The Surrey Civic Coalition is opposed to smart meters, Council Candidate Gary T. Robinson announced today.

The former City Councillor who is seeking election with SCC, said he “will introduce a by-law to prohibit installation of the so-called smart meters in Surrey,” if he is elected on Nov. 19.

“They are intrusive, they are unsafe and everyone I talk to says they are not wanted,” Robinson said, adding California is now in the process of removing smart meters.

Robinson noted the Union of BC Municipalities passed a moratorium on smart meters on Sept. 30. “The majority of elected people in BC do not support smart meters, and neither do I,”  Robinson said.

BC’s $1 billion cost of installing smart meters is a “colossal waste of money especially if they just need to be removed later for health reasons,” said Robinson.

He said BC Hydro is trying to sell the public on the idea of smart meters would save money by having customers use less power at peak times. But in Toronto, 84 per cent of residents’ bills went up as a result of smart meters.

Robinson suggested if we need an improved monitoring system, it can be installed through the hard wired phone communication system. Marin County banned smart meters. Santa Cruz has a moratorium, quietly replacing them with the old trusty analog meters. The main reasons are health and privacy.

In Australia the program cost $500 million more than predicted. They are currently suspending their program due to health issues, significant irregularities in use, and misuse.

Robinson also said the smart meters are an invasion of privacy that citizens don’t want. “The meters document when you shower, when you watch TV, when you make dinner and when you go to sleep. This is big brother installing a home surveillance and personal data collection in your home.”

Robinson compared the provincial government’s handling of the smart meters issue with the failed HST debacle which led to the resignation of Premier Gordon Campbell.  “You’d think the Liberals would have learned by now that British Columbians don’t want bad policy rammed down their throats and we want to be consulted when major changes are being planned.”

For further information, please contact
Gary T. Robinson  778-885-4369