National Grid, Eversource, and Unitil are Deploying ‘Smart’ Electric Meters in Massachusetts

If you already know that you want to opt out of a next-generation wireless smart electric meter in MA, here are the current links for the three investor-owned utilities:[1]

Eversource: https://www.eversource.com/content/residential/about/transmission-distribution/electric-distribution/advanced-metering-infrastructure? Scroll to: What if I don’t want a smart meter? Can I opt out of getting one?

National Grid: https://www.nationalgridus.com/MA-Home/Metering/Automated-Meter-Reading (page has not yet been updated for AMI)

Unitil: Call: 888-301-7700 for customer service, see footnote [2]

Please keep records/notes about when you called and who you spoke with. A number of MA customers have already reported receiving continuous automated calls about installment, after requesting opt outs.

What We Know About Smart Meter Adverse Health Effects; in Context

The paradigm that currently exists around health harm from Smart Meters sits at the intersection of a number of opposing forces including real world experience, independent science, and ‘Citizen Science’ [3] vs. industry science and product defense.

We Know that Delayed Recognition of Illness Often Occurs: Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Lyme, and illnesses caused by smoking^[4] and lead are examples of scenarios where health harm continued for years, before adverse effects were finally acknowledged.

Industry Science and Product Defense: Lead, asbestos, and PFAS are examples of inadequately tested products that were sold in the marketplace for decades before corrective action was taken. One factor contributing to delays is unethical science provided by product defense firms. The product defense industry emerged during the Tobacco Wars.

Citizen Science: The story of Love Canal chemicals is one of the best-known examples of “citizen science.” “Lois Gibbs was raising her family in Love Canal, near Niagara Falls in upstate New York, in 1978 when she discovered that her home and those of her neighbors were sitting next to 20,000 tons of toxic chemicals. That shocking discovery spurred Lois to lead her community in a three-year struggle to protect their families from the hazardous waste buried in their backyards.” [5] Much of what we know about smart meter harm has evolved from citizen-led and localized efforts across the country and internationally (including California, Illinois, Arizona, Maine, New York, and British Columbia, Canada.)