Early morning on August 26th, outraged Santa Cruz County residents gathered at the gates of Wellington Energy at 38th and Portola in Capitola to protest what they say is a forced installation of radiating 'smart' meters against the will of residents and nearly two dozen local governments throughout the Greater Bay Area. Despite the fact that the $2.2 billion program is being funded by ratepayers, and the new meters installed on people’s homes, there has been virtually no public consultation in advance of what PG&E itself admits is one of the largest rollouts of technology in history.

PG&E’s smart meter troubles have mounted significantly this week. Tuesday night, the City of Novato demanded a halt to the program, and Watsonville unanimously passed the most stringent law in the state banning smart meters within city limits, following the lead of Fairfax in Marin County. Santa Cruz County, Capitola and numerous other local governments throughout the state are planning to follow their lead, responding to inaction by PG&E and the CA Public Utilities Commission in the face of peer-reviewed scientific studies that suggest the meters may have serious unintended health consequences, similar to cell phones which have been linked with brain tumors in many recent studies.

Read more and view photos | previous coverage: Scotts Valley Neighbors Against Smart Meters Chase PG&E Out Of Town | PG&E Forces Smart Meters On Scotts Valley | Scotts Valley Residents Ask City for Moratorium on Smart Meters