Investigate Worcester MA Smart Meter Pilot Program

In the matter of National Grid,

We, the undersigned residents of Massachusetts, request that the Massachusetts Attorney General investigate the Worcester National Grid Smart Meter Pilot Program (renamed Smart Energy Solutions) and the DPU Working Group process that authorized the program.

FAULTY ENROLLMENT PROCESS / LACK OF INFORMED CONSENT / HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS / HUMAN EXPERIMENTATION WITHOUT KNOWLEDGE OR CONSENT:

1. WHEREAS, individuals in positions of leadership and influence unethically enrolled Worcester residents in human experimentation without consultation, representation, compensation, protection, or full disclosure of program parameters; and

2. WHEREAS, Worcester residents have the right to sovereignty over their habitat and homes, as opposed to local government enrolling neighborhood environments as an experimental testing ground for unproven, inadequately regulated, and unmonitored technology, which has already resulted in harm to a portion of the population in other communities; and

3. WHEREAS, according to the Department of Energy Voices of Experience Report, participants in the Green2Growth Summit were “hand-picked” to present an image that the program was co-created with the community through the process of Appreciative Inquiry, while few residents may have known about the program or its long range implications; and

4. WHEREAS, participants receiving experimental smart meters were auto-enrolled rather than offered a formal opt-in process with full disclosure and informed consent; and

5. WHEREAS, enrollment materials may not have been translated into languages other than English to insure informed consent and understanding of all residents; and

6. WHEREAS, enrollment materials did not disclose the full magnitude of the pilot program, which included the installation of 242 WiMax antennas and additional wireless infrastructure and microwave towers in residential neighborhoods, for a pilot program experiment; and

7. WHEREAS, Worcester residents were not invited to participate in the October 2013 grand opening of the Sustainability Hub, which instead served as a photo opportunity for area politicians and power brokers in the community; and

8. WHEREAS, the existence of and locations of “neighborhood repeater meters” and infrastructure that poses higher levels of radiofrequency exposure has not been divulged to residents; and

9. WHEREAS, 5000 Itron smart meters were covertly installed before the pilot was formally approved; and

10. WHEREAS residents’ and consumer advocates concerns and complaints have been minimized and ignored by local government, including City Council delayed orders for health data, ignored request for formation of a citizen’s advisory committee, ignored requests for a public hearing, ignored requests for advocacy concerning adverse health complaints, and ignored requests for scrutiny of auto-enrollment process; and

11. WHEREAS, the Worcester Pilot Program included an extensive pre-pilot education budget, while no evidence has been provided that residents learned about the pilot in advance of the meters being deployed, or have received accurate information about the scope of the program; and

HEALTH CONCERNS:

12. WHEREAS, according to public health expert Elihu D Richter MD, MPH, “Were these population-wide exposures to smart meters to be part of a project carried out in a medical setting, to test the risks and benefits of a new technology on human health and well being, it would be rejected by a Medical Institutional Review Board on ethical grounds as an unethical exercise in human experimentation;” and

13. WHEREAS, the microwave radiofrequency powering the grid and mesh network exposes the Worcester community to a class 2B human carcinogen, according to the World Health Organization, without the knowledge, consent, consideration, or protection of residents; and

14. WHEREAS, the radiofrequency exposure limits in countries including Russia, China, India, and most of Europe are significantly lower than those in the pro-military Western Alliance countries (US, UK, Canada, New Zealand, Australia); and

15. WHEREAS, the City of Worcester, National Grid and its vendors, while focusing only on technology and equipment, provide no monitoring of health and environmental impacts; and

16. WHEREAS, no provision is in place to provide services for residents who experience adverse health impacts, despite reports of harm in other deployed communities, indicating that the expense will be cost-shifted to the social sector; and

17. WHEREAS, citizens may make the faulty assumption that smart meters have been proven safe if the installation has been approved by authorities in whom they trust, including elected officials, and may not recognize that adverse health reactions may be resulting due to increased exposure to pulsed microwave radiofrequencies; and

18. WHEREAS, health care providers have not been informed that smart meters may be contributing to de...