Umbrella in hand, clad in a big jacket and rain boots, Paradise Valley resident Ferdinand Vondruska leads the way to the side of his sprawling home, unlatches a wooden door and opens it. Inside, quietly humming away, are five hydro meters. Four others are situated at his stable and hall. But Vondruska is adamant that B.C. Hydro's plan to install smart meters is not such a smart idea.
"My secretary is working here, and the smart meters will be exactly behind her work place," he said, gesturing toward the wall. "She's going to be affected by the power bursts at least every hour."
Similarly, a kindergarten student's or a baby's room could be located in close proximity to smart meters, he added.
According to B.C. Hydro's website, "smart meters are digital meters that can capture and record the amount of power that is consumed or produced and when."
But advocacy groups across North America are up in arms, claiming that smart meter radiation is a Class 2B carcinogen, that they are responsible for a number of structure fires, and that they record every detail of your power usage data that can be shared with law enforcement officials and other corporations in violation of citizens' right to privacy.
Vondruska says his main gripe is with what the smart meters release. "It releases 100 times stronger energy jolt than the cell phone," he said.
He is troubled by the effects of these "jolts" on human health.
"We have reached, in my opinion, a saturation point of electrical interference it's from everywhere," Vondruska said, "from radio stations, radar stations, from the cars we drive."
Gary Murphy, B.C. Hydro's chief project officer for the smart meter program, says there's a lot of misinformation being spread about the program.
"Our meters are less than 0.5 per cent... of the Health Canada safety standard relative to exposure to radio frequency," Murphy said. "In other words, if you stood next to your smart meter for 20 years, you'd receive the same exposure as you would from a single 30-minute cell phone call."
As for the claim of constant transmitting of radio frequency, Murphy said, "Our meters only transmit less than one minute a day, to transmit usage data back to B.C. Hydro."
Smart meters are part of a system that will make the electricity grid more efficient, said Murphy, adding that the information will help customers monitor and manage their energy use.
"When people have that information, it's been proven over and over again, they begin to conserve energy because electrical energy is no longer a cheap commodity. It is, in fact, a precious natural resource and needs to be treated as such."
Nothing has changed with the smart meter program with regard to B.C. Hydro's obligation relative to the Freedom of Information and Privacy Act, Murphy said.
"The Act does not allow us to share any information without the customer's personal consent, unless it's governed by law," he said.
When asked about customers who do not wish to have a smart meter installed on their property, Murphy replied, "There is no opt-out policy for smart meters. At the end of the day, every customer in the province is going to get a smart meter."
"They can move that meter base to another part of their property if they feel for some reason that there is some concern... and that can be done at the customer's cost."
Squamish Coun. Patricia Heintzman, who also lives in the Paradise Valley, said that even though current scientific evidence on the potential health effects of electromagnetic fields is inconclusive, she has some sympathy with Vondruska's position.
"In theory, smart meters sound like a good idea," she said. "I personally would love to know more about my own consumption and be able to make decisions about when I consume energy to save money, etc.
"Where I think the biggest concern is the apparent conflicting analysis of the possible health repercussions of radio/electromagnetic fields. Based on what I've read, the information is not conclusive and until it is, people should be given a choice to whether they have a smart meter attached to their house or not."
Vondruska, who runs a biodynamic farm, is in the business of making soil fungi, enzymes and micro-organisms. In addition to his concerns about the meters' effects on human health, he worries about the effects of the radio frequency exposure on the plants.
"I cannot make all this area secure against this interference, [from smart meters]," Vondruska said. "It's been at least a year since I heard about smart meters and I pay attention to this for obvious reasons because of our research with our soil life."
His concern extends to the microscopic bacteria that help the root growth of plants.
"When this bacteria is destroyed," he said, "it's serious. You have unhealthy people. Smart meters destroy such bacteria which are the sense organs of the Earth."
