The Analog Meter Choice Bill— House Bill 4220

 

The Bill

 

Michigan House Bill 4220, the Analog Meter Choice Bill, would give residential and business customers the right to opt out of having a smart electric or gas meter on their premises. In lieu of a smart meter, the utility would install the traditional analog meter. This installation would be at no cost to the customer. There would be no meter-reading fee, provided that the customer regularly submitted their meter reading to the utility. If you already have a smart meter on your home or business, if this bill passes, you could opt out for no fee.

The bill would require the utilities to notify each and every customer of their option to choose between a “traditional” (analog) meter and a smart meter. Because it requires that a customer be given the choice to have a safe, analog meter installed on their home, the bill provides for a true opt-out, not the sham opt-outs approved by the Michigan Public Service Commission.

The bill is usually known as the Analog Meter Choice Bill. Since legislators seldom know bills by bill number (there are hundreds of bills introduced every session), we recommend that when you write, you ask them to support the “Analog Meter Choice Bill (HB 4220).” Read the full text of HB 4220.

To learn what you need to do to get this bill passed, see the section below entitled Make Sure This Bill Passes!

 

Bill Sponsors—A Bipartisan Coalition

Michigan House Bill 4220 was introduced by House Energy Committee Chair Gary Glenn and is co-sponsored by 17 other state representatives, both Republican and Democratic: Martin Howrylak, LaTanya Garrett, Michael McCready, Tom Barrett, Frank Liberati, Adam Zemke, Shane Hernandez, Sue Allor, Tim Kelly, Edward Canfield, Jeffrey Noble, Pamela Hornberger, Michele Hoitenga, Jason Wentworth, Jim Runestad, Peter Lucido, and Rose Mary Robinson. Be sure to let these representatives know that you appreciate their sponsorship of the bill, especially if you live in their district. Representatives support bills for a variety of reasons. Don’t assume that because your representative’s name is on the bill he or she is solidly behind it. For this reason, your representative needs to keep hearing from you and you should keep educating her/him about why the bill is needed. Here are the emails for the bill co-sponsors.

 

The Importance of the House Energy Policy Committee

Every bill that is introduced into the state legislature must start in a committee. Until a majority of committee members vote to release the bill to the full House, the bill cannot (except under special circumstances) be voted on by the full House. The men and women who sit on the House Energy Policy Committee control the fate of the meter choice bill.

The bill was introduced into the Michigan House Energy Policy Committee in late February 2017. Hearings have been held, but so far the bill does not have a majority of committee members willing to vote in favor of it. How do we get these legislators to vote for the bill?

1. Education, education, education!
2. Emailing and calling.
3. Attending your legislators’ coffee hours (meetings in your district).
4. Going to the state capitol: Attending the House Energy Committee meetings and talking to as many legislators and their aides as you can.
5. Meeting privately with legislators.

Would you vote for something if you weren’t fully informed? Probably not. Neither will most legislators. It is your job to let them know not only that you support this bill, but why. Educate them on whatever issue or issues are important to you. It is especially important to tell your own story if your health has been affected, your bills have gone up, you have been harassed, or your power has been shut off. It will take all of you repeatedly talking with your own state representative and senator and all the members of the House Energy Committee to get this bill passed.

For factual information, use the points in our Analog Meter Choice Bill Flyer, or the information you find on our website to formulate your letters or conversations. Information on who to write to is found in Make Sure This Bill Passes!

 

It Doesn’t Stop with the House
Once the bill passes the House (if it does), it goes to the Senate. We must start educating the senators now! It takes a long time for most people to understand the importance of this issue. This is a state bill. You must talk with your state senator, not Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters, who represent the State of Michigan in Congress. Find your state senator.
Once the bill passes the House, it goes to the governor. Perhaps the governor will sign it. If he does not, then for the bill to become law, 2/3 of the House and 2/3 of the Senate must override his veto. This is why it is so important to talk to every legislator!

