Following the lead of many other Bay Area cities, the Berkeley City Council voted Tuesday to send a letter to the California Public Utilities Commission addressing numerous concerns about the implementation of PG&E's SmartMeter program.

The letter seeks to halt further installation of the meters, place a moratorium on the disposal of old meters and allow city residents to opt out of the program. The draft asks the commission to continue its independent investigation of the program and also requests an evaluation of the program's effects on the city from PG&E.

Councilmembers Linda Maio, Laurie Capitelli and Kriss Worthington will rework the wording of the letter for clarity before sending it Friday.

The automated SmartMeters send data to a local access point that collects radio signals from multiple meters every four hours. They transmit wirelessly to PG&E's network, allowing the company to read monitors remotely.

Laura Wisland, energy analyst for the Union of Concerned Scientists, said providing customers with an online account that shows daily electric and gas use allows them to become educated consumers.

"The way SmartMeters work is that it's a real-time way for an electricity utility to monitor usage," she said. "The purpose of them is to give people more information to help them change their behavior so there is less usage of electricity during high peak times."

Despite the energy-saving intent of the meters, residents brought many concerns to the table, including the mandatory installation, exposure to radio frequencies and rising costs.

Berkeley resident Julie Kramer said PG&E installed a SmartMeter at her home about a month ago after she called asking to opt out.

"They climbed over a locked, six-foot fence and installed it," she said. "This is trespassing, and it's illegal."

Other residents expressed worries about SmartMeter radio frequencies, though PG&E spokesperson Paul Moreno said the World Health Organization has not found any links to health problems.

"The signals generated by the meters are at power levels far below the threshold from the Federal Communications Commission," he said. "The power density drops off rapidly as you start moving inches away from the meter."

Household appliances such as televisions and microwaves also emit radio frequency signals and are in much closer proximity to residents, according to Moreno.

For Kori Chen, a community organizer of the Utility Reform Network, the possible benefits of the program do not outweigh its $2.2 billion cost.

"We're not against new technology unless it comes at a cost to consumers without much benefit," he said. "Our concern is, what's the rush with this? Why keep installing meters when there's an investigation right now?"

Despite the numerous allegations of health problems caused by the meters, Councilmember Kriss Worthington said the council wanted to stick to the financial impact of the program.

"Several residents said as soon as they got their SmartMeters, their bills jumped astronomically, and they weren't using any more energy," he said.

Nearby San Francisco, Santa Cruz County and Fairfax have also contacted the commission with requests to stop further installation until concerns are addressed. Fairfax Town Manager Michael Rock said cities' letters are essential to make a change.

"The more cities that write letters might put a little more pressure to make the action of the moratorium," he said.

Tags: PG&E, SMART METERS, BERKELEY CITY COUNCIL, CALIFORNIA PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION