from Texans Against Smart Meters
Posted 3/14/2013
Campwood, TX – The City Council of Campwood, TX just passed a city ordinance and resolution banning the installation of smart meters in the city limits. This is one of the first cities in Texas to do so.
ORDINACE NO. 03-11-13-01
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CAMP WOOD ADOPTING MEASURES ESTABLISHING A TEMPORARY MORATORIUM AND STAY ON THE INSTALLATION OF SMART METERS AND RELATED EQUIPMENT WITHIN THE CITY OF CAMP WOOD OR IN, ALONG, ACROSS, UPON, UNDER AND OVER THE PUBLIC STREETS AND PLACES WITHIN THE CITY OF CAMP WOOD WHEREAS, the City of Camp Wood has the authority to regulate public utilities within the City of Camp Wood; and WHEREAS, the City Council has a franchise agreement with AEP Texas, a unit of America Energy Provider (AEP); and WHEREAS, AEP Texas has expressed the intent of installing wireless Smart Meters in the Nueces Canyon and in the City of Camp Wood; and WHEREAS, these Smart Meters will be installed within the City of Camp Wood without the approval or desire of the resident and/or property owner; and WHEREAS, the Texas Legislature has before it a number of bills bringing into question the forced installation of Smart Meters in Texas; and WHEREAS, because the potential risks to the health, safety and welfare of Camp Wood residents is so great, the City Council wishes to adopt a moratorium on the installation of Smart Meters and related equipment within the City of Camp Wood city limits; and WHEREAS, the City of Camp Wood has approved at their Regular Meeting on March 11, 2013, a Resolution for a Temporary Moratorium on the Installation of Smart Meters and related equipment within the City of Camp Wood or in, along, upon, under and over the public streets and places within the City of Camp Wood.
Now, Therefore be it Ordained, that the City Council of the City of Camp Wood, Texas, does enact and ordain the following:
- A moratorium and stay on wireless Smart Meter deployment within the City of Camp Wood shall be enforced until all concerns pertaining to wireless Smart Meter health, safety, security, privacy and consumer benefit complaints are resolved by independent research, legislative action, and legal proceedings, and further action of the City Council of the City of Camp Wood.
- Any person or entity violating this moratorium and stay shall be deemed guilty of violating Municipal Code and fined no less than FIVE HUNDERD DOLLARS AND ZERO CENTS ($500.00) in Municipal Court.
- During the continuation of the effectiveness of this ordinance, the provisions of this ordinance shall govern. If there is any conflict between the provisions of this ordinance and any provision of the Camp Wood City Code, or any City ordinance, resolution or policy, the provisions of this ordinance shall control.
- This Ordinance shall take effect immediately upon its adoption and shall continue in effect until modified or rescinded by the City Council of the City of Camp Wood.
- Copies of the foregoing ordinance shall, within ten days of its passage and adoption, be posted in at least three public places, to wit: 1.City Hall Bulletin Board; 2. The Canyon Broadcaster; 3. US Post Office Bulletin Board.