 

Hearings, Testimony, Videos

• Listen to the Analog Meter Choice Bill Hearings (HB 4220) Hearings on our YouTube channel. Links to testimony can be found in this PDF.  
• Extensive Summary and Links on HB 4315, the previous smart meter bill. Health Testimony  on HB 4315( 12/2/16), Video Part 2; MP3 Part 2.
• Testimony on HB 4315, Health, Utilities, etc (12/2/16), Video Part 1; MP3 Part 1.

 

 

What You Must Do to Make Sure This Bill Passes

 

Summary

Here’s a summary of what to do. For more detail, see the sections immediately below. Writing your legislators and meeting with them face-to-face at an in-district coffee hour, are the two most important things you can do. Here’s how important this is: One representative is now a co-sponsor of this bill because enough of his constituents contacted him. He hadn’t given any credence to the claims that smart meters harm health until he heard from many constituents who were suffering negative health effects after smart meters were put on their homes. He did a one-eighty from “smart meters are good” to “smart meters harm some people and those people need to be protected and everyone should have a choice.”

1. The number one most important thing you can do is to talk to your legislator in person! Every legislator says that is the most important and effective way to get legislation passed. You can do that by attending your own legislators’ in-district coffee hours, which are usually held every couple of weeks, going to Lansing, or arranging a private meeting. Coffee hours are informal meetings held so that constituents can talk to their legislators. The best way to find out when the coffee hours are is to sign up for your legislators’ newsletter.
2. Call and email all members of the House Energy Committee and your own state representative and senator. Give them two or three points about why the bill is important to you. If you have a story to tell about health, intimidation, power shut-off, over-billing, tell it. You can provide scientific information on health effects, info on privacy, etc. Make sure that you cite credible sources.
3. Make sure that you attend your state representative’s and senator’s coffee hours at least once, but preferably often throughout the year. Face-to-face contact makes a world of difference. You are now a real person to your legislators. Coffee hours are where legislators meet with their constituents, often at a coffee shop, to hear their concerns. Read more about coffee hours below.
4. Keep calling and emailing. Contact the Energy Committee and your own legislators every few weeks.
5. Ask for a private meeting with your state legislators, or go to Lansing to talk with them.
6. Get the word out to others with our flyers.
7. Get involved by helping the Smart Meter Education Network with necessary tasks.

# 1—Contact Your State Legislators

The first thing to do is to write and call all members of the House Energy Committee and tell them you want HB 4220 passed. In addition, you need to contact your own state representative and senator. These things need to be done ASAP.  

Note that this bill is a state bill (Michigan Legislature), not a national bill (Congress). You are calling state legislators. Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters are your national senators. Find your state senator and state representative.

 

Contact Information for State Legislators

1. Contact information for the Members of the House Energy Policy Committee. Remember, phone-calling is very important.
2. Find your state representative and state senator. It is important to write to both, because the bill will go to the Senate if it passes the House.
3. Contact information for All Michigan House Members. This is a current list kept by the State of Michigan. We also have a list you can copy and paste.
4. Contact information for All Michigan Senate Members. This is a current list kept by the State of Michigan. We also have a list you can copy and paste.

Learn more about emailing and calling your legislators by clicking Read more.

 

Emailing Your Legislators

(Following the five paragraphs below is an easy-to-follow summary—highlighted by a light blue box—of how to contact your legislators and a link to the email addresses you need.)

Tell your legislator why you want this bill passed. Make two or three points. You can use factual information from our website. If you have a personal story regarding the smart meters, recount it. Ask your state legislator for their current position on the bill. If they give you a boilerplate response devoid of content, follow up with a polite email asking for more information. Please let us know where your legislator stands by forwarding their response to smartmetereducationnetwork@gmail.com.

In addition, it is very important that you write all the members of the House Energy Committee. They are the ones who control the fate of this bill. If your state rep is on the Energy Committee, they are very important to us, and you should make an especially concerted effort to educate them about the bill. To find out who the members of the House Energy Committee are and to get their emails, see our list of Members of the House Energy Policy Committee.

