Smart meters in Norway – lessons about radiation

Posted on January 3, 2020 by Multerland

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Translated from Einar Flydal’s blog article AMS-målerne: Behov for mer kunnskap i nettselskapene / AMS meters: the network companies need more knowledge.
Important note: in Norway it is forbidden to refuse the installation of a smart meter.

Einar Flydal (born 1949) is a retired Norwegian communications expert who, as a writer and blogger, works to raise awareness about the specific effects of electromagnetic radiation on health. He started lately a court case against the state, which became possible via crowdfunding. He wrote several books about wireless and health:

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What is an AMS meter?
An AMS Smart Meter is a new type of digital electric meter designed to provide accurate, detailed two-way communication about exactly how much electricity you’re using, hour by hour. Traditional meters need to be read in person, plus they only measure total consumption. Photo

 

Paragraphs in the blog post:

§1. The management team of Mørenett AS – need for new knowledge? – 11 comments by Einar Flydal
§2. Bibliography ~ Recent Norwegian sources of knowledge status
§3. The letter from Helge Muren, Mørenett, sent Thursday, 2. January 2020

[The blog post starts here:]

 

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§1. The management team of Mørenett AS – need for new knowledge?

Einar Flydal: A Mørenett power user, who does not want to pay the costs for dropping the radio communication part of the meter, received a long and elaborate response from Mørenett’s section manager Helge Muren. It shows that the network companies need more knowledge about the health and environmental aspects of the radio technology they are now relying on concerning the automatic reading of the meter, and network monitoring.

You will find Helge Muren’s entire answer in paragraph 3 of the blog post. I have selected the section I have comments on. You can find these in paragraph 1 – with my comments. They might be helpful.

As a “thank you” for the text I have sent a copy of the new 5G book to Mørenett’s director. In this book he can find everything about the subjects in this post, but more carefully explained – including explanations of how it is possible that the Norwegian authorities are misleading him about the status of knowledge of the field. A knowledge update seems to be needed – both at Mørenett and in other network companies.

Here follows the part of the email from Helge Muren that I have commented on. [For the entire email, see §3.]

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Helge Muren: “The meter used by Mørenett AS has a small built-in radio transmitter. Radios of various types are common in our society. Radios used when hunting, baby monitors, walkie-talkies, cell phones, wireless networks in private and in stores, wireless garage door openers, FM radio transmitters, DAB radio transmitters, wireless heat management and naudnett. The list is long and documented (health or other) damage caused by these does not exist.

Our Kamstrup meter can send a maximum of 25% of the maximum transmit power to a normal mobile phone. On average, the meter needs about 4-5 seconds daily to deliver 24 hours value with consumption from a home. Measurable “radiation” also decreases rapidly with distance to the target / antenna. A message with measured values ​​from the meter to the nearest collector, is often compared to a regular SMS text message in length, but with a far weaker signal. Such a “text message” is sent every six hours from our meters. Every 15 minutes a short signal is sent to tell you that the contact and the connection is okay.

The Directorate of Health has no evidence that this has resulted in any health damage. If the radio signal is harmful to health, it would have been discovered for a long time, since radio communication is shown to be useful for many years. Unfortunately, NVE introduced a scheme so that online customers who did not feel well could obtain a medical certificate and apply to the online company for exemption. The Directorate of Health has been working hard towards this scheme. The Directorate of Health has sent out letters to doctors not to provide their patients any medical declaration for this. We in the internet company are surprised to see that something completely harmless should be able to result in medical declarations, exemptions and extra costs for society. The by Helsedirektoratet used terms for NVE create the impression that this can lead to health disadvantages. It is wrong to suggest this. Mørenett network believes that the claim that radiation is harmful, is an on lousy rumor based fear, that has started and been cultivated in, among other things, the social media and on internet.”

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Einar Flydal: My comments on these claims can be found in the now following paragraphs, bit by bit. Where I have not listed any other sources, you will find the sources in the bibliography of this post.

