WITH reference to the article in The Courier Thursday, December 20, Page 5 on smart meters by Energy Minister Michael O'Brien. His misinformation 'to' and 'threatening' the public shows clear ignorance of the facts on his part and his increasing desperation as many Ballarat people are standing their ground against smart meter installation.
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The 'Order in Council' was gazetted by the Governor on 28.08.07, then amended on 25.11.08. It is only a directive to electricity distributors, not to the public. It is listed in the Victorian Government Gazette S200 - Section 14 reads: "each distributor must use its 'best endeavours' to install a remotely read interval meter (which is operational as a remotely read interval meter in accordance with the Specifications) ... for all of the metering installations for customers with an annual electricity consumption of 160MWh or less for which it is the responsible person on the 31 December 2013 by that date." This information has also been stated by Powercor's Customer Relations Manager in writing.
The words 'best endeavours' is all that the industry is mandated with, however they have threatened customers with disconnection and fines. Julia Gillard and Ballarat MP Geoff Howard stated last week smart meters are optional .
Sean Collins
Ballarat