We suggest you also email the Speaker of the House, Tom DeWitt and the Majority Whip, Dan Lauwers, because they also have control over the fate of the bill. Their emails are TomLeonard@house.mi.gov and  DanLauwers@house.mi.gov.

Be sure to include your address in your email, because legislators wish to know whether you are in their district.

To make it easy to email all these people at one time, we have compiled a list of email addresses of all members of the Energy Committee. Make sure you add your own rep to this list.  Better yet, email him/her separately.  They are your rep and deserve special consideration.

 

Summary of how to email:

1. Find your state legislators and their contact info via our Contact Information for State Representatives and Contact Information for State Senators.
2. Copy and paste this List of Emails of House Energy Committee members into your email address window. Make sure to add your own representative’s email to this list. Better yet, email him/her separately.  They are your rep and deserve special consideration.
3. Make sure to put your own name and complete address into the body of your email, because your own rep needs to know that you reside in their district.
4. Give your rep two or three reasons why you want this bill passed. If you have a story to tell, tell it—health effects, harassment, shut-offs, over-billing, etc.
5. It is important to be civil, polite, and to have some facts in your email. You can get facts off the Analog Meter Choice Bill Flyer or off our website. Make sure they are facts, not just allegations. Citing scientific articles and what are considered reputable sources will bring respect for your position.  Sites like Infowars are not considered reputable by those in the mainstream (and, in fact, do not always accurately convey the facts), so using them as sources won’t help us. Consider your audience, and act accordingly.
6. If you feel that a certain link will help your legislator understand the issue, be sure that you summarize in three sentences to a paragraph the information in that link. Legislators are very busy people. They don’t have time to click on every link their constituents send them. If you get them interested in the link, they might click on it. It’s your job to give them basic information up front.

Be absolutely sure to email your senator, too. The bill is not yet being considered in the senate, but letting your senator know you care now is quite important. People need to hear about things for a long time before it becomes important to them. Find your state senator. Contact Information for All Michigan State Senators, with emails you can copy and paste. (Here is the Secretary of State’s list of senators, including photos.)

 

Calling Your Legislators

Your legislators are here to represent you, so don’t be afraid to call. People have had very good results talking to their legislators over the phone. You can call during business hours, or call in the evening or on the weekend and leave a message. The important thing is that you CALL! If an aide answers, ask to speak to your rep. Remember to be polite, respectful, and open-hearted. You are here to educate! “Honey catches more flies than vinegar.”

Right now, the most important legislators to call are the members of the House Energy Committee and your own legislators. If they don’t vote for the bill, the bill will die!

Tell  the legislator:

• Hello. My name is ____. [If you are one of their constituents, let them know that.].
• I’m calling about the Analog Meter Choice Bill, House Bill 4220.
• [Tell them why you want customers to have a choice and  why the bill matters to you.]
• [Ask where the legislator currently stands on the issue.]

If the rep is not available, recite these points to the aide. If you want your representative to call you back, let the aide know. Remember: You always have a right to speak with your representative; they represent you.

 

# 2—Coffee Hours Are Crucial

We cannot emphasize enough the importance of face-to-face conversations with legislators to get this bill passed. Legislators who support this bill tell us this is the most important piece of getting the bill passed. One easy way to begin to make contact with your state representative and state senator, is to go to their coffee hours. Almost all legislators hold coffee hours so that they can hear their constituents' concerns. These coffee hours are held in your district, so that you don't have to drive to Lansing!

 

The best thing way to find out when your state rep and senators hold coffee hours is to sign up for their newsletter. They usually announce the coffee hours in the newsletter. Email them to request being put on their list. Their websites are often not up to date, and the  Legislative Coffee Hours site does not list hours for all legislators.

At the coffee hour, let your legislator and everyone else there know you would like your legislator to sponsor the Analog Choice Bill. Tell your legislator and all the people in the room what the bill is about. Give them a few facts about smart meters. Most people in the room won't even know about smart meters! This is a good way to begin to inform not only the legislator, but the people in your community. Costs are number one on people’s minds, so we recommend making that a strong point.  Please see our website page, The High Economic Costs of Smart Meters.

