YOUR HOMETOWN NEWSPAPER SINCE 1937
Illinois Valley News
Wednesday, September 12, 2018, 1 Section, Volume LXXXI No. 36
Smart meter
workshop
scheduled
$1.00
Published weekly for the residents of the Illinois Valley
Everyone loves a parade!
CJ Schatza
IVN Contributing Writer
Pacific Power will host a smart meter workshop
Saturday, Sept. 22, in Grants Pass. The event is to be held
in the Arts and Crafts Building of the Josephine County
Fairgrounds, located at 1451 Fairgrounds Road, from 11 a.m.
to 1 p.m. The free informational workshop comes in the wake
of Pacific Power’s rollout of smart meters for all customers in
the state of Oregon, which is in full swing in Jackson County
and beginning in Josephine County this fall (See “Smart
Meters are coming” in last week’s edition).
“The workshops will offer an opportunity for customers
to meet with Pacific Power staff and smart meter experts,
gather information and facts and see demonstrations,
including a chance to measure the radio frequency levels
of a smart meter compared to other wireless technologies,”
according to a recent press release. “During the workshops,
Pacific Power will provide updates on opt-out fees, offer
information to help customers feel confident that they have
the facts on smart meters, and share tips to help navigate
misinformation being circulated.”
The press release goes on to explain a significant
development in the process of opting out of smart reader
installation: “In response to customer and community
feedback, Pacific Power filed a proposal with the Oregon
Public Utility Commission to remove the upfront smart meter
opt-out fee of $137, to reduce the immediate financial impact
for customers who opt-out.”
Although the initial fee has been eliminated, it is
important to note that opting out will still extract a toll.
“(C)ustomers who opt-out before having a smart meter
installed will only be charged a $36 per month fee for
manually reading an existing meter. Customers who opted out
prior to August 14, will receive a refund of the $137 fee.”
The final topic covered by the press release is that of
syndicated anti-smart meter groups. “Pacific Power has
identified several out-of-state groups that are providing, and
in some cases actively charging for, whitepapers, videos, and
speaking engagements that perpetuate incorrect or misleading
information. Pacific Power is a source for correct facts on
smart meters that can help customers navigate misinformation
being promoted on websites, social media and through
word-of-mouth. This information can be found at www.
pacificpower.net/smartmeter, or by calling 866-869-8520.”
Despite the power company’s best efforts to reassure
their customers that smart readers are safe and reliable,
many individuals continue to assert that the new meters are
dangerous, as well as a violation of our safety and privacy.
Illinois Valley community activist John Gardiner voices
the concerns of anti-smart meter advocates in our region:
“It seems that there are two categories of people at risk of
developing unpleasant symptoms: 1) the elderly, children and
pregnant mothers, and 2) individuals who have compromised
neurological systems or are simply vulnerable to high
radiation frequencies (RF). That is not to say that the rest of
us are immune, just that others may not express symptoms in
the short term.
“More ominous is the apparently misleading information
we’re getting...SMs (smart meters) are not like cell phones or
Wi-Fi in their bizarre pattern of sharp spikes of RF. Growing
public awareness of RF exposure has led people to choose a
wired internet connection or use a wired phone at home. But
Pacific Power is not offering us a wired SM option. Once
installed, it can’t be turned off.”
Keep in mind that the aforementioned statements
contradict findings from not only Pacific Power, but other
respected sources such as the World Health Organization
and American Cancer Society. They concede that while RF
radiation emitted by smart readers is potentially carcinogenic
to humans, the meters give off this energy in safe levels well
within limits set by the Federal Communications Commission.
Opponents of smart meters cite not only the potential
threat of cancer in their disdain of the technology, but also
various other harmful, albeit unproven, features of the new
meters, including privacy violations, fire hazards, data
insecurity, etc.
If you would like a more in-depth analysis of the
allegations against smart meters, this article by Mercola
offers just that: https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/
archive/2017/08/05/smart-meter-dangers.aspx
Please note, however, that the Illinois Valley News
cannot guarantee the validity of this information. It is
suggested only to give readers a sense of the noxious claims
posed against smart meters. Similarly, this article serves as a
rebuttal to those claims: http://www.whatissmartgrid.org/
smart-grid-101/fact-sheets/myths-vs-facts-the-truth-about-
smart-meters.
If you have any concerns about smart readers, it is
recommended that you attend Pacific Power’s workshop.
