, but the PA PUC rewrote the law when it wrote the implementation regulations for SMs in PA.
Tuesday, September 1, 2015
As you probably know, utility companies are retrofitting AMI Smart Meters which place non-ionizing radiation into your homes electrical wires (and YOU), which also will monitor what's going on in the house: anything from working appliances to what's on TV to even causing a brown out or turning off your electricity IF they want to!
Penna, unfortunately, has no opt-out provisions in Act 129 that every utility company is legally using to make you have an SM on your house for electricity, natural gas and water meters! Other states have opt-out provisions.
However, there are several bills in the PA state legislature to provide opt-outs, but Rep. Godshall, who chairs the Consumer Affairs Comm., will not release them for a vote because he knows they will be passed and he's apparently holding the line for utility companies' interests. He's killed several opt-out bills in the past!
Sept. 1, 2015 at 1PM, Godshall is holding a public hearing on Act 129, which by the way is ILLEGAL since it was passed with NO mandates for SMs, but the PA PUC rewrote the law when it wrote the implementation regulations for SMs in PA.
Tuesday, September 1, 2015
| 1:00 PM |
Public hearing - Act 129 Requirement for
electric distribution companies to meet certain energy efficiency
benchmarks.
| Room 140 Main Capitol |
Many consumers,
who have been taken to the ALJ court of the PA PUC by PECO for refusing
SMs, will be attending that public meeting. We'd like to see as many PA consumers as possible jam the hearing room to register our protests about Smart Meters:
their
radiation and its non-thermal health effects, surveillance of our
homes, lives, and appliances, PLUS Rep. Godshall's determination to not
let opt-out bills come up for a vote, thereby indirectly deprives U.S.
citizens of their right to redress and due process.Please plan on attending the meeting and let your voice be heard.
Thank you!
Catherine J Frompovich / PASMA member
Pennsylvania Smart Meter Awareness * PASMA
Friday, June 19, 2015
PASMA SmartMeters Press Release #14
Pennsylvania Smart Meter Awareness * PASMA
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 6-18-15
Contact: Tom McCarey
Telephone: 610-687-7607
WHY IS PECO SENDING OUT SHUT-OFF NOTICES WHEN IT’S NOT DOING WHAT
THE PA LEGISLATURE VOTED FOR IN 2008?
Almost daily, PASMA is hearing from PECO customers that they are receiving notices their electricity will be cut off if PECO is not permitted to install an AMI Smart Meter (SM) that emits radiofrequency non-ionizing radiation (RF), has caused untold house fires in the Philadelphia area and around the country—including fire deaths, and causes health problems because of the microwaves that are emitted.
Microwaves are dangerous to one’s health, but that fact is downplayed by PECO and the PA Public Utility Commission (PA PUC), who should know better, in favor of much older, skewed ‘science’. Customers with disabilities, multiple chemical sensitivities, cancer, heart disease, etc. are at greater health risks—so are young, growing children and, in particular, in utero fetuses!
Since the PA PUC deliberately misinterpreted HB2200 when it became PA Act 129 (2008) and set utility implementation regulations that SMs are mandatory, which the PA state legislature did NOT want, PASMA and PA citizens consider PECO’s, the PA PUC’s and especially PA State Representative Robert Godshall’s actions as legislative overreach, breaching democratic principles of governance, and illegal—plus prosecutable if only the “old boys’ network’ would stop working in favor of vested interests at all levels regarding Smart Meters.
Pennsylvanians are fed up with Godshall’s sitting on SM opt-out bills in the PA House Consumer Affairs Committee. He allowed several bills to die in the last session and now that three new ones (HB394, HB395, HB396) are up in the committee he chairs, he is refusing to call them for a vote.
He’s told everyone either allow an SM to be installed or get a generator! Furthermore, Godshall’s told others that he will NEVER call SM opt-out bills for a vote by the committee.
