Now that more than 90 per cent of homes have been converted to smart meters, B.C. Hydro surprised everyone this week by backing off its insistence that homeowners accept the controversial devices.
Which leaves us wondering: how many people would have opted out had they been given the chance earlier on?
We've heard stories of homeowners being intimidated and threatened by installation crews, and there have been well-publicized cases of a few meters bursting into flame.
If you've already got a smart meter, too bad. Hydro says you can't go back; that the old meters are being recycled.
But what about homes in Kelowna and other parts of the South Okanagan, which are serviced by Fortis?
So far, Fortis isn't saying much more than it will wait and see. But we anticipate the news from Hydro will spur the anti-smart-meter crowd to dig in its heels even further.
Fortis will eventually be forced to follow suit or face a consumer revolt.
Not that you can shop around for utility providers, but public pressure will undoubtedly force its hand.
Regardless of the meter on your home, we're all already swimming in an invisible soup of radio waves and microwave radiation. It's all around us, from innumerable sources.
For our children's sake, we hope the conspiracy theorists are wrong.
Choice won't make everyone else's radio signals go away.
- Managing Editor
Jon Manchester