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Rich Coleman clarifies smart meter stance
VANCOUVER/CKNW(AM980)
Shane Woodford | Email news tips to shane.woodford@corusent.com
1/31/2013

BC's Energy Minister is finally talking to the media over the smart meter confusion.

Rich Coleman says the smart grid worksbest withy every home in BC having a smart meter.
 
Coleman says there is no confusion and at this point there's also no opt out options.

"I think the confusion - I don't know who it comes from.  The op-ed speaks for itself. It's very clear.  It doesn't say about going to an opt out program.  It only says we are going back to talk to our  customers one on one to explain why the smart meters.  Our experience is that about 75 percent of them will probably take them at that point.  Then I'll know the numbers and we'll sit down and formulate the plan from there.  That's been pretty clear."

Coleman says when it comes to forcing people to have a smart meter, even if they don't want one, his policy has been clear from the start.

  "Well I think what will happen over time if you look at other jurisdictions they have looked at different programs so that people could make a decision based on what it may cost, or not cost, in the future. My policy on this all along is lets get through the whole one point eight million customers go back and respectfully have a conversation with those customers about the meters and then we will build a plan."

He says he has no regrets over how the meters were rolled out saying they have substantial benefits.

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  • 25
  1. ASC123 posted on 01/31/2013 01:05 PM
    This is insanity. If they don't like the new meters shut off their power.
    1. Borninapirateship posted on 01/31/2013 07:04 PM
      @ASC123 ...and lose 200,000 votes and the election. Sounds like an FN brilliant plan!
    show more replies
  2. Reality Check posted on 01/31/2013 01:12 PM
    The confusion resides 100% on the inaccurate statements issued by the NDP critic. The media, for whatever reason, seem to take the words of any criticism as the gospel truth and accurate beyond reproach. Do your homework & background checking prior to releasing innocuous statements made by headlining grabbing soap box misfits. There is also this expectation that if there is not immediate response or the Minister is unable to provide comment within 10 minutes of statements concerning accusations being made, there must be a cover up and everything said the NDP spin masters must be true. CKNW, and especially the afternoon hosting show personalities, seem to follow this trend. Must be a rating ploy ! As a tax payer, I expect my MLA to be focused on the business at hand, not ear glued to the radio to respond to headline grabbing propaganda machines. Respond with the facts as Minister Coleman has done so. This should be the end of the storey. I doubt the NDP will now apologize for making fools of themselves once again. OK Ken280, start your defamatory accusations that I must be some kind of Liberal hack and that the right wing is really the devil in disguise. I would be surprised if you are able to churn out anything else original.
    1. MarB posted on 01/31/2013 01:34 PM
      @Reality Check Perhaps YOU should check your facts. Rich Coleman issued this statement on January 23, 2013: http://www2.news.gov.bc.ca/news_releases_2009-2013/2013EMNG0009-000102.htm and Liberal MLA Gordon Hogg:
      http://cache.nebula.phx3.secureserver.net/obj/OEQxNDg1NTVFRDg2MUJDMUM3NTI6ZDhiNjJjNjhlZjM4OWQ2ZjA4MmIyODcwN2ZjZmZiZjM6Ojo6
    2. miltw posted on 01/31/2013 01:45 PM
      @Reality Check Perhaps the many reports by various scientific studies,security experts and cities ,states and provinces are all wrong than? They at least put down reasons for their conclusions as opposed to hydro and their tactics from day one.

      2 very informative reports to Google and that make good reading are the Sage report or The BioInitiative Report or go for dangers from smart meters.
    show more replies
  3. insite posted on 01/31/2013 01:52 PM
    Whichever side of the issue you are on, Mr. Coleman's op-ed, his latest pronouncement on smart meters and his casino comments have created a lot of confusion.

    At an earlier time, Mr. Coleman characterized Mr. Van Dongen as being confused, afflicted with personal issues, etc. Furthermore, JVD has bounced out of the Liberal party and in and out of the Conservative party. His description of Mr. John Van Dogen describes his own symptoms exactly.

    Mr. Coleman perhaps has contracted a communicable disease known as the JVD disease. One might conclude that the JVB disease even afflicts those who do not jump off the ship.
  4. insite posted on 01/31/2013 02:00 PM
    Mr. Coleman said: "It only says we are going back to talk to our customers one on one to explain why the smart meters."

    Mr. Coleman should provide a name and contact number at BC Hydro so an " one on one conversation to have the smart meter explained" is available to any customer who requests it.

    Or does he mean all customers will receive a "one on one" conversation?
    1. Ron_26 posted on 01/31/2013 02:10 PM
      @insite I really think you know what it means.
  5. joes_2868 posted on 01/31/2013 02:17 PM
    Reality Check: Now, that's talking! Excellent work!
    1. Ken280 posted on 01/31/2013 02:56 PM
      @joes_2868 yuk! yuk! Duh! dems good words, Brucey! I am ready for a good thumping again, yuk! yuk! Duh! Do it again it feeels so goood! Go NDP Go!
  6. insite posted on 01/31/2013 03:13 PM
    To those who believe no confusion has been created by Mr. Coleman: go back and read the earlier CKNW story-

    (BREAKING: BC HYdro clarifies Smart Meter stance). It is found below.

