All hell broke loose at a La Plata Electric Association meeting held on October 8, 2014, in Pagosa Springs, Colorado. Approximately 60 residents from Pagosa Springs and neighboring Durango, Colorado, gathered to discuss LPEA’s threat of an opt-out fee of $50 for its co-op members who declined the installation of AMI meters, commonly referred to as “smart meters.” The following day, October 9, 2014, a meeting was held in Durango, Colorado, attended by approximately 70 residents of both communities. Michael Dreyspring, CEO of LPEA, presided over both meetings. Very few Board members or staff were present at either meeting.
Diana Luppi, Pagosa Springs, Colorado | see original article on PagosaDailyPost.com
The people of Pagosa Springs, Colorado are awake, aware, and are one example accepting of a growing number of cities who are simply not accepting "smart" meters.
Pagosa Springs, Colorado is just one in a growing list of cities and communities who are simply not accepting so-called “smart” meters. Read about the showdown below.

All hell broke loose at a La Plata Electric Association meeting held on October 8, 2014, in Pagosa Springs, Colorado.

Approximately 60 residents from Pagosa Springs and neighboring Durango, Colorado, gathered to discuss LPEA’s threat of an opt-out fee of $50 for its co-op members who declined the installation of AMI meters, commonly referred to as “smart meters.” The following day, October 9, 2014, a meeting was held in Durango, Colorado, attended by approximately 70 residents of both communities. Michael Dreyspring, CEO of LPEA, presided over both meetings. Very few Board members or staff were present at either meeting.

At the Pagosa meeting, Michael Dreyspring was in command for no more than two minutes and 40 seconds before the miffed residents of Pagosa Springs went volcanic and LPEA lost any semblance of control. As their pedantic power point presentation went up in flames, so did an outspoken and furious crowd.

Meeting clip #1: Justify fees?

“Where is the data justifying your opt-out fees?” Listen as typical evasion takes place. Why will they not have an open discussion?

Though the Durango meeting was slightly more subdued than the Pagosa Springs’ meeting, members there were also extremely angry and ended up walking out after about an hour of voicing their opinions because they realized that even though the purported purpose of the meeting was to gather information for LPEA staff and board members to discuss in determining a possible opt-out fee, no official recording of everyone’s comments was being made. And, as attendees at the Durango meeting attested, only cursory, sporadic notes were taken by a member of the LPEA staff. The co-op members concluded that the meeting was a sham.

Cat calls and fireworks omitted, the following issues were presented to the LPEA representatives brave enough to show up for the meetings in both towns:

