Installation of smart meters is underway and everyone in the province will have one by the end of 2012, regardless of whether or not they post signs of protest, according to a BC Hydro.

B次元官网网址淔irst and foremost, there is no opt-out,B次元官网网址� said Gary Murphy, chief project officer for the smart meter program. B次元官网网址淓very customer will get a smart meter.B次元官网网址�

A customer does, however, have the option of contacting BC Hydro and relocating the meter elsewhere on their property at their own expense, he said.

B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e saying opt out. TheyB次元官网网址檙e saying delay installation,B次元官网网址� said Sharon Noble, chairperson of Citizens Against Unsafe Emissions and co-ordinator of the national Wireless Radiation Safety Council.

Noble, a resident of Colwood, organized a rally at the Legislature Sept. 18 that drew more than 200 people asking the B.C. government to impose a moratorium on the meters.

B次元官网网址淚 do not have a smart meter, and I will not have a smart meter,B次元官网网址� Noble said. B次元官网网址淎s many people at the rally said, I will call the police first.B次元官网网址�

Armed with a petition of 4,000 signatures from B.C. residents opposed to the meters, Noble said the group is ready to fight the program any way they can.

B次元官网网址淭hey can take me to court. They can fine me. I am not going to have a wireless meter,B次元官网网址� she said.

BC Hydro has not yielded to any yard signs requesting to stop the replacement of analog meters, Murphy said.

The Crown corporation has no way of identifying if such signs have been posted by residents or by the less than 0.1 per cent of customers who have contacted BC Hydro with concerns, he added.

Yet signs affixed directly to meters have resulted in BC Hydro contacting individual homeowners prior to the installation of Smart Meters.

B次元官网网址淭hereB次元官网网址檚 a very small and vocal activist community out there that has been responsible for publishing a great deal of this information,B次元官网网址� Murphy said, estimating the actual complaints lodged at BC Hydro to be around 100. B次元官网网址淭heyB次元官网网址檙e getting their neighbours and other folks spun up about it and folks have tried to take steps to opt out of the program.B次元官网网址�

Customers with concerns over smart meters can contact B.C. Hydro by emailing smartmeters@bchydro.com.

editor@goldstreamgazette.com