“Nationwide, more than 70 million smart meters are already
installed at homes and businesses, which include half of
all households in the U.S. Pacific Power smart meters are a
key component to updating the energy grid initially built for
technology from 100 years ago. They also help Pacific Power
hold down operating costs, improve customer service and
reliability while maintaining the highest standards of security
and customer privacy,” the press release stressed.
Christina Kruger, Pacific Power’s regional business
manager for Southern Oregon, made this statement: “We
are confident that smart meters are safe and will provide
customers with greater insights into their energy usage while
helping us deliver faster more responsive service. Through
these workshops, we’re making sure our customers know
that we are here to help them understand the benefits of these
new smart meters, while also addressing their questions and
concerns.”
(Photos courtesy of Wendy Williams Photography for the Illinois Valley News)
The Valley of Sound Music & Production Co. won first place in music (top left); “The Beauty” fire truck helped
I.V. Fire District win first place in public service; and Taylor’s Sausage won first place in the commerical category
during the 2018 I.V. Lions Club Labor Day Parade, Monday, Sept. 3. More Labor Day Festival photos on A-10.
Cans and bottles help children’s programs
Iris Chinook
IVN Contributing Writer
Big things often start small and
a community recycling project named
IVCanDonate is one of those things. The
program is intended to provide funds
for local youth art, sports and music
programs.
It started with IVHS student Owen
Dwyer collecting bottles around the
neighborhood a couple of years ago. It
was so successful that he and his mother,
Kate Dwyer, wondered if they could
do it on a bigger scale as a community
service project. They met with Oregon
Beverage Recycling Cooperative
(OBRC) and Shop Smart, site of three
of the Valley’s beverage container return
vending machines, to see what it would
take. They were disappointed to realize
that it would take not only collecting
the containers but also driving them
into Grants Pass to OBRC’s “Bottle
Drop” facility for redemption. The fact
that Owen Dwyer had not yet gotten his
driver’s license scuttled the project.
But Kate Dwyer wasn’t willing
to give up on the idea. She figured,
rightly as it turns out that most people
would jump at the chance to donate their
refundable containers to a good cause.
“It’s such a win-win,” said Dwyer.
Refusing to be defeated by the
delivery to Grants Pass requirement she
contacted the Portland mayor’s office
and connected with the head of the
OBRC recycling programs. The fact that
the Valley is 30 miles from any “Bottle
Drop” facility combined with the
potential volume of containers played
in Cave Junction’s favor. Dwyer’s
persistence paid off when OBRC agreed
to take a chance on the Valley and
allowed Kate and Owen to add their
collected containers to the pickup at
Shop Smart under a separate invoice.
Once again this proved so successful
that OBRC agreed to pick up the
collected containers from them directly.
When the Illinois Valley Community
Development Organization (IVCDO)
joined the team the project really picked
up steam.
Oregon Caves Chevron stepped
up and offered their back lot as a home
for the rented cargo container to store
the collected containers. Shop Smart
volunteered to assist with pass-through
returns and to help with the OBRC
checking account as well as publicizing
the project. Southern Oregon Sanitation
made a sponsorship donation.
In the first month of operation,
IVCanDonate brought in about $1,200
worth of containers. Program overhead
still needs to be figured in but organizers
anticipate they will be able to give $500
to $600 in grants to student groups
from the first month’s take and hope to
build that to higher levels as the costs of
running the program become more clear.
Malcolm Hirsch, current project lead,
said “… this is a project that has no end
in sight. IVCanDonate is an endeavor
that the IVCDO projects will bring
at least $5,000 annually for our local
Illinois Valley kids’ groups.”
Want to your support your local
youth? Bring redeemable containers to
the shipping container behind Chevron
in Downtown Cave Junction Saturdays
from 10 a.m.—2 p.m. All containers
must be clean, unbroken and have labels.
They MUST be deposit containers. The
deposit amount will be indicated on the
label. Additionally, the container must
be redeemable in Oregon. If Oregon is
not on the label list of states accepting
the deposit container it can’t be returned
for fundraising.
Containers need to be sorted as
follows: Glass bottles in boxes of 12
ounces or 24 ounces of like size; bagged
cans 12 ounces and under need to be
bagged separately from cans over 13
ounces; and plastic containers 20 ounces
and under need to be bagged separately
from ones 21 ounces and over.
(Photo by Dan Mancuso, Illinois Valley News)
IVCanDonate members collecting donations Saturday, July 27.
Cougs are on a roll! Read about it on A-3.