Hydro-Qubec plans to install 2 million more smart meters

Hydro-Qubec is applying for a permit to install more than twomillion additionalsmart meters across the province,hopingto bring the total numberto 3.8 million units by 2018.

However, one group is calling for a moratorium until it's known beyond a doubt whether the meters cause health problems.

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Andr Blisle, the head of a watchdog organization that's been keeping an eye on atmospheric pollution for more than 30 years, saidHydro-Qubec is rushing thingsand should wait for the results of new studies, such asthe one a federal panel of experts is working on.

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If we act as a responsible society, we should look at the potential health effects before we go and spend billions of dollars on a technology that maybe we will have to take back, said Blisle, president ofthe Associationqubcoisedeluttecontrela pollutionatmosphrique,

The standards we're using are, compared to the other countries, 100,000times less strict."

Smart metersrecord theconsumption ofelectric energyand communicatethat informationback to theutility with wireless technologyfor monitoring and billing purposes.

Although Blisle said he is concerned about the safety of radiation emitted by wireless smart meters, he doesn't disputethe value of metersas energy-efficiency tools.

We know that it could be a good tool in saving energy or toward energy efficiency. That isa well known fact, said Blisle.

According to Hydro-Qubec, 850,000smart meters are already in service in theMontreal area andby next June, 1.7 million will have been installed.

If itgetsapproval from Quebec's energy board, the utilitywill install another twomillion meters over the next five years.

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Hydro-Qubec saidthe roll-out is going very well, with less than one per cent of customers choosing to optout.