BY KEN DAIGE
Controversy did not have to crackle around the electric issue.
It is unfortunate that there is lack of respect for others uncertainty and reservation of smart meters; they are treated as ignorant, misguided or ridiculous. People deserve to be told the truth and facts without being put down.
FP&L has not done a very good job of public relations on the smart meter issue. People don’t like to be treated as if they aren’t intelligent enough to know what is good for them and like even less not having the right information to make an informed decision. People dont like being told what to do just because someone says so.
Repetitious polly-anna rhetoric will not sell the unconvinced.
We should be conscious of others concerns and cautions; tell us the truth and facts about smart meters. We should have the choice without burdensome expense to refuse or accept smart meters.
That probably is the whole point. Treat everyone with respect, factually and truthfully answer their concerns and questions.
It is the city councils duty to the residents of the city to assure all possible aspects of the issue are addressed. The councils whole premise of the first referendum was not to do the sale if not beneficial to the residents.
The fact that the smart meters track your usage is enough to make a lot of folks flesh crawl. You are not told what other information is being gathered. FP&L is a private company; we are not able to ‘do a public record request’. There would not be such an uproar about smart meters if FP&L had done a better job of putting customers minds at ease.
FP&L is of course operating in its best interest. We would not expect anything less. It is FP&Ls responsibility to show that smart meters are safe, risk free and non-invasive.
FP&L constantly lobbies to their benefit because they have the clout and in doing so created an uncomfortable situation. While FP&L may be praised by some in Indian River County they are questioned and in litigation elsewhere.
If they are attempting to win friends and customers here they are not.
Being made fun of or ridiculed about concerns about smart meters does not answer the concern or the question and it won’t garner FP&L any votes from those uncomfortable about the issue.
Indian River Guardian 
And FPL’s denial that the science showing that a health hazard exists is also very puzzling. They are held to a different standard. I never hear the press asking them to explain how the can say there is no evidence of harm when there are so many studies showing harm in peer-reviewed journals.
Then a consumer will bring evidence of harm and be ridiculed.
Very odd perceptions.
Just a question. Ask yourself how you would react if President Obama came out with a proposal to put “Smart Meters” on every electric users home or business to monitor your electric use and told you not to worry about the fact that they could gather personal information about you from those meters by how much power you were using? They could easily determine when you are away on vacation for example, or what your work hours away from home are. Would you voluntarily submit to that, not knowing who has access to that information? Ask yourself if you would you voluntarily give that information to the government? Who would?
How about putting a device on your home or business that is transmitting “low level” radiation 24 hours a day throughout your home or business without your consent or your ability to turn it off? Do you like the idea of all your neighbors having the same devices sending radiation out through the neighborhood so that not only do you get a constant low dose from your smart meter, but you also receive a smaller dose from your neighbors meters 24 hours a day?
If you don’t want “Big Brother” monitoring you, why let “Little Brother” pave the way?
Vote No on March 12th.
First, there are no reputable scientific studies that show that there is any health risk in the use of smart meters.
Second, the government has far more important things to do than to waste time monitoring anyone’s use of electricity.
Third, there is more health risk associated with the use of cell phones and microwaves than any services that FP&L provides.
Fourth, FP&L at its St. Lucie nuclear power plant on Hutchinson Island has consumer information on nuclear risk as part of its public information facility. Anyone with concerns about radiation can visit the plant and speak directly to their scientists.
Fifth, a simple Google search can answer any and all concerns about the use of smart meters.
The fact that most major electrical providers throughout the nation are now providing smart meters puts more control over the use of electricity in the consumer’s hands. The effective use of smart meters is a very reasonable consumer opportunity to save on electrical costs.