I had written a diary back in February explaining about a job oppurtunity I had with smart meters on Kauai. Well there is more to the story and there are things happenig that to me are not right.
I had been contacted by a large mainland company that does implementation of the smart meters. They said that they wanted to hire a local contractor licnsed and insured to do the work. The person that called me wanted me think about it and let him know if I would do the job. Well I did think about it and sent him an email. I stated that I was interested in doing the job but my concern was that my company is in bad shape financially and it would not be fair to them if I took the job and my company went under.
This guy I will call Travis called me back almost imediately and said that he very much appreciates my honesty but they needed me. He said they could front some money to get started and they would pay all of my payroll and operating expenses provide vehicles and all I would have to do is manage the job. They would also see that I made $150,000 to $200,000 in profit.
I was counting on this to save my company but it just did not happen. I received a call from the local business agent from the union and he told me there was a mainland company that applied to the licensing division of the state and got a ruling that they do not need licensed journeymen to install meters. Well I put two and two together and decided the original company was pushed out of the way by this other company.
I finally got a text from Travis and he confirmed my fear that the power company contracted this other company without even telling Travis. He was not happy and neither was I.
They still want to use me for the state wide installations of HAN and load switches. HAN is Home Area Network and the load switches are just what they are. They can disconnect heavy load during high demand times. I texted Travis back said that is good but I hope that I am still in business when that happens.
I had been thinking what I could do to take my company in a new direction. I went online and ordered an RF detection meter and I have put up a new web site. I do think the smart meters are not dangerous but am open to the possibility that they may be harmfull. I am a science based person so I will check peoples homes and businesses for harmfull RF. This includes wi-fi, cell phones, microwaves, and smart meters. While testing my house for RF I came across one of my routers (Dlink) was putting out more than FCC allowable RF. I disabled the wireless on this one as I have an Apple Airport/Time capsule and this was well under the FCC limit. Cell phones were testing okay. It is also a good idea to check around your sleeping area. Mine was clean.
My main concern and it really is kind of major in my book. This company is advertising on craigs list and the only requirement is that they have a high school diploma or GED. Well I did some research on the improper installation of smart meters that these companies do. There have been quite a few incedents of fire and explosions. EMF Safety Network. The meter installs on Kauai will definately run into problems on older homes where the meter base is corroded. I have replaced many in my 20 years working here. What will one of these inexperienced workers do if they pull a meter out and the whole meter base crumbles and falls apart? What will these workers do when they go to plug a new smart meter in and the meter does not seat properly and causes arcing and explosion? I guess someone will have to get hurt or property gets damaged before the power company wakes up.
I hope this new endeavor works out for me. Any input would be appreciated. I am still doing some solar installs but had a setback on a job I did that the person whom I thought was my friend stiffed me for 6 inverters for a total of $25,000. I have had to hire an attorney to put a mechanics lien on the property. The first hearing is next Tuesday. I hope my next diary has better news.
