Ojai council opposes installation of 'smart meters'

The Ojai City Council voted this week to write two letters objecting to the installation of wireless electricity meters by Southern California Edison.

The council previously indicated it wanted to study whether the city could opt out of the so-called smart meters, citing moratoriums on the devices in cities such as Fairfax and Santa Cruz. Members Tuesday night voted 4-0, with Sue Horgan absent, to instead send opposition letters to Edison and the California Public Utilities Commission.

City Manager Robert Clark in a report cited the legal opinion of Stephen Lee, former city attorney, that any ordinance banning the meters would be unenforceable because they fall exclusively under commission jurisdiction. That opinion was affirmed by new City Attorney Joseph Fletcher, who attended his first council meeting Tuesday as counsel.

"Smart meters are pre-empted by the CPUC, so they can't be banned by the city," Clark said.

Instead, he and Clark proposed sending two letters: one to Edison asking it to delay installing smart meters in Ojai and another to the commission requesting that cities be allowed to opt out of the program. In Northern California, customers of Pacific Gas and Electric Co. can opt out by paying a $75 initial fee and $10 monthly surcharge.

The meters emit a constant radio signal that digitally details power use in the home, eliminating the need for neighborhood meter readers.

The utilities say the meters allow long-term cost savings by consumers, who can monitor their energy use. Customers wanting to cut electricity bills can set consumption targets and receive alerts if they're missing the targets.

Utility officials say the radio signal strength is similar to that of a baby monitor or cellphone. Opponents, however, worry about health risks. PG&E also has received customer complaints about skyrocketing costs and bill estimates that exceed what is owed.

Dr. Robin Bernholt, an Ojai resident and a past president of the American Academy of Environmental Medicine, said his group opposes the meters. The chronic electromagnetic exposure could affect male fertility, cause cancer and put children at greater risk of altered brain development, he told the council Tuesday.

"Our group finds it unacceptable to implement the smart meters until all these matters are resolved," Bernholt said.

In other matters Tuesday, Councilwoman Carol Smith expressed concern about vacation rentals in residential areas, saying she doubts the owners have proper insurance or pay all the required taxes.

Clark suggested a streamlined special-use permit process for vacation rentals so the city can collect transient-occupancy taxes and regulate the units. Clark, however, said his staff found only a dozen or so such rentals in the area after checking various websites and that many of those generating complaints from residents were outside city limits.

Scott Eicher, president of the Ojai Chamber of Commerce, encouraged the city to look at the example of the Pierpont neighborhood in Ventura, which was having problems with vacation rentals until a city ordinance requiring them to get permits was adopted in 2007.

The council Tuesday also directed city officials to draft an ordinance changing the regular council meeting time from 7:30 p.m. on the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month to 7 p.m.

Under the ordinance, no new agenda items could be presented after 10:30 p.m.