Dear editor,
I would like to respond to some misinformation recently published about smart meters.
The radio-frequency signals BC Hydro’s meters use to communicate are safe and similar to those used for decades by televisions, radios and other common household devices.
B.C.’s Provincial Health Officer, Health Canada and the World Health Organization all confirm the wireless meters pose no known health risks.
BC Hydro’s meters have been independently tested and were shown to communicate for about 1.4 seconds per day at a signal strength less than 0.5 per cent of Health Canada’s Safety Code 6 – the official radio frequency exposure limit within Canada.
To put this into context, passengers taking the ferry between Horseshoe Bay and Departure Bay ferry terminals are exposed to the equivalent of 35 years’ worth of BC Hydro smart meter radio frequency in a single trip.
More than 99 per cent of BC Hydro customers now have a new meter and are already seeing the benefits of the modern system.
The new automated billing system is eliminating routinely estimated bills and manual data-entry errors, ensuring customers are billed only for the power used in a billing period.
And customers who have signed up for a secure MyHydro account can use the more-timely information about their electricity use to help identify new ways to conserve energy and save money.
Ted Olynyk
Community Relations Manager
BC Hydro