Be sure to brings some flyers with you, and hand them out to each person in the room. We would recommend bringing 2 or 3 different flyers: the Analog Choice Bill flyer and then either the Ticking Time Bomb flyer and/orthe Unexplained Illness flyers. Find the on our Flyers and Petitions page. Anyone who shows interest, get their phone and email. Tell them we will send them a newsletter with more information and updates about the bill. Urge them to follow up with the legislator via a phone call. You don't have to speak extemporaneously. You can bring a 3-minute prepared statement. See our Smart Meters: How They Work, Why They Are Harmful page for great info. Once your legislator says they are supportive of the bill (this might be after several meetings), ask them what they can do to help get this bill passed. Legislators sometimes blow us off by saying there's little chance due to the huge industry lobby. Well, they are our representative. Are they going to let the energy lobby influence them? Keep going to coffee hours over and over. Bring some new information each time. It makes a huge difference. The ball has started rolling on some legislation because of people’s repeated attendance at coffee hours.

Talk to your legislator at the end of the coffee hour. Ask for a time to meet with them privately to talk more about the bill. Make sure you are educated enough to do this. If you are not, our website will give you most of the information you need to make a convincing case.

Bring along the DVD Take Back Your Power. Ask your legislator to watch it. Tell them you will come back in a month to get it back from them, as it is your only copy.

Please let us know how the meetings went--who your legislator is, what district number, and what the legislator had to say and the level of interest in the room. Give us your ideas about what strategies are effective! Email us at smartmetereducationnetwork@gmail.com.

 

# 3—In-Person Meetings with Your Legislators

A private hearing can be the most effective way to communicate with your legislator. You can in your district (you could meet, for instance, at a coffee shop) or in Lansing. Bring a one-page summary of the main points you want to communicate about why the Analog Choice Bill should pass and why your legislator should work for it. Our Analog Choice Bill Flyer gives a good summary of the main points. You can flesh them out at your meeting with material from our and other websites. Your legislator will want facts and principles, not just emotion.

Your legislator will probably give you about 20 minutes of his or her time. If they get really interested and have time, you may get to have a longer conversation, but expect 20 minutes. The best thing to do is find out how much time they have to spend with you.

You can meet with your legislator more than once.

You can also join other activists in Lansing on a specific day. Subscribe to our newsletter for more info on that.

 

# 4—Flyers for the Analog Choice Bill
Get the Word Out

The legislature considers thousands of bills every session. For our bill to be given any attention, the legislators must know that many people care. Email your friends. Post on Facebook (and connect to our Facebook page). Post flyers on bulletin boards. Pass flyers out to your neighbors and friends. Leave flyers at people’s doorsteps, take them to churches, etc. Stand out in front of a library or other public space with our flyer and talk to people about the bill and ask them to call their state representative. We have had incredible success when people do this. Don’t be shy! You want to be smart-meter–free! Don’t wish for it—Work for it!

Our Analog Choice Bill Flyer explains the Analog Choice Bill (HB 4220) and gives people information on why smart meters are something everyone should have a choice about having on their home. If you like, you can write your legislators’ name, email, and phone number on the flyer before you have it copied. The flyer has two sides, The first side has a summary of the bill, the second side gives contact info for the House Energy Committee.

If  you talk to people about the bill, pull out the flyer and point to the information on it as you speak.

 

The best way to copy these flyers is to put them on a flash (thumb) drive and take the flash drive to a copy shop. Many copy shops also let you email them a document. The quality will be much better from a copy shop than if you print a copy off your printer, and it will also be cheaper for you.

We suggest also passing out our Unexplained Illness or our Ticking Time Bomb flyers. These give more information on smart meters and provide a list of health effects. See all our flyers on our Flyers and Petitions page.

Please note: It is illegal to place flyers in mailboxes. We will be fined. Please place at doors, on outside of mailboxes, or inside newspaper boxes. Post on bulletin boards, and ask your health-care practitioners to post them.