To help PA utility customers, there are numerous PA state house members who have co-sponsored those opt-out bills since they realize the totally wrong direction the PA PUC and utility companies, in particular PECO who is buying up electric companies around the country, have taken in mandating SMs on every PA house and commercial building. Numerous states have SM legal opt-outs, plus opposition to SMs is growing around the country and around the globe, since SMs are a part of the global UN Agenda 21.
What’s a threatened utility customer to do?
1. Attend the Press Conference in front of Rep. Godshall’s Hatfield office to let him know how wrong he is in his totalitarian-style of legislating and representing Pennsylvanians. Don’t forget to bring your protest signs!
> *DATE:* Tuesday, June 23, 2015
> *TIME:* 1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.
> *LOCATION:* Across the street from Representative Robert Godshall's Office located at
1702 Cowpath Rd, Hatfield, PA 19440 [not far off Rte. 309 North of Lansdale]
2. Folks with disabilities may want to contact the following for help in getting an American with Disabilities Act waiver with the PA PUC/PECO: The Disability Rights Network of PA, Philadelphia office at 215-238-8070, Fax 215-772-3126, Email drnpa-phila@drnpa.org. Or, Liberty Resources at 215-634-2000. Or, Disabled in Action of PA, Inc. at 215-627-7255.
3. Others who don’t want and fear SM hazards, including surveillance and reporting of appliance electric power usage inside your home to others, including third parties, and/or the ability to turn off your ‘smart’ appliances, may want to contact Governor Tom Wolf’s aid, Lyn McDonnell, in his Philadelphia office at lymcdonnell@pa.gov to let the Governor know how you feel about illegal PA law, Act 129 of 2008.
4. Every Pennsylvanian should contact his or her Pennsylvania State Legislator in Harrisburg http://www.legis.state.pa.us/ to get SM opt-out legislation passed in Pennsylvania. Not everyone can handle RFs and EMFs from SMs. Here’s what the American Association of Environmental Medicine says about Electromagnetic and Radiofrequency Exposure https://aaemonline.org/pdf/AAEMEMFmedicalconditions.pdf .
###
If you would like more information about this topic, or to schedule an interview with a member of PASMA, please call Tom McCarey at 610-687-7607.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 6-18-15
Contact: Tom McCarey
Telephone: 610-687-7607
WHY IS PECO SENDING OUT SHUT-OFF NOTICES WHEN IT’S NOT DOING WHAT
THE PA LEGISLATURE VOTED FOR IN 2008?
Almost daily, PASMA is hearing from PECO customers that they are receiving notices their electricity will be cut off if PECO is not permitted to install an AMI Smart Meter (SM) that emits radiofrequency non-ionizing radiation (RF), has caused untold house fires in the Philadelphia area and around the country—including fire deaths, and causes health problems because of the microwaves that are emitted.
Microwaves are dangerous to one’s health, but that fact is downplayed by PECO and the PA Public Utility Commission (PA PUC), who should know better, in favor of much older, skewed ‘science’. Customers with disabilities, multiple chemical sensitivities, cancer, heart disease, etc. are at greater health risks—so are young, growing children and, in particular, in utero fetuses!
Since the PA PUC deliberately misinterpreted HB2200 when it became PA Act 129 (2008) and set utility implementation regulations that SMs are mandatory, which the PA state legislature did NOT want, PASMA and PA citizens consider PECO’s, the PA PUC’s and especially PA State Representative Robert Godshall’s actions as legislative overreach, breaching democratic principles of governance, and illegal—plus prosecutable if only the “old boys’ network’ would stop working in favor of vested interests at all levels regarding Smart Meters.
Pennsylvanians are fed up with Godshall’s sitting on SM opt-out bills in the PA House Consumer Affairs Committee. He allowed several bills to die in the last session and now that three new ones (HB394, HB395, HB396) are up in the committee he chairs, he is refusing to call them for a vote.
He’s told everyone either allow an SM to be installed or get a generator! Furthermore, Godshall’s told others that he will NEVER call SM opt-out bills for a vote by the committee.