  • The Energy Policy Act of 2005 in part states that utilities “shall provide each customer requesting a time-based rate with a time-based meter,” not extorting or shutting off their utilities when they refuse one.
  • There was no informed consent on the part of co-op members to allow these meters to be installed.
  • Co-op members never opted-in so why did they have to opt-out?
  • Many only realized the installation was taking place because they happened to be at home or arrived during the deployment process.
  • Some signed an opt-out form refusing the meter and LPEA installed it anyway.
  • Installers arrived in neighborhoods like a military stealth operation using personal vehicles and installing meters on members’ properties only if nobody was home.
  • If “smart meters” are the best thing since sliced bread, why did LPEA feel compelled to both sneak around and lie?
  • Members were intimidated and threatened with an exorbitant fee if they did not allow the forced installation.
  • The opt-out fee perfectly fits the criteria of the Webster’s Dictionary definition of “extortion.”
  • The opt-out fee is purely punitive without any basis in reality.
  • LPEA advertised the threatened $25-$50 opt-out fee without any support documents to justify the fee.
  • LPEA is violating the terms of the co-operative by acting autonomously, not protecting its members’ interests and placing them in danger.
  • Whether the opt-out fee is 50 cents or $50, neither are acceptable. To allow any opt-out fee to be charged concedes that LPEA has a right to penalize members for their noncompliance to a life-threatening technology and punish members for their proper exercise of rights.
  • There are many alternative options available for circumventing meter-reading fees including call-in readings, photo readings, mailed in postcard readings, etc.
  • AMI meters and pulsed radiation are a proven health threat.
  • If you Google “AMI meter dangers” you will get more than a million articles.
  • If you Google “AMI meter health dangers” you will get 325,000 hits.
  • There are 9500 peer-reviewed articles stating the results of studies done by credentialed MDs, PhDs, scientists and environmental experts exposing the health dangers that pulsed, electro-magnetic frequency (EMF) “smart meters” emit. [Ed. note: see http://justproveit.net/content/studies for several thousand studies on EMF and health effects.]
  • Pulsed radiation meters expose co-op members to life threatening and debilitating diseases including cancer, neurological illnesses, permanent genetic alterations, and microwave pulse induced heart attacks caused by interference with implanted medical devices.
  • According to a PG&E court-ordered report, AMI meters emit pulsed EMF waves at the rate of 10,000 to 190,000 times per day.
  • The Santa Cruz Department of Health study on the impact of AMI meters states, “New calculations suggest that continuous whole-body exposure to electro-magnetic radiation from so called ‘smart’ meters – which operate around the clock – may be between 50 and 160 times worse than that from cell phones.”
  • Health damage from EMF emissions are cumulative.
  • A power engineer with 25 years in the electric industry stated that electric grids are designed for 60 hertz cycles and that something was very wrong with meters that emit this level of pulsed radiation.
  • AMI meters are catching on fire everywhere.
    [Ed. note: see https://takebackyourpower.net/news/category/fires-damage]
  • AMI meters are not even UL rated.
  • Lloyd’s of London quietly removed underwriting for death or injury due to EMF exposure from insurance policies and will not cover damage to a home or personal property caused by “smart meters.”
  • “Smart meters” are a liability.
  • Lawsuits against the installation of “smart meters” are growing around the world.
  • Legal suit against LPEA was threatened at both meetings.
  • AMI meters impact all life forms, not only people. Plants, animals, birds, and insects are all adversely affected by EMF radiation and our ecosystem is being threatened.
  • Whether a person opts-out or not, they are being bathed in this radiation by surrounding meters.
  • Banks of “smart meters” such as seen on apartment buildings, trailer parks and homes for the elderly magnify the danger and these people have with no way of escaping the exposure.
  • “Smart meters” are shutting down solar inverters, which then need to be re-set manually, with potential disastrous consequences for an absent home owner.
  • There is no evidence that “smart meters” will reduce electric fees. Fees are instead systematically escalating after their installation.
  • The constitutionally guaranteed 4th amendment right to privacy is being violated by these meters that invade homes and surveil lives on a 24/7 schedule.
  • The installation of a “smart grid” is a global agenda and amounts to spying on everyone everywhere at all times.
  • “Smart meters” open co-op members to having their homes and their grid hacked or hijacked, as admitted by the FBI in 2010: “The FBI warns that insiders and individuals with only a moderate level of computer knowledge are likely able to compromise meters with low-cost tools and software readily available on the internet.”

To further compound all of these claimed infractions, a co-op member asked how LPEA board members could have moved forward with the deployment of AMI meters if they had not educated themselves? Michael Dreyspring responded that the staff and board had been “provided” with information that satisfied them. It was then pointed out that the information LPEA had been provided was from companies that manufactured or provided “smart meters” and/or groups that had a conflict of interest in the matter because they benefit monetarily from “smart meter” deployment. Independent peer-reviewed studies apparently were not explored.

Meeting clip #2: Double dipping

LPEA (like all utilities) are already paying for people to read meters – this is already factored into current customer billing.

At the Pagosa meeting of October 8, 2014, CEO Michael Dreyspring was questioned about the $20.50 base fee that LPEA charges its members each month. It was asked whether a portion of this fee covered meter-reading. Dreyspring admitted, “Yes.”

At the Durango meeting of October 9, 2014, a member questioned Dreyspring about AMR meters. (The majority, if not all members who have opted out of “smart meters”, have AMR meters.) She asked if these meters needed to be manually read. Dreyspring said that AMR meters have transmitting devices attached to them that allows usage data to be sent to LPEA via the power lines. LPEA refers to these AMR meters as “turtle meters.”

