The wireless industry still has a public-relations battle over the safety of radio-frequency radiation and electromagnetic frequency radiation. The issue reared its head again in California, where various groups are protesting the safety of smart meter readers that the California Pacific Gas and Electric Co. is trying to install throughout the state.
In response to continued protests, the California Public Utilities Commission has told PG&E it must let customers opt out of the smart meter program. Details are still being worked out.
With machine-to-machine communications set to explode, the industry needs to find a way to explain how short, bursty transmissions are safe. (So I am just guessing here, but I spend a lot more time closer to the microwave oven waiting for something to heat than where I expect my smart meter reader would be.) A quick look at one of the groups fighting the smart meters seems to show people who are complaining about smart meter readers are complaining of irregular heart beats.
Allowing people to opt out of the program is a good PR strategy by the CPUC and the utility. I don’t doubt that some people are more sensitive to “things” (take dust and me, for example). People who think they are sensitive to RF must be frightened about the potential of the Internet of connected machines, whether they are smart readers, refrigerators or dog collars. However, in the case of fridges and dog collars, people have choice not to buy them. (I have the choice to dust, or de-dust rather.) With smart-meter readers, the choice should be the same, although I can foresee a day when most, if not all, machines will be embedded with some type of wireless technology. Perhaps by that time, industry will be able to show that safe levels of RF are fine for most people (again, taking into account that someone, somewhere might be sensitive to some form of low-level RF.)
I suspect most people will be excited about the possiblity of installing smart meters (despite the upfront costs, which are still a problem) once the utility industry has advanced enough that people are able to sell electricity back to the grid, or at least better manage their own energy consumption.