To help PA utility customers, there are numerous PA state house members who have co-sponsored those opt-out bills since they realize the totally wrong direction the PA PUC and utility companies, in particular PECO who is buying up electric companies around the country, have taken in mandating SMs on every PA house and commercial building. Numerous states have SM legal opt-outs, plus opposition to SMs is growing around the country and around the globe, since SMs are a part of the global UN Agenda 21.
What’s a threatened utility customer to do?
1. Attend the Press Conference in front of Rep. Godshall’s Hatfield office to let him know how wrong he is in his totalitarian-style of legislating and representing Pennsylvanians. Don’t forget to bring your protest signs!
> *DATE:* Tuesday, June 23, 2015
> *TIME:* 1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.
> *LOCATION:* Across the street from Representative Robert Godshall's Office located at
1702 Cowpath Rd, Hatfield, PA 19440 [not far off Rte. 309 North of Lansdale]
2. Folks with disabilities may want to contact the following for help in getting an American with Disabilities Act waiver with the PA PUC/PECO: The Disability Rights Network of PA, Philadelphia office at 215-238-8070, Fax 215-772-3126, Email drnpa-phila@drnpa.org. Or, Liberty Resources at 215-634-2000. Or, Disabled in Action of PA, Inc. at 215-627-7255.
3. Others who don’t want and fear SM hazards, including surveillance and reporting of appliance electric power usage inside your home to others, including third parties, and/or the ability to turn off your ‘smart’ appliances, may want to contact Governor Tom Wolf’s aid, Lyn McDonnell, in his Philadelphia office at lymcdonnell@pa.gov to let the Governor know how you feel about illegal PA law, Act 129 of 2008.
4. Every Pennsylvanian should contact his or her Pennsylvania State Legislator in Harrisburg http://www.legis.state.pa.us/ to get SM opt-out legislation passed in Pennsylvania. Not everyone can handle RFs and EMFs from SMs. Here’s what the American Association of Environmental Medicine says about Electromagnetic and Radiofrequency Exposure https://aaemonline.org/pdf/AAEMEMFmedicalconditions.pdf .
###
If you would like more information about this topic, or to schedule an interview with a member of PASMA, please call Tom McCarey at 610-687-7607.
Tuesday, April 14, 2015
Conflict-of-Interest Smart Meter Politicking in Pennsylvania
Catherine J Frompovich
Activist Post
Otto von Bismarck, the conservative Prussian statesman, who dominated German and European affairs from the 1860s until 1890 [1], supposedly is attributed with saying, “If you like laws and sausages, you should never watch either one being made.” How true, especially in the case of the shenanigans that apparently have gone on in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania regarding House Bill 2200 that became Act 129 in 2008.
House Bill 2200 had amendments, and the Freeman Amendment in particular, is discussed in the House Journal. Were Smart Meters (SMs) really mandated or actually supposed to be voluntary, since the history of that bill, according to the House and Senate Journals, seems to indicate something totally different than what is being forced upon electric power company customers like PECO, an Exelon company.
Here’s a brief, but clear account, of the history of PA House Bill 2200 as it worked its way into becoming Act 129 of 2008.
...
Read the rest of this article at this link.
Activist Post
Otto von Bismarck, the conservative Prussian statesman, who dominated German and European affairs from the 1860s until 1890 [1], supposedly is attributed with saying, “If you like laws and sausages, you should never watch either one being made.” How true, especially in the case of the shenanigans that apparently have gone on in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania regarding House Bill 2200 that became Act 129 in 2008.
House Bill 2200 had amendments, and the Freeman Amendment in particular, is discussed in the House Journal. Were Smart Meters (SMs) really mandated or actually supposed to be voluntary, since the history of that bill, according to the House and Senate Journals, seems to indicate something totally different than what is being forced upon electric power company customers like PECO, an Exelon company.
Here’s a brief, but clear account, of the history of PA House Bill 2200 as it worked its way into becoming Act 129 of 2008.
...
Read the rest of this article at this link.
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