An Unseen Hazard

Smart Meter Hazards That We Never Saw Coming

There has been a significant amount of press and interest since the Smart Meters have begun showing up in our, and other Bay Area communities. Most of this interest has focused around the possible hazards presented by the radio frequencies that are emanated in order to communicate with the system monitoring.

However —

There is another hazard that has now been introduced. This unseen hazard is the unseen meter readers walking our community. Previously, meter readers would need to walk to each property to take a reading of the usage of the utility. During this walk, the utility company had a set of eyes and nostrils continuously on the lookout for failing systems. These personnel would be able to report back to the office if there were anything amiss, including bad support poles, frayed primary and secondary wiring, or the telltale smell of the odorant in the natural gas. Crews could be mobilized to make necessary repairs. Now we have no lookouts. We’re on our own.

Pinole residents are urged now to continuously be on the lookout for these hazards that previously would have been identified by the meter readers. It is up to us to make our community a safe and secure place to live.

Should you encounter any utility service that you feel is in an unsafe condition, you should immediately notify the local emergency services by calling 911. Depending on the seriousness of the hazard, these emergency responders can notify the utility of possible dangerous conditions.