[溫哥華本地新聞] Ensuring safety after smart meter installation means paying BC Hydro only, devices, paying, safety, least

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Ensuring safety after smart meter installation means paying BC Hydro

At least two fires have broken out in B.C. homes after the devices were installed, but only Hydro staff are allowed to unlock them



Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/technology/Ensuring+safety+after+smart+meter+installation+means+paying+Hydro/7061284/story.html#ixzz233oSAUxR
Homeowners concerned about safety after the installation of a smart meter would have to pay BC Hydro to unlock the device and hire a certified electrician to inspect it for potential electrical problems.
After at least two fires broke out in B.C. homes following the installation of smart meters, homeowners have been told it’s their responsibility to ensure the electrical wiring and base to support the meter is not faulty.
In two recent cases in Mission and Coquitlam, fires began around the meter base plate, a four-pronged socket that smart meters plug into.
However, people can’t just call in an electrician to check the safety of the meter.
Gary Murphy, chief product officer for BC Hydro’s smart meter program, said only BC Hydro staff are allowed to unlock a smart meter.
This is to ensure there is no tampering of the meter base by unqualified people, he said.
Mike Flynn, business manager of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers 213, said he doubts many people would go to such lengths.
And he questioned why BC Hydro does not hire certified electricians to install the smart meters to start with.
The corporation relies on its subsidiary Corix Utilities to train installers for the job.
Most installers are semi-skilled workers, who receive two weeks of training in the classroom and the field, said Ron Bowman, Corix’s vice-president of Western Canada, responsible for smart meter installation. Each crew is supervised by a certified electrician who is called in if anything unusual is flagged.
Murphy said installers keep an eye out for potential problems and BC Hydro will repair any base — with the homeowner’s permission — before installing a new smart meter. The installers are also given an incentive, an undisclosed “administration fee,” if they arrange a repair. “These folks get very good training,” Murphy said. “We are very satisfied they are doing a good job out there.”
The union’s Flynn maintains the Crown corporation is risking not only homes, but installers’ safety, by not hiring certified electricians to do the job.
A certified electrician, he said, would check everything from corrosion on the base to voltages at different test points.
“If you had qualified electricians replacing that meter it would have been done naturally.
“If a home catches fire, is that homeowner still going to be covered by an insurance company if it was an unqualified electrician who installed the meter?”

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Smart meter installations are the suspected cause of an “unusual” number of fires similar to the electrical fire that destroyed the Mission home of Trish Regan, according to a recent investigation by the Ontario fire marshal’s office.

There’s no evidence to suggest that the meters themselves are overheating and catching fire, but it appears from an Ontario fire marshal’s report, dated June 15, 2012, that base plates can become compromised and start to burn if they’re old or suffer rough handling during installation.

BC Hydro has so far found 1,000 problems with the old bases since it started the $1-billion installation of the smart meters, which use wireless technology to transmit information about electricity consumption to power utilities.

And it insists it would take responsibility if investigations into the Mission or Coquitlam fires conclude that BC Hydro was responsible.

In Mission, the fire appears to have originated from a cracked base plate that became overheated and ignited a day after a smart meter was installed in June.

On Aug. 5, the Coquitlam fire department was called to a home on Darwin Avenue, where a minor fire had started on the home’s exterior near the base of a smart meter that was installed on July 3.

BC Hydro’s Murphy noted that while the Coquitlam fire is still under investigation, it appears it was triggered by too many appliances, which overloaded the meter.

He said it’s important that customers contact BC Hydro if they’re upgrading their home and adding new appliances, or if they notice flickering lights or partial power failures, which could indicate connections are loose.

Murphy said exchanging the meter doesn’t result in any major power surge, and customers are only told to turn off appliances as a courtesy. Of the 1.5 million meter installations to date, BC Hydro said it has received 250 complaints of surges to appliances and electronics.


Trish Regan stands beside her fire-damaged home in Mission last week. The fire began at the base of the electric meter one day after a new smart meter was installed.