Politics & Government

Mom Seeking Answers on Smart Meters Takes Up Fight Against the City

Since February, Kim Bendis has been educating herself and others about the problems she says a smart meter program could bring to Naperville. The city maintains that the program will benefit the community, its businesses and residents in many ways.

When a police officer escorted Kim Bendis from the City Council chambers during a contentious council meeting, the mother of three was in shock.

She’s never been one to get into any kind of trouble. But for months, she had been speaking out against the city’s plans to implement a wireless smart meter program. Her speaking out that night led to her being forcibly removed.

Bendis is among a vocal group of residents, Naperville Smart Meter Awareness, who are concerned that the city is rushing a project that they feel violates civil liberties, public privacy and has potential safety and health risks. 

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Back in February, a friend asked Bendis, a nurse practitioner, to speak before the city council about the potential health concerns. Bendis knew nothing of the Naperville Smart Grid Initiative, let alone the potential health risks and told her friend she didn’t feel comfortable talking about it at that point.

“My interest was piqued,” Bendis said during an interview at her home. “At the council meeting, they were discussing the Consumer Bill of Rights and I was wondering why they would need a bill of rights.”

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According to the city, the that will allow the city to modernize its electric grid using digital technology. Along with the installation of smart meters, the initiative also will modernize the city’s electric grid backbone.

The city has said the , including maintaining competitive electric rates, greater reliability and efficiency in service, new tools for managing and controlling energy usage, a smaller carbon footprint and potential cost savings.

Those opposed to the project say it will likely have cost overruns and poses a number of concerns from potential health risks to violating privacy.

The research begins

Bendis started asking other people, friends and neighbors, if they knew about the plans for the smart meter project and nobody did. She began to do research about wireless electric meters, talking to friends out East (where she grew up) who might have encountered similar projects and she also began to Google smart meters. What she learned concerned her.

Bendis said the cost of the project alone was a concern. The city would be taking on millions of dollars in debt, “I started thinking how are we going to pay for this.”

She also became concerned about how the project might impact her family, whether the data collected would be secure and if it would be possible for someone to hack into the system alter data and shut off power. 

“I felt like I was following a trail and I expected to get answers that made sense,” Bendis said. Instead, she felt the information she was getting didn’t make sense and she didn’t understand why the city was moving forward when she found data pointing to the potential for problems at a later time.

Though she is a busy mom who also volunteers at a health clinic in Bolingbrook, Bendis spends about five hours a day researching and communicating with others about the smart meter project. The stacks of documents in her dining room document her diligence.

Initially, she said the city told residents they might opt out of the smart meter project, but the number of residents seeking to opt out has grown considerably. The city has said that residents cannot keep their analog meters and must switch to a new meter, though they can choose a different version that would not be wireless, but would still be connected to the system.

Marketing or engagement?

The city has been willing to put out material boasting all of the project's positives, but has not been sharing any of the potential problems, she said. She noted that a number of communities, more than 40, in California and across the county have put moratoriums on smart meter projects. Other countries in Europe are reverting from wireless to hard wired systems.

The firm of Jasculca Terman has been hired to help get the city’s message out. In it’s public affairs role, Jascula Terman’s website states it provides messaging, media relations, communications, crisis management and strategy development, among its other roles. 

“Are we being marketed to or are we being fully engaged and informed about the project?” Bendis said, adding that materials she obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests show there is an effort to discredit those opposed to the project.

Over the months as the members of the Naperville Smart Meter Awareness group have become more vocal in their disapproval of the project and the city’s pushing it forward, Bendis said there was a push to discredit the group as attempting to incite fear. She argues its not inciting fear when the group brings forward factual material.

“As residents, we are not trying to tear the community apart,” she said. “… When you are evaluating the pros and cons of any project, if the concerns are evidenced in the data—because I’m all about data—what’s the harm in waiting? We live in a highly technical society, which has wonderful benefits. But, at what cost?”

Let the voters decide

In December, the volunteers in the Naperville Smart Meter Awareness group will learn whether it will have a referendum on the March 20, 2012 primary election ballot. The group submitted more than 4,000 signatures to the city seeking to have a question put on the ballot.

The question asks voters: Shall the city of Naperville immediately and permanently stop the implementation of the $22 million smart meter project and dismantle all related equipment?” 

"People are pushing back because they are being told they can’t say no,” she said. “So, this is no longer a utility issue. It is a personal property and civil liberty issue.”

Concern over the smart meters has brought together members of the community who have never participated in local government or been involved in community issues, she said. The group has a variety of individuals who volunteer from lawyers and doctors to stay at home moms and those in the tech industry, all who are using personal time and funds working to get their message out.

The group, which has a regular newsletter, plans to begin engaging the community even more prior to the primary election in the hopes of educating more people about the smart meter project and potential problems it would bring, she said. That will require more time and money from those who volunteer in the loosely based group.

The fight continues

Bendis said she wants to empower her friends and the community to become more educated about the project and what it could mean from a financial, privacy, public health and civil liberties perspective.

Most of the residents she talks with still do not know about the city’s plans for the Naperville Smart Grid Initiative. When they learn more, Bendis said many are concerned.

Yet, she said that if residents choose to keep the program and vote against the ballot initiative that would be democracy at work.

Until that is decided, Bendis said she will continue working to educate others, saying it would be unethical and negligent to withhold the information she has discovered through her research .

“In sum, a strong sense of duty, justice and compassion towards others compels me to continue on this journey,” Bendis said. “Our children’s futures are in our hands. If we act sensibly, proactively and wisely we could be leaders and innovators to help preserve a community that values the health and wellbeing of its residents. Precaution is prudent at this juncture before we go down a road that has irreversible consequences.  I have a deep sense of peace knowing that I am on the right side of this debate advocating for those who cannot advocate for themselves; namely our children.”


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