At the LPEA Board meeting of October 15, 2014, a member asked what portion of the base fee was designated for meter-reading costs? She was told, “$1.42.”

So, LPEA has charged members a monthly fee of $1.42 to read 41,000 meters at the approximate cost of $58,000 per month and almost $700,000 per year for who knows how long, even though the majority of members have meters that  don’t need to be manually read at all. When asked where all that money went, the room went silent.

LPEA is now poised to demand $50 additional per person per opt-out per month for meters that don’t need to be read manually. Of course the “opt-outs” will also be forced to pay the $1.42 base charge for not reading their meters as well.

If all of this had been known by members before the LPEA meetings in Pagosa Springs and Durango, Colorado, we can only guess what the consequences would have been. LPEA has certainly invited investigation.

  • Commies all! Using the police in some places by arresting people who try to stop them from installing on their houses! God help us!

    • YOU MUST SEND A CERTIFIED LETTER TO THE ELECTRIC COMPANY AND THE PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION FORBIDDING ANY INSTALLATION OF A SMART METER. IF YOU DON’T DO ANYTHING THE LEGALESE IN THE COMPANY ALLOWS IT TO INTERPRET A NO RESPONSE AS COMPLIANCE. KNOW YOUR RIGHTS AND ACT

  • Here in FL our FP&L is in bed with the Public ‘service’ Commission and half of the witnesses that FPL calls on in their hearings are x PSC Board members! There’s nothing at all to them watching out for the customers. They are charging us a one time fee of $90 to opt out of the not so smart meter and $13 per month to have the meter reader continue to read our meter…..pretty steep for the service we had all along before they even had heard of smart meters!! They changed the game and now we have to pay and have nobody else we can turn to get power from!! CAN YOU SPELL MONOPOLY! Sickens me that State paid board members watch the power companies back more than we the people who pay their f’in wages!!

    • its 236$ once and 51$ monthly to opt out where im at,beaverton oregon.been sick from these for 4 years now.i live with most of my breakers turned off trying to at least get 20 minutes of sleep at a time so my bill all summer hasnt been over 30$ .im on a fixed income ,cant afford to triple my bill even to save my life.i became instantly and permanently electro sensitive and chemical sensitive from these meters.the entire thing is a racket ,they benefit and the “health care” industry benefits as most dont even know why they are ill ,and those of us who do get put on psych meds

  • DON’T take an Opt Out. It is a temporary fix that shuts up and divides the opposition while the mesh Smart Grid rolls out. Smart Meter are plain stupid. Take the permanent fix and do not allow installation of the ‘smart’ infrastructure.

  • My father opted out of the water meter program smart meter installation. His most recent bill included an $80 legacy fee which is supposed to be the cost of having a meter reader come to your home. He told me that over the last three years, not once has anyone attempted to come to his home to read the meter.

    I learned something interesting — my father was concerned that he had not received a water bill since the beginning of May — so — he decided to call in the reading. Two weeks later, the bill arrived with an $80 fee tacked on. Needless to say that amount was deducted from the usage and appears to be nothing short of EXTORTION.

    The bill did state that this charge was due to him not booking an appointment before July 1, 2014 to have a new water meter installed.
    I would like to think that as long as a homeowner is paying their bills the utility company / City cannot come after them for not payment of this ridiculous charge or shut off their water.

    My father is almost 89 years old and felt threatened by the City and Neptune (the installers). These people really need to back off.

  • “They made us many promises, more than I can remember, but they never kept one; they promised not to take our land, and they did.”
    – Mahpiua Luta –
    “Red Cloud”
    Oglala Lakota

    Repeat this phrase: It’s the corporate system, and we love corporations. It’s the corporate system, and we love corporations. It’s the corporate system, and we love corporations.

    We’ll give away our lands and freedoms, hire thugs and call them police, slaughter our children in bankers wars, cripple and maim one another with electronic warfare, pay military labs for designer plagues, and destroy our entire planet for the corporate system we love so much…

    • You may speak for yourself, I hate corporations, and always have.

