Smart Meters Emit 9,000+ Signals Per Day
on Average, Says PG&E Under Judge’s Order 1


Utilities such as PG&E had been telling customers that smart meters would transmit only about 45 seconds each day. Under pressure from citizens and finally a court order from a California Public Utilities Commission Judge, answers compelled from PG&E show that smart meters transmit an average of 9,981 times per day. That’s just the average; one meter’s transmissions amounted to over 190,000.

Adding up all these millisecond bursts of pulsed, digital signals amounts, apparently, to about 45 seconds. But the fact is, these signals are almost continuous.

Says the San Francisco Chronicle report: “…the sheer volume of transmissions will likely anger people who consider the radiation from cell phones, Wi-Fi computers and Smart Meters to be a health hazard. PG&E has often countered their criticism by noting that the digital meters don’t transmit continuously.The company, which has installed 8.7 million of the meters, maintains that their signals pose no threat. And of course the entire notion that wireless signals can be dangerous remains fiercely contested.”

The EMF Safety Network adds: “How about peak power figures? The PG&E electric meter transmits at 900MHz with 1 watt of transmit power. It has an antennae gain 4.0 dBi for a peak level power of 2.5 watts. That’s two and a half times more than their safety data stated.”

The EMF Safety Network post concludes that PG&E’s own numbers now confirm Sage Associates’ estimates of smart meter emissions. Sage Associates’ analysis was apparently so credible that the Electric Power Research Institute was compelled to try and refute it. GWP has posted that rebuttal on its Smart Meter Radio Frequency FAQ page. They have not posted Sage’s response to the EPRI paper.

Cindy Sage, principal of Sage Associates, is a presenter at the November 10 Smart Meter Community Forum to be held here in Glendale. Sunroom Desk will have more on her research in an upcoming post.


One thought on “Smart Meters Emit 9,000+ Signals Per Day
on Average, Says PG&E Under Judge’s Order

  • Diane Whitmire

    Not only are the SmartMeters on 24/7, but they are remotely changed in both volume and frequencies. They are louder at night when one is trying to sleep. The pulse or frequency changes and I am able to hear clicks or ticks below the usual high-pitched buzz. It was so bad one night that nerves in my lips one is usually unaware of started jumping. I felt like a piece of bacon in a hot skillet and fled my bedroom. I am heartened to read about the AAEM Resolution asking for a moratorium on any further installations; however, as this could take years, it is vital to the health of all of us caught in the mesh network, that they be REMOVED and all analogs returned immediately. Our health is still being jeopardized. I still have my analog, but my home is full of the EMFs. As these radio wave frequencies can penetrate every type of building material, our bodies are also! There is nowhere I can go to escape them; they are in the very air. I have also written the AMA, CMA, ACLU, Earthjustice, and the Center for Constitutional Rights to advocate for the American people. I have a copy of a letter written by the Swedish Institute, Dept of Neuroscience, in reply to an inquiry by the CPUC last July 2011, which gave detailed information as to the carcinogenic and desiccating effects of EMFs. Despite this knowledge the CPUC sanctioned the installation of these devices knowing their deadliness. What more has to happen; what clearer evidence needs to take place for the removal of all SmartMeters? Thank you.

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