The foregoing ordinance was duly adopted on the 11th day of March, 2013, by the following vote, to wit:
AYES: 3
NAYS: 1
ABSENT: 1
ABSTAIN: 0
Resolution No. 03-11-13-01
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CAMP WOOD FOR A MORITORIUM OF WIRELESS SMART METER DISTRIBUTION WITHIN THE CITY LIMITS
WHEREAS, under Texas Law the municipal government has a legal duty to protect and defend the health and welfare of the community; and retains broad discretion to legislate for public purposes and for the general welfare, including but not limited to matters of public health, safety and consumer protection; and
WHEREAS, elected officials have taken an oath to defend the Constitution of the United States and the State of Texas; and
WHEREAS, notification of eminent installation of wireless Smart Meters has been made to Citizens of the City of Camp Wood; and
WHEREAS, Public Utilities Regulatory Act, Sec.33.001 provides the municipal government with the exclusive original jurisdiction over the rates, operations, and services of an electric utility in areas in the municipality, and
WHEREAS, the Public Utilities Commission overstepped the purview of law by forcing wireless Smart Meters on consumers, to the great concern of the author of HB 2129, State Representative Dennis Bonnen, who has stated in writing to the Public Utilities Commission that this was not the intent or understanding of the Law passed by the 79th Legislative Session, and
WHEREAS, the Federal Energy Policy Act of 2005, which proposes the use of wireless Smart Meters, mandates that utility companies “offer” wireless Smart Meters and install them “upon customer request;” and
WHEREAS, the City of Camp Wood will consider at their Regular Meeting on March 11, 2013, an Ordinance for a Temporary Moratorium on the Installation of Smart Meters and related equipment within the City of Camp Wood or in, along, upon, under and over the public streets and places within the City of Camp Wood; and
WHEREAS, AEP Texas, a unit of American Electric Power, and the electric utility providers it services are desiring to install its wireless Smart Meters radio-frequency system and related wireless data accumulation and transmission equipment in public right of ways without seeking the advise or consent of local government; and
WHEREAS, AEP Texas, a unit of American Electric Power, and the electric utility providers it services have failed to adequately provide their customers with independent research and findings pertaining to potential health and security risks inherent to wireless Smart Meters; and
WHEREAS, wireless Smart Meters have been proven vulnerable to hacking and intrusion and may make the Texas Electrical Grid more susceptible to terrorist attack and disruption; and
WHEREAS, wireless Smart Meters do not provide real time data to customers and require massive amounts of electrical power for data collection, storage, and retrieval; and
WHEREAS, wireless Smart Meters act as data collection devices which make previously private activities inside our homes subject to unauthorized official surveillance in violation of the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States; and
WHEREAS, technologies exist whereby individuals or entities with criminal intent may also surveill the private activities within our homes by accessing the data collected by wireless Smart Meters; and
WHEREAS, an increasing number of peer reviewed scientific studies, including studies by the United States Military and the World Health Organization, have identified radio-frequency radiation as a health risk; and
WHEREAS, a significant amount of Citizens of the State of Texas have health concerns about the unregulated and repeated exposure to radio-frequency radiation emitted by wireless Smart Meters; and
WHEREAS, there are increasing concerns that some engineers and energy conservation experts believe that the Smart Meters program – in totality – could actually increase total electricity consumption and thereby exacerbate the perceived energy crisis facing the State of Texas and the United States of America; and
WHEREAS, the digital meters in place for the gathering and transmission of data pertaining to the actual usage of electrical wattage over a billing period are more secure and present fewer health risks than wireless Smart Meters; and
WHEREAS, the House of Representatives and the Senate of the State of Texas are considering various pieces of legislation which will address the Citizens’ Right to opt-out of having a wireless Smart Meter as a part of their electrical service.
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED AND ORDERED that the City of Camp Wood
Council:
1) Supports HB 1171, authored by State Representative David Simpson, in directing electric utility companies develop and utilize procedures for customers to opt-out of wireless Smart Meters; and
2) Opposes the imposition of any fees or charges to customers who elect to opt-out as individuals; and
3) Opposes the imposition of any fees or charges to communities who elect to opt-out; and
4) Opposes any legislation which might remove indemnity or liability to electric utility companies for loss of health or privacy of their customers that may be created by wireless Smart Meters; and
5) Supports an interim order by the Texas Public Utility Commission staying further deployment of wireless Smart Meters until all Legislation is in place and both current and future law suits pertaining to the deployment of wireless Smart Meters are resolved and final, as well as and until the City of Camp Wood Council takes further action based upon the outcomes of these Laws and court proceedings; and
6) Require a moratorium on wireless Smart Meter deployment within the City of Camp Wood until all concerns pertaining to wireless Smart Meter health, safety, security, privacy and consumer benefit complaints are resolved by independent research, legislative action, and legal proceedings.
The foregoing resolution were adopted at a regular meeting of the City Council of Camp Wood, County of Real, and State of Texas, held on the 11th day of March 2013, by the following vote:
AYES: 3
NAYS: 1
ABSENT: 1
ABSTAIN: 0