 

 

1.Helge Muren: “The meter used by Mørenett AS has a small built-in radio transmitter. Radios of various types are common in our society. Radios used when hunting, baby monitors, walkie-talkies, cell phones, wireless networks in private and in stores, wireless garage door openers, FM radio transmitters, DAB radio transmitters, wireless heat management and naudnett. The list is long and documented damage created by these does not exist.”

Einar Flydal – All radio communications are placed on IARC‘s list of cancer risks in hazard class “2B possible carcinogenic to humans”. Reports on documented acute reactions and on the epidemiological link between exposure and health damage are good. For example, read in Grimstad and Flydal: «Smartmålerne, jussen og helsa» —smart meters, law and health— which Mørenett’s director received in the summer of 2018. |Due to recent research that provides stronger evidence, the IARC, WHO’s cancer research institute, has planned to revise the classification, probably with promotion to a more stringent class.|

– Most of the mentioned sources –  radios used for the hunt, mobiles, etc – are self-selected and any reactions are thus self-inflicted. Most work only for a short period of time and for shorter periods, when we ignore mobile phones in the pocket with broadband and WiFi constantly turned on. —The latter then also gives clear results in a number of analyzes done by semen samples.— The introduction of FM led to a growth in malignant melanoma  proportional to distance to transmitters —see various articles by Ørjan Hallberg, e.g. mentioned in And what’s your last wish?, blog post 02/02/2016—. DAB exists for a too short time, is not available everywhere, therefore reports are not there, and has not been investigated either, but the pulse type is well known from EU studies to influence biosystems. Reactions appear to be associated with pulsation with amplitudes about 30% above the fundamental frequency amplitudes. The amplitudes of modern microwave transmitters are far more powerful than 30%.

2. Helge Muren: “Our Kamstrup meter can send a maximum of 25% of the maximum transmit power to a normal mobile phone.“

Einar Flydal – This claim originates from DSA and is incorrect, and is based on a mix of measurements made by two different methods, e.i.r.p. vs. e.r.p. This is acknowledged by DSA, but DSA has not wanted to communicate about this calculation error, despite strong urges. The ratio is roughly the opposite when comparing AMS transmitters with 4G and 3G, using the same method of calculation. —DSA admits: they have misinformed about the strength of the AMS meters, blog post 03/05/2018.—

On average, the meter needs about 4-5 seconds daily to deliver 24 hours value with consumption from a home. Measurable “radiation” also decreases rapidly with distance to the target / antenna.

3. Helge Muren: “On average, the meter needs about 4-5 seconds daily to deliver the 24 hours value with consumption from a home. Measurable “radiation” also decreases rapidly with distance to the target / antenna.“

Einar Flydal – Signal strength is just one of the many factors relevant to biological effects. Even very weak electrical pulses can produce strong effects, something rheumatists are well aware of: they often become weather-sick by the weather to come, and then because they react to weak electrical pulses from the weather fronts of the kind found in the signalling from AMS meters. The relative strength of the pulse is significant (see above). See more about this in «Smartmålerne, jussen og helsa», smart meters, law and health, appendix p. 99 and the following pages.

4. Helge Muren: “A message with measured values from the meter to the nearest collector, is often compared to a regular SMS text message in length, but with a far weaker signal.“

Einar Flydal – Signal strength is, as mentioned, just one of many factors relevant to biological effects. The pulsing is significant (see above). The length is obviously long enough to create reactions, the distance to the bedroom is often short, the signals also occur at night, when the body is extra sensitive for these pulses.

5. Helge Muren: “Such a “text message” is sent not more than about every six hours from our meters.“

Einar Flydal – For some, this obviously produces biological reactions. It tells the user experiences. Of course, this should have been proven in tests, but such tests have not been done. They are difficult to make, including because there are so many factors that interact. The fact that there are many factors does not diminish the responsibility for taking care of the individual factors involved. A changeover to one transfer a day, and then in the middle of the day, would have made a big difference and would have given the same data access to the network company.

