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March 27, 2014

PUC report: Smart meters pose no health risk

The Maine Public Utilities Commission issued a preliminary report this week concluding that the “smart meters” installed by Central Maine Power Co. at the home or business of around 620,000 customers pose no threat to human health.

The Portland Press Herald reported the 67-page preliminary report is a blow to activists who have for years argued that radio-frequency emissions from the electricity usage meters can have health impacts. Bruce McGlauflin, a lawyer representing critics of the smart meters, told the newspaper he plans to file objections to the report by the April 11 deadline.

The report issued Thursday will guide PUC commissioners in casting a decision on smart meter safety, expected later this year.

The report did not conclude definitively that smart meters are safe, but found that all existing studies of their potential health impacts were inconclusive. That report was based on around 660 separate filings, in addition to written and oral testimony from expert witnesses.

The PUC report found that studies showing health risk from radio-frequency emissions involved much higher levels of emissions and that no state or regulatory body has found smart meters to be unsafe.

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