During a three-hour “Meet the Manager” meeting at the Lewis County Public Utility District (PUD) office in Chehalis on Wednesday, nearly 40 Lewis County residents voiced concerns and expressed opposition to PUD General Manager David Plotz revolving around the ongoing advanced meter replacement program in the county.
The meter replacement began on Oct. 24. The PUD expects the replacements to be complete by the end of 2024.
The new meters, produced by Honeywell International, allow residents to receive updates on their energy usage while eliminating the need for meter readers and saving the PUD and its customers money, Plotz said.
Concerns raised on Wednesday by those in attendance mainly revolved around health issues some believe are directly caused by radio waves emitted from the advanced meters producing electromagnetic field (EMF) radiation. The meters transmit utility usage data using a radio frequency that does produce small amounts of EMF radiation.
While most residents vehemently voiced their displeasure with the current situation, those in attendance still thanked Plotz for hearing them out and for hosting the meeting.
During the meeting, one Winlock resident referenced multiple studies, including one linking low-intensity EMF to causing early onset Alzheimer’s disease and another linking it to causing electrohypersensitivity.
“Were you aware there is an exponentially growing body of evidence proving the harmful effects of radio frequency, electromagnetic frequency and microwave signals on all biological life?” the resident asked.
Plotz explained that while the advanced meters do emit EMF radiation, the meters only transmit signals once every two hours for approximately one second at a time. He added the PUD currently has roughly 10,000 automated meters already installed. They are part of the approximately 30,000 being replaced county-wide.
“(The automated meters) broadcast 24/7. The radiation that’s happening is being broadcast every three to seven seconds,” Plotz said.
He also said he has gone out to a newly installed advanced meter with an EMF detection meter and personally observed the new meters, which only broadcast for approximately a second at a time while he was there.
Additionally, customers are allowed to opt out of the program for a fee of $50 a month, according to Plotz. Despite the opt-out option, those in attendance claimed even if they opted out, they would still be exposed to the EMF radiation by neighbors who did have the meters.
Some residents questioned the need for replacing the old meters in the first place. Plotz countered that some of the old analog meters were not giving correct readings anymore.
Another resident raised concerns about advanced meters already installed throughout the city of Centralia by Centralia City Light, saying her daughter, who lived in an apartment complex with advanced meters, was experiencing adverse health effects she believed to be directly related to the meters emitting EMF radiation.
The Chronicle reached out to Centralia City Light General Manager M.L. Norton to ask him about the city’s advanced meters. According to Norton, Centralia’s meters don’t transmit any EMF signals but instead transmit usage data directly through the city’s power lines.
“Our first generation of those went in during 2007,” Norton said.
The 2007 meters have since been replaced with a newer generation in 2018, which Norton expects to last for “a number of years.”
He added Centralia’s meters aid Centralia City Light staff in monitoring for power outages, and in some cases, power is restored before customers even know it has been knocked out.
Other concerns raised on Wednesday included fear that China could engineer backdoor entry into some of the meter’s components and be able to turn off customers’ power here in the U.S.
Lack of trust in the government was also brought up after Plotz stated the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has declared the advanced meters safe. One resident mentioned how the FCC has set safety standards and approved certain technology in the past despite safety concerns being raised by scientists.
Not all those in attendance on Wednesday were vehemently opposed to the advanced meters. One resident from Napavine, who is a ham radio operator, said that while he did have some concerns, it is virtually impossible to escape from EMF radiation in the modern world.
“Non-ionizing radiation is something I deal with. I can legally crank up my (radio) transmitter to 1,500 watts and I’m standing closer to it than I am to you right now,” the resident told Plotz. “And I have a pacemaker.”
The advanced meters the PUD is installing emit approximately one watt of energy during data transmission every two hours, according to Plotz.
For more information on the PUD’s advanced meter replacement program, visit https://www.lcpud.org/account-services/advanced-metering-infrastructure-ami/.
This “Meet the Manager” meeting was the first of four scheduled with Plotz, with the next one scheduled for Jan. 10 at the PUD auditorium located at 240 Seventh St. in Morton. Then, on Jan 17, Plotz will be back at the PUD Chehalis office, located at 321 NW Pacific Ave. The final meeting will be back in Morton on Jan. 24.
All meetings will run from 3 to 6 p.m., and Plotz told those in attendance at Wednesday’s meeting that a PUD commissioner would be present at the next three meetings, though multiple commissioners cannot attend the same meeting due to creating a quorum.