6. Helge Muren: “Every 15 minutes a short signal is sent to tell you that the contact and the connection is okay.“

Einar Flydal – It is interesting to know that Kamstrup sends signals relatively rarely: every 15 minutes. This signalling happens as it appears, to operate network monitoring (and not to monitor customers or the like). It is a rationalization measure for the network company. But for the customer, it does mean a degradation of the living environment, but probably far less with Kamstrup than with Aidon meters, which transmit corresponding network monitoring signals every 0.6 seconds.

– How big the physical / biological responses can be to a short signal (10-15 milliseconds?) Every 15 minutes is difficult to say, and will certainly vary. It is obvious that someone is responding to this. There should be studies on this, but there are none: No studies have shown that the signalling from AMS meters does not produce reactions, while there is a good deal of material – of different quality on a scientific scale, but with good compliance with customer experience and clinical experience – which shows the opposite.

7. Helge Muren: “The Directorate of Health has no evidence that this has resulted in any health damage.”

Einar Flydal – The Directorate of Health in Norway leans mainly on DSA and on a selection from 2012, dominated by the environment from which DSA derives its views: DSA leans here mainly on WHO’s two-man office “The International EMF Project“, which leans on it industry-leading foundation ICNIRP, and regularly causes major protests and calls from world scientists with their claims that knowledge of health damage is not available. How this supply chain fails is thoroughly analyzed and documented in Einar Flydal and Else Nordhagen (ed.): “5G and our wireless reality – a dangerous game with health and environment” (590 pages, Z-publishing house), with contributions from prominent expertise: basic medicine Dr. Martin L. Pall, SCENIHR – EU Commission Scientific Committee for Supervised and Recently Identified Environmental Health Risk, Public Health Researcher David Carpenter, Environmental Consultant Cindy Sage, Cancer Scientist Lennart Hardell, HSM Consultant Bård-Rune Martinsen and Advocate Christian F. Jensen.

For a judicial testimony especially regarding AMS meters, see blog post AMS meters: Here are the expert reports 27/12/2019.

8. Helge Muren: “If the radio signal is harmful to health, it would be known for a long time, considering that radio communication is in use for many years.”

Einar Flydal – It is known for a long time, but the industry and outdated professional traditions counteract such findings. See sources above and below.

9. Helge Muren: “Unfortunately, NVE introduced a scheme so that online customers who did not feel well could obtain a medical certificate and apply to the online company for exemption. The Directorate of Health has been working hard towards this scheme. The Directorate of Health has sent out letters to doctors not to provide their patients any medical declaration for this.”

Einar Flydal – The task of the Directorate of Health is to ensure that the Norwegian health system works. It is assumed by Norwegian Health Protection that damage from radiation that is not strong enough to cause heating damage (FHI report 2012-3), has also not been sufficiently well established to cause other damage or health problems, that the limit values ​​should be lowered. The Directorate of Health here follows WHO’s ICNIRP-based advice, not the classification from WHO’s cancer research unit. There are three legal reports that indicate that the Directorate of Health does not have the right to give such instructions as the Directorate of Health has provided, and that there is research that makes it clear that the picture cannot at least be as clear as the Directorate of Health has assumed.

10. Helge Muren: “We in the internet company are surprised to see that something completely harmless should be able to result in medical certificates, exemptions and extra costs for society. The formulas offered by NVE help create the impression that this can lead to health disadvantages. There is nothing to suggest this.“

Einar Flydal – There are many indications that such meters can lead to health disadvantages. Take a look. The fact that you in the network company are wondering unveils that you are in a need for further training.

11. Helge Muren: “Mørenett networks believes that the claim that radiation is harmful, is an on lousy rumors based fear, that has started and been cultivated in, among other things, the social media and on internet.”

Einar Flydal – Mørenett networks should be better acquainted with the basis of the fear. A start might be to look at some fairly new sources that exist in Norwegian and that summarize the research in the field, with all the references needed to verify whether the sources are properly referenced and whether they can be said to be “lousy rumors” or rather solid research.

