Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Smart Meters Privacy Health topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Levelland resident urges opt‑out and raises health and privacy concerns about smart meters during public comment
Summary
During the joint meeting, a resident, Sean Anderson, used his public comment time to urge the city to allow residents to opt out of advanced metering infrastructure, citing privacy, data security and health concerns and referencing reports from the Colorado PUC, the BioInitiative report and public figures.
A resident raised privacy and health concerns about smart electricity meters during the public‑comment portion of the joint meeting of the Levelland Planning and Zoning Commission and City Council.
Sean Anderson, who identified his address as 308 Twelfth Street, told the meeting that smart meters "continually collect and transmit data" and that the detailed measurement of consumption "can expose consumers to more targeted and nefarious physical invasions." He warned that the meters record patterns that could be used to infer daily routines and activities and asked how such collection was not a violation of residents' privacy.
Anderson cited external sources in his remarks. He said a Colorado Public Utilities Commission report and a 2012 remark attributed to former CIA director David Petraeus described smart meters as surveillance‑capable devices and argued the devices could record very granular household activity; Anderson quoted the Petraeus remark as saying smart meters "know when you flush the toilet in your home." He also referenced a "BioInitiative" report and the American Academy of Pediatrics when outlining possible health effects attributed by some groups to radiofrequency radiation.
Anderson told the meeting that he did not consent to a smart meter on his home and called for an opt‑out option. "I do not want my privacy invaded, archived, and sold," he said. He also described the potential for third‑party access or hacking of archived meter data.
The remarks were delivered during a three‑minute public comment period; the transcript records the speaker concluding when staff said his time had ended. The meeting record does not show a response or action taken by the council or commission at that time. The remarks reflect the speaker's claims and cited sources; the meeting transcript does not document independent verification of the studies or policy actions Anderson referenced.
