Letter to the Editor: "Smart meter" controversy

To the Editor:
Tuesday, July 1st, Black Hills Energy was in our neighborhood installing ‘smart meters’ on residents’ gas lines. I did not want the electronic meter and the installer agreed to put the old one back on. I called Black Hills Energy to tell them I was refusing the ‘smart meter’. Today I spoke with a representative from BHE and she said they are making lists of residents who refuse the new meters. Then at a later date they take that information to the state level to determine what to do about the ‘list of people refusing’. Basically, she inferred the action on their part will be to charge each residence extra each month for having to send out a meter reader. She did not know what that amount might be.
Now you are asking why I do not want the meter at this time. Without going into a long diatribe of which you might not give a hoot, please ‘google’  Smart Meters Controversy, and you will have more information than you can handle. The following website is just one of many: http://newlifeonahomestead.com/2013/02/smart-meter-controversy/
At the very least we need to inform ourselves regarding the health and safety and of our families. There is no denying that invasion of privacy can result from the hacking into these electronic systems. Every 15 minutes a record of your gas use is sent to the main office. What if you are gone… an employee or hacker could help themselves to your home when they see no usage happening.
Perhaps in the future this monitoring might be shared with the government. We already have too much ‘Big Daddy’ involvement and this is just another avenue that can be intrusive into private citizens’ lives. If you are interested in more information regarding this issue, please go to the internet. I am just learning about it myself and have to do the same.

Sincerely,
Bonnie Steffens
Waukon