An alternative might be to read more how the power industry – and later the wireless industry – has systematically searched its knowledge of harmful effects in the disciplines where this knowledge was not available, and where there were consultants who were willing to line up for the industry with false or trendy testimonials about what the research showed:

Researcher Andrew Marino, in his autobiography of an entire working life in the field of bioelectricity – how living tissue affects and is affected by electric fields – has given a presentation from the USA of just this. This applies to the United States, where the climate in the industry has probably been rougher, but the premise was also set for the knowledge assessments in Europe. He gives full names to researchers, consultants, judges and players from the power companies and reports from a number of litigation. See: Marino, Andrew: Going Somewhere – Truth about a Life in Science, Cassandra Publishing, 2010.

 

§2. Bibliography ~ Recent Norwegian sources of knowledge status

 

The latest and most readable sources are listed first.

Briseid, Ole (ed.): Kritiske blikk på skolen /Critical look at schools, Z-forlag, 2018 [This includes a broadly-based chapter on WiFi in the school that provides a good overview of the general research findings: E. Flydal: Electromagnetic radiation – do we gamble with our children’s health? 52 pages.].

Kåss, I.W. and Halmøy, S.: Skadevirkninger av stråling fra trådløs teknologi og annen EMF er godt dokumentert / Harmful effects of radiation from wireless technology and other EMFs are well documented – Source collection: Research and warnings from the field, People’s Radiation Protection, 25.05.2018. Can be used freely and downloaded HERE.

Arthur Firstenberg: Den usynlige regnbuen – Historien om elektrisiteten og livet / The Invisible Rainbow – The History of Electricity and Life, Z Forlag, 2018 (451 pages + notes, references and index), 2nd edition.
The book gives you a beautiful, funny, exciting and frightening reading experience. At the same time, you get an “educational journey” through knowledge in the field – from the 18th century to the present, from cell biology to the cosmos. Requires no prior knowledge.
Ordered HERE, directly from Z forlag, or in the book store. English version: HERE.

The lawyers group Erling Grimstad AS, and Einar Flydal: Smartmålerne, jussen og helsa / Smart meters, justice and health, Z forlag, 2018, (69 + 207 pages)
Here you will find everything you need to know: what the research says, how the limit values ​​come into being, how the meters work, what experiences people have, what it is that allows some people to become acutely ill, while everyone can get serious health damage in the long run. You skip the juice and go straight to the large attachment (207 pages) which is like a textbook in the subject. No technical or medical knowledge is required.
More review and to book as a book: HERE.
The book can also be downloaded for free HERE.

Einar Flydal and Else Nordhagen (ed.): 5G og vår trådløse virkelighet – høyt spill med helse og miljø /5G and our wireless reality – a dangerous game with health and the environment (590 pages, Z forlag). With contribution from: MARTIN L. PALL / SCENIHR, Scientific Committee of the European Commission for Supervised and Recently Identified Environmental Health Risk / DAVID CARPENTER / CINDY SAGE / LENNART HARDELL / BÅRD-RUNE MARTINSEN / CHRISTIAN F. JENSEN. The book is designed to be a collection of evidence and reference with explanations that are understandable and useful for lawyers, medical practitioners, biologists, physicists, grave journalists, environmentalists and others interested. It can – and should – form the basis for legal and health and environmental policy advances in the future.
More review and ordering: HERE, directly from Z forlag, or in the bookstore.

§3. The letter from Helge Muren, Mørenett, sent Thursday, 2. January 2020

To avoid translation mistakes I did not translate the in Norwegian written letter. One can use a translator. Copy the text and paste it in the translator.

