Chatham – Roughly 5,400 smart meters in Ontario will be removed and replaced due to risk of causing fire after a safety bulletin was announced by the Electrical Safety Authority (ESA) today.
Chatham-Kent-Essex MPP Rick Nicholls wonders why the government waited so long to act.
In July of last year, Saskatchewan took action after there were eight reports of fires linked to the province’s Sensus model smart meters. Many Ontario homes are also fitted with Sensus smart meters.
“After hearing of the recall in Saskatchewan, we questioned why Ontario’s government was taking no action on this public safety issue. We asked if any smart meters here in Ontario were at risk of causing a fire and if so when will the government recall them,” Nicholls said.
The public safety threat was taken very seriously by Nicholls, who also serves as the PC’s Community Safety and Correctional Services Critic.
“The Ontario Fire Marshall’s office has stated that these smart meters have been linked to 13 small fires since 2011. This is obviously a public safety threat. I am pleased that these potentially dangerous meters will be recalled, but at the same time am concerned that it has taken many months since seeing Saskatchewan recall similar meters for the province to act,” Nicholls said.
This is the latest hiccup for the controversial $2-billion smart meter program. The program was panned by Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk last month for going so far over budget and providing little results.
“The system was supposed to cost $1 billion, but the total cost actually doubled. To top it off these meters have not resulted in conserving energy. It seems like the smart meter program is anything but smart,” Nicholls concluded.
