Utility regulators dismiss complaint over electric meters

SANDPOINT – State utility regulators are dismissing a complaint from a northern Idaho woman who claimed smart electric meters can be used for surveillance.

The Bonner County Daily Bee reported the Idaho Public Utilities Commission found insufficient evidence to support the petition filed by Mary Baenen in October.

Baenen claimed the meters from Avista Corp. can be used to obtain confidential information and emit cancer-causing radiation.

She also claimed the company’s sale to a Canadian company risks national security by giving that information to a foreign power.

Company officials addressed the concerns in November, saying the meters are equipped with low-power radio transmitters that only send readings.

The company says the transmissions total less than a minute per day, and the emissions are similar to those from cordless phones and wireless routers.