Ny målar er ikkje frivillig. Lovheimel for innføring av AMS (Smart Målar) er definert av Stortinget, Olje og Energidepartementet med Energilova, og Norges vassdrags- og energidirektorat med forskrift 301 Måling og avrekning. Som kunde av Mørenett AS vil Nettleigeavtalen og Tilknytingsvilkår regulere avtaleforholdet mellom deg og oss. Sjå https://www.morenett.no/nettleige/avtalar-og-vilkar/ :

Nettleigeavtalen § 5-1 Installasjon og drift av måleutstyr: Nettselskapet fastset type måleutstyr, eig måleutstyret og har ansvaret for installasjon, drift og kontroll av dette. Mørenett AS kan dermed bestemme type målar. Målar skal monterast i det eigarmessige skiljet mellom nettet vårt og anlegget ditt. Normalt er dette i sikringsskap eller i eige utvendig inntaksskap. Du plikter å gje oss tilgang til dette punktet etter 

-Tilknytingsvilkåra §3-6: Tilgang til distribusjonsnett og installasjon.

Installasjonseigar skal gi nettselskapet, og andre som nyttar leidningsnettet, uhindra tilgang til eigedommen for vedlikehald og drift av nettet og tilknytingspunktet

Det er ingen tvil om lovheimel. Den formelle bakgrunnen for innføring av AMS (Smart målar) er Stortinget, Olje og Energidepartementet med Energilova, og NVE med forskrift 301 Måling og avrekning. Stortinget har tatt omsyn til Grunnlova i si utforming av Energilov og andre lover.

System for manuell avlesing fungerte for einskilde kundar, men vi har kundar som verken les av målar når dei flyttar inn eller ut. Vi har kundar som nesten aldri les av målar. Vi må stadig korrigere avrekningar, når det til slutt dukkar opp ei avlesing. Det kan dessverre ofte verte høge beløp på faktura, og set både kunde og oss i ein vanskeleg situasjon. Vi i Mørenett ser derfor positivt på ei lovpålagt innføring av nye målarar med langt betre kvalitet på faktura som resultat. 

No innfører Norge i tillegg Elhub for elforsyninga frå 28.02.2019 (www.Elhub.no). Dette kan du samanlikne med ordninga BBS for bankane. Norsk elforsyning skal opp på eit nytt nivå med tanke på kvalitet, korte tidsfristar, og funksjonalitet. Sentralt i denne satsinga står den nye målaren med kommunikasjon. Å ha gamle målarar med manuell avlesing vil ikkje vere velfungerande i den tida vi går inn i. Gamle manuelle målarar genererer no behov for spesialløysingar, redusert kvalitet, ekstra tidsbruk og unødige kostnadar i fleire ledd.

Dersom kundar framleis har den gamle målaren 01.01.2019, vil det kome til eit årleg gebyr på 1875kr/år inklusive meirverdiavgift. Gebyret har lovheimel i Forskrift om kontroll av nettvirksomhet § 17-6

Gebyret er innført for å dekkje ekstrakostnad med å handtere manuelle prosessar og gamle datasystem, når det er lovfesta at alle skal over på ny teknologi og ny automatisert rutine. Vi har ikkje prisa inn kostnaden med å sende målarmontørar ut på lovpålagt manuell kontrollavlesing, inkludert bomtur som naturleg vil oppstå. Difor må vi ta nytt standpunkt til gebyret for neste år. Vi opplever det som rettferdig at den som påfører samfunnet ein kostnad, må betale for seg. Alle kundar med målar utan kommunikasjon, vil i åra som kjem måtte dele på kostnaden med dei gamle manuelle systema gjennom gebyr. Etter kvart som det vert færre kundar utan kommunikasjon til målar, vil kostnaden fordelast på stadig færre kundar. Du kan lese på Norges vassdrags- og energidirektorat sine sider om gebyr, her: https://www.nve.no/stromkunde/gebyr-for-manuell-avlesing/ 

Fordel med ny målar er auka kvalitet på faktura, deteksjon av jordfeil, målte fasespenning (spenningskvalitet hos kunde), bryter for å fjernutkople straum ved oppsagt abonnement eller ved manglande betaling, raskare leverandørbytter, kunde ke kraft til spotpris time for time, oversikt over ditt eige forbruk på timenivå, effektkurver og varighetskurver via internett, avsløre feilkopla målarar, avsløre straumtjuveri, «siste sukk» kan hjelpe Driftssentralen vår i feilsøking ved spenningsutfall.

