PG&E's 'Smart' Meter Director Caught Infiltrating Activist Group

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Joshua Hart, Stop Smart Meters!
November 8th 2010 joshuanoahhart[at]gmail[dot]com

DIRECTOR OF PG&E’S SMART METER PROGRAM CAUGHT FALSIFYING HIS IDENTITY
William Devereaux Infiltrated Health Advocacy Group in Order to Gather Intelligence

San Francisco- William Devereaux, Senior Director of Pacific Gas and Electric’s ‘Smart’ Meter program has been caught falsifying his identity in a covert attempt to access information from a group of citizens opposing the new meters. The group has been identifying and collecting evidence of widespread health problems, meter inaccuracies, electrical interference and customer information privacy problems caused by PG&E’s wireless ‘Smart’ Meters.

Devereaux, who has testified to numerous local governments throughout California and made claims about the meters’ safety and accuracy, has been using a fake name on other activist listservs for months. This may explain how PG&E contractors Wellington Energy knew to evacuate their installation yard in Rohnert Park before a protest planned by neighborhood groups on October 28th. But on Thursday, November 4, Devereaux pushed his luck and was caught lying about his own identity and hiding his position with PG&E. Apparently assuming that his name would be hidden, Devereaux signed his e-mail to Sandi Maurer, moderator of the EMF Safety Coalition, “Ralph.” However, his e-mail program revealed the sender’s true identity:

On Nov 4, 2010, at 3:23 PM, William Devereaux wrote:
> Hi Sandi,
> Sorry for the delay in getting back to you, I've been travelling a lot. I live in Oakland where Smart >meters have been sweeping across town and wanted to learn more about them and join the conversation to >see what I can do to help out here.
> Thanks,
> Ralph

"This is not a single indiscretion, but rather typical of the false information that PG&E has publicized, fabricating advantages for customers.” said Ellen Marks of the Environmental Health Trust. “Contrary to PG&E claims, we will face significantly increased utility bills, collection of private data revealing information about events occurring inside our home, and exposure to powerful spikes of microwave radiation 24 hours a day through our brains and bodies.”

The deception by one of PG&E’s top officials is only the latest in a series of unethical tactics used to force ‘Smart’ Meters on an increasingly skeptical public. PG&E has been ripping off ‘do not install signs’ on meters, and threatening to cut off the gas and electricity supply to elderly residents of Santa Rosa- even as winter approaches- unless they accept a ‘Smart’ Meter. The company has also censored public comments on its Facebook page, deleting references to peer-reviewed scientific studies showing health damage from RadioFrequency (RF) radiation at levels far below those from the ‘Smart’ Meter.

PG&E’s meter program represents the largest system technology roll out in the history of California, yet they have not even done a basic Environmental Impact Report, which could have caught the massive violations of health, privacy invasion and increased costs to customers. The meters have been plagued with problems since the beginning, starting with widespread reports of inflated bills, privacy violations, electrical interference and reports of health issues from residents who have received the new meters. ‘Smart’ Meters use microwave radiation (similar to a cell phone) to transmit customer data back to the utility, and are being installed just as the public learns of evidence that brain tumors and other health damage can be traced to similar wireless devices. The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) which sanctioned PG&E’s $2.2 billion program to install 10 million new meters throughout California at the expense of ratepayers, has not allowed individuals to opt out even in cases of severe health impacts.

Nearly two dozen local governments* have called for a moratorium. The State’s Division of Ratepayer Advocates (DRA) last month also demanded public hearings be held to study potential health risks resulting from exposure to radiation from the meters.

According to Joshua Hart of Stop Smart Meters!, "This fraud and covert espionage against the people of California, carried out by the Director of the ‘Smart’ Meter Program in California, should immediately force a moratorium on ‘Smart’ Meter installation and open up a full independent State Legislative investigation of the entire PG&E ‘Smart’ Meter Program."



* California local governments demanding a moratorium include: the City and County of San Francisco, Santa Cruz and Marin Counties, Sonoma County Supervisor Efren Carrillo, the cities of Sebastopol, Berkeley, Cotati, Fairfax, Santa Cruz, Piedmont, Scotts Valley, Capitola, Watsonville, Sausalito, San Anselmo, Belvedere, Monte Sereno, Novato, Richmond, Ross, Bolinas, and Camp Meeker