    When the above is compared to the earlier BC Hydro story, it should be obvious to anyone that there is some confusion..

    If the confusion between Mr. Coleman and BC Hydro is not apparent, other critics have explained it in unequivocal terms.

    Or, the media must be mis-quoting Mr. Coleman.
  7. joes_2868 posted on 01/31/2013 03:55 PM
    Ken280: The readers consultant, a man with a briefcase 50 miles away from home!

    Here it goes. You are still avoiding the readers by not answering the previous question of:

    You say that B.C. will have a NDP government and Adrian Dix says that the election will be a nail biter.

    Why two different answers?

    Remember Ken, NDP illness causes TEMPER, AND TEMPER EQUALS LIONS GATE HOSPITAL.
    1. bctaxpayer posted on 01/31/2013 06:50 PM
      @joes_2868 just can't stand any more B.S. from any BC lie beral .Starting from risky Clark down to Chubby.
  8. joes_2868 posted on 01/31/2013 04:00 PM
    Reality Check: Ken280, the readers consultant, a man with a briefcase 50 miles away from home is ready to blow a gasket! Just does not know how to read the TRUTH when it is written in old plain black and white.
  9. Cin_3294 posted on 01/31/2013 04:13 PM
    Oh for god's sake what a waste of time & space. who cares if there was another small misquote. hundreds happen every week it's no b ig deal and why make such a mountain out of it?

    Hydro needs to get on and finish the grid, we need an updated and automated system that meets the needs of our times and the greater number of customers. Put a time limit on it, advise customers what it is, and when they go past that date they'll have to be cut off from service. Just get on with it, nothing stays the same - even Darwin noted that those most adaptable to change are the ones who survive.
  10. Jartann posted on 01/31/2013 04:30 PM
    People who refuse the smart meters should be required to pay a meter reading surcharge, to compensate Hydro for the cost that is avoidable For my part, had I known that the meter was optional, I might have declined to take it and save the enormous cost I have incurred to buy extra tin foil to wear on my head to prevent the meters from killing me off (if the Wifi, cell phones, microwave ovens, etc. don't get me first). Luddites never give up-Iam sure the anti smart meter crowd is still convinced that airplane flight is impossible. What a joke.
    1. miltw posted on 01/31/2013 04:51 PM
      @Jartann Need more tin foil guy it;s not working, brain cells going quick.
    2. Borninapirateship posted on 01/31/2013 06:54 PM
      @Jartann Sounds like you are the joke. Don't be so bitter, but next time Big Brother starts moving in to take away more of your privacy, you might want to get off your ass and oppose it. It's people like you that are the real problem. You're so afraid of confrontation, that you allowed BC Hydro and the BC Fiberal government to walk all over your rights. Now you'll pay through the nose for some fat cat's $1,000,000,000 "upgrade" of the hydro delivery system, that was not even needed in the first place. All that dumb meters are good for is milking information and cash from residential customers and feeding said cash to the corporate masters of this province. Congratulations on being such a loyal slave to Big Brother. With your help, we'll all be slaves soon.
  11. Borninapirateship posted on 01/31/2013 07:03 PM
    BC Hydro will not answer these questions. How often do these dumb meters transmit? 60 times an hour? 360 times an hour? What is their output/power/range? How will they guarantee that hackers will not penetrate the system? How can they guarantee that the data will not be sold, stolen, shared or lost? They can't. They will be compromised. Customers will suffer and BC Hydro execs and BC Fiberals couldn't care less.

    If it's too good to be true, it's probably not. That's BC Hydro's dumb meters. Too good to be true.
  12. insite posted on 01/31/2013 08:34 PM
    What we need to be outraged over is the clumsy way in which the Smart Meter program was rolled out.

    There was no consultation and the BCUC was prevented from providing oversight over the program.

    The end result is that we have embraced a technology that no one is happy with. And, BC Hydro has been forced to expend a billion dollars that could have been invested in upgrading deteriorating and obsolete infrastructure.

    We were told the Smart Meters were the best thing since sliced bread. But, if the benefits of the technology are overly exaggerated like HST where much of the claims such as lower prices were false, who can believe them?
  13. valerie g k posted on 01/31/2013 09:03 PM
    i am already hyper sensitive to wireless exposure, have developed multiple chemical sensitivities,and am disabled( not working) with the resulting excessive fatigue and very painful debilitating migraine headaches as a result..when avoiding all wireless technology with sheilding paint, metaliic fabrics made into underclothing, wearing a protective fabric veil over my face and staying at home, i do better. with 2 new wireless smart electric meters on my duplex, i will have nowhere to go to avoid the pain, for which there i s no medication.
    i simply can not have wireless technology anywhere around or near me. please no smart meters on my duplex
    1. SlimP_9860 posted on 02/01/2013 01:05 PM
      @valerie g k Why wouldn't the shielding paint, underwear with metallic fiber and protective fabric veil over your face not protect you from the wireless transmission from a smart meter as well as it protects you from your neighbors wireless routers, cellphones, TV remotes and garage door openers? I don't know anything about you but I know a lot about wireless technology.
      I don't mean any offense to you but I think that you might benefit from the help of a psychiatrist.
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