Forsvarsbygg «nektar ikkje» målarbytte, men dei har søkt og fått innvilga utsetting av NVE. Kva årsak som ligg bak dette, veit eg ikkje. Om eit forsvarsanlegg har årsforbruk på 10 000 kWh, 50 000 kWh eller for eksempel 500 000 kWh vil nok kunne fortelje noko om storleik på anlegget, men ikkje kva funksjonar og utstyr som er der. Og årsforbruk har norske nettselskap oversikt over med dagens teknologi også. Men dette vert ein sak mellom Stortinget, OED, NVE og Forsvarsbygg. Eg trur kanskje ikkje du kan samanlikne ditt anlegg, med Forsvaret sine.

Målaren som Mørenett AS nyttar har ein liten innebygd radiosendar. Radioar av ulike typar er vanleg i samfunnet vårt. Jaktradioar, baby-monitor, «walkie-talkie», mobiltelefonar, trådlause nettverk privat og i butikkar, trådlaus portopnar til garasje, FM radiosendar, DAB radiosendar, trådlaus varmestyring og naudnett. Lista er lang, og det er ikkje dokumenterte skadar med dette.

Vår Kamstrup målar kan sende med maksimalt 25% av maksimal sendestyrke til ein vanleg mobiltelefon. Målaren treng i gjennomsnitt om lag 4-5 sekund dagleg for å levere 24 timeverdiar med forbruk frå ein bustad. Målbar «stråling» minkar også raskt med avstand til målar/antenne. Ei melding med måleverdiar frå målar til næraste innsamlar, vert ofte samanlikna med ei vanleg SMS-tekstmelding i lengde, men med langt svakare signal. Det vert sendt slik «tekstmelding» berre kvar sjette time frå våre målarar. Kvar 15 minutt vert det sendt eit kort signal, for å fortelje at målar og samband er ok.

Helsedirektoratet har ingen dokumentasjon på at dette har medført helseskade. Dersom radiosignal er helseskadelig, ville det vore avdekt for lenge sidan, med tanke på at radiokommunikasjon har vore nytta i mange år. Dessverre innførte NVE ei ordning slik at nettkundar som følte eit ubehag, kunne få legeattest og søke nettselskapet om fritak. Helsedirektoratet har gått hardt ut mot denne ordninga. Helsedirektoratet har sendt ut rundskriv til legar om at dei ikkje skal skrive ut legeattestar for dette. Vi i nettselskapet ser med undring over at noko som er heilt ufarleg, skal kunne medføre legeattest, fritak og ekstra kostnad for samfunnet. Formuleringa til NVE er med på å skape eit inntrykk av at dette kan medføre helsemessige ulemper. Det er ingenting som tyder på dette. Mørenett trur påstand om farleg stråling er ei frykt basert på lause rykte på m.a. sosiale media og internett.

Kundar som ikkje rettar seg etter pliktar i Nettleieavtalen vil, som du er inne på, kunne verte fråkopla nettet. Vi har ingen konkrete planer no, men vil vurdere dette nærare i mars-mai. Om du ikkje festar lit til at dette er ufarleg, kan du gjere lovlige tiltak. Det enklaste er at du (eller installatør) legg ein føringsveg for antennekabel frå målar til utvendig vegg. Da vil alle radiosignala frå målaren vere ute av bustaden din. Den andre løysinga er at du flyttar ut heile målepunktet med målar, gjennom å be ein installatør etablere eit utvendig inntaksskap for deg.

Vennlig hilsen

Helge Muren
Seksjonsleiar
Mørenett AS

 

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Header:

Smart meter, used in the header: Wikipedia / User:J JMesserly / This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

 

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