The Sheriffs contacted the Wisconsin Public Utility

City officials shut off water Tuesday to a pair of Baraboo homeowners who refused to have smart meters installed on their homes.

“The meters, number one, are surveillance,” said Audrey Parker of Baraboo, whose water was shut off Tuesday. “They know how many people are in your house. They know what you do throughout the day.”

Parker told members of the city’s Public Safety Committee last fall that new smart meters, installed to monitor her gas and electric usage, had caused her to have heart palpitations. She petitioned to opt out of a city program to install similar devices that would transmit electronic data about water use.

However, city officials balked at her concerns and put her on notice that her water would be shut off if she did not permit the city to install the meter. The meters send a pulse of information to the utility every few hours to report water use.

City officials say the meters require less manpower to track use, and provide other efficiencies, such as more accurate and up-to-date information.

Parker is part of a movement of people who say the meters are the government’s way of keeping tabs on people. They say the meters send out radio frequencies that add to a person’s exposure to radiation.

Baraboo Utility Superintendent Wade Peterson said those concerns are overblown. The meters use a 1-second pulse every four hours to transmit data to a city server, he said, adding that the radiation from that pulse is less than what is emitted by a microwave or cell phone.

The smart meters also typically are installed on the outside of a residence, making them even less of a concern, he said.

In response to a petition from 33 customers of the Madison Water Utility, public health officials from the city of Madison and Dane County conducted a review of literature regarding the potential health risks associated with smart meters. The review found “little evidence” to support an association.

“I’m not in a position to dispute any of that,” said James Sheriff, who also had his water turned off Tuesday. “I’m as medically qualified as a toothpick.”

Sheriff and his wife, Darcy, have aligned with their friend, Parker, to stand against the city’s new smart meter requirement. Even though he says his wife has a health issue that makes access to a running toilet and drinking water necessary, they don’t intend to budge.

Darcy Sheriff said Parker has provided her with articles from websites that lead her to believe smart meters collect more than just information about a person’s utility usage.

Sheriff said she suspects the smart meters can monitor activities inside the home, such as how many times the toilet is flushed,Home energy monitor ,how much the dishwasher is used, and so forth.

“That is absolutely incorrect,” Peterson said. “It tracks two things: gallons per minute and total usage. We have no way of knowing whether it was for a dishwasher, toilet or anything else.”

The Sheriffs contacted the Wisconsin Public Utility Commission this week to report the city’s action. Peterson said the PSC directed the city to turn their water back on Wednesday in order to give Darcy Sheriff 21 days to prove she has a health condition that would be impacted if her water was turned off. The city has since complied and restored water service to the residence.

The Sheriffs said they don’t know one way or another whether the smart meters actually pose a health risk or collect personal data. Nevertheless, they say it should be their right to choose whether one is installed on their home.
Click on their website www.owon-smart.com for more information.