      Do you file a tax return to the “STATE OF ?” and “THE UNITED STATES”, listed in Title 28 USC ch6, 3002, 15a: UNITED STATES, a federal CORPORATION” ?

      If you do then you have yourself, and your chosen enslavement to fear, to blame for your “love” of the corporations.

      I don’t file and haven’t for almost 20 years. Join the rest of the real Americans.

  • Wonderful to see communities gathering forces to fight for their rights. I highly recommend checking out http://EMFsummit.com to see what the world class experts are saying about the electromagnetic radiation we are being submitted to.

  • Archuleta county and Pagosa springs are corrupt like most counties. We are working to correct this, and some GREAT help is about to come our way. We WILL be holding these reps accountable to their oath of office, and bring charges against them using the grand jury… something all counties should be doing. Libertyzone.org

  • I’m so sick, i didn’t know what was happening to me until i found tbis and a few other posts explaining what the symptoms were. I now have severe anxiety and I can no longer work. The fear is so bad i can’t leave my apartment unless I absolutely have to. I have paranoia brought on by the anxiety and it has alienated me from family and friends and my life!. I feel like a targeted individual! I do not do drugs and rarely drink. I try to live a healthy, all natural lifestyle but I’m being prevented from doing so. I can’t walk my dog everyday nor can I afford healthy organic food. I love fresh fruits and vegatables, I love children and animals and our planet. I had dreams and goals, I was working towards so that I can be there for my kids and grandchildren. I’ve tried to kill myself i know soend most days wanting to sleep the day away and crying. Several people in my complex have killed themselves since they put in the smart meters and many are very ill. My best friend was doing great, going to college and happy, she got anxiety real bad and started drinking to self medicate. She fell on her head and got a brain bleed and was sent to a hospital in Denver and now she has brain damage and she will never be the same. She hss moved to another comolex. Another friend is having the same issue with anxiety and so is her 11 year old daughter who has panic attacks so bad her mom has to take her out of the grocery store before they can even pay for their groceries. I love that little girl so much, I’m so sad this is happening to her. I can’t focus to get my apt clean. I’m irritable and agitated and sonetimes talk non stop. My feet hurt so bad that I can barely walk. I have these electrical buzzing feelings on the bottom of my feet. I literally have musclex in my thouvh that jump all by themselves! I have constant headaches. I’m living on $189 a month Aid to the Needy and Disabled and that is traumatizing in itself! No one can live on that. I cant even afford the basics like toothpaste and shampoo. I’ve been waiting 3 yrs for my disability to come through. I don’t want to be disabled, my whole life has been destroyed and iI want these smart meters gone! I have 3 below where I sit in my living room. I’m so hurt that humans would do this to other human beings and I’m so angry I want to sue! I deserve compensation for what this has done to my life.

    • Lisa, I’m so sorry that you’re experiencing such pain and trauma. I have been disappointed, to say the least, that after making Take Back Your Power the agenda continues. So many are being harmed; and I have heard from countless people with similar experiences to what you have shared here. I am encouraged by the InPower Movement and Notice of Liability process, because it’s the beginning of “playing the game” at the correct level, and taking our power back. It tends to “change things” in like a snowball effect sometimes. If you have not seen it yet, I would encourage you to go to https://InPowerMovement.com and watch Episodes 1 and 2 (they are both free). Then do the Notice of Liability process from the Documents & Templates page (it is also free; the first 3 rounds are posted on the site). The only cost would be mailing and using a Notary, but you could perhaps get use of a bank notary for free. I also encourage you to contact the InPower Support team at https://InPowerMovement.com/contact. I wish I could press a button to stop the insanity of the ‘smart’ meters & 5G agendas. There are a lot of people spreading awareness and we are all getting to the root of the problem. In the meantime, I encourage you to do what you can to mitigate the EMF, send the NoL and keep praying and connecting. Wishing you healing, peace and divine protection. -Josh

  • >