 

 

Canvassing and Petitioning

Talking about the bill to people outside libraries, farmers markets, post offices, health food stores, and in other public spaces is a very effective way to spread the word and get this bill passed. You will tell them there is a bill in the state legislature and ask them to contact their state representative to support it. 

Learn where to get the most bang for the buck when you talk to people. This document also gives you information on flyering opportunities.

People have found it effective to carry a clipboard (helps you look official) and to wear an I.D. badge. Here’s one idea for an I.D. badge.

 

Guide to What to Say

Here are some ideas about what you can say to people on the street. The advice given here comes from the man behind the bill and a smart meter activist who used to earn her living going door-to-door on legislative issues. You can download a PDF of this advice.

It might be a bit daunting at first to go up to people you don’t know and talk to them about the bill, but you will quickly get over that when you find that most people are interested and concerned about smart meters and grateful to have information about the bill. When you are friendly and passionate, it rubs off! We are organizing groups to flyer, so contact us, or go out on your own! Here is what one woman has to say about her experience talking to people:

“I was really nervous about doing this. I went to the library in ____.  I was so nervous, I left after 10 minutes. But I made myself go back and talk to people about the bill.  Most people were very nice.   There were some who thanked me and shook my hand.   A few walked by, too busy—but I am like that sometimes too.  Most of the people I spoke with  did not know anything about smart meters and were grateful for the information on the Analog Choice Flyer.  I printed  the email about the woman whose power was shut off and took it  with me today to show people why choice is so important. I hope it helps her to know that she inspired me to stick with it today. It helped to have someone I could be outraged for.”

Passion is important! People respond to emotion. If you are open-hearted and passionate, people will be motivated to make that call to their representative.  If they have a cell phone, they can make the call right then and there. Suggest that they do so. The people who have already been out canvassing have had incredible success getting people to call, and that is because they are passionate, concerned, and open-hearted.  If you simply hand someone a flyer, they won’t make the call. Engage them with friendliness and passion!

First,  a couple of flyering “do’s.” As you talk with them, point out statements on the flyer that back up what you are saying. Spend just 2 or 3 minutes with each person. Don’t hurry, but you want to engage as many people as possible. The best outcome is that they make the phone call to their rep from their cell phone as soon as you finish talking to them. Encourage this! Out of sight, out of mind.

Second, a couple of flyering “don’ts.”  Don’t start with questions that require them to answer yes or no. They will likely say no so they can move on. For instance, don’t ask them if they’d “like a flyer.” Don’t ask them, “Do you have a minute.” Make a statement, make eye contact, and be friendly.

Here are some ideas on what you can say. The first two lines are important, and you should always say them. They establish rapport, and they tell the person that there is something that they should be concerned about. Mentioning the fact that smart meters will cost the person more money will grab their attention, too.

“Hi, my name is _____. I’m here today about a very important issue that concerns all of us. It concerns your health, your safety, your privacy, and the price you pay for electricity. [Hand them a flyer.] The utilities want us to use smart meters instead of the conventional meters we’ve been using for years. They’re not giving us a choice. The problem with smart meters is, they are making some people very ill . . . they’ve caused fires, they’ve caused appliances to burn out. They will cause your electricity rates to rise because the utilities are going to institute peak pricing, which means you will pay more for your electricity at the times of day you most want to use it. On top of that, they invade your privacy, because the utility company can determine what appliances you are using and when you are using them, and they can sell the data to third parties. They will also allow the utility to shut off your smart-chipped appliances and to shut off your power without coming to your home.”

“We think people should be given a choice, don’t you agree?” [Nod your head as you say this. Body language helps!]

[If they say, “Yes,” then say:]

“House Bill 4916 will give people a choice. Are you from this area?”

[If they say, yes, then show them the back of the flyer and find their representative. If they say no, ask where they are from, and pull out the appropriate flyer, showing it to them. Then say:]

“Here’s your representative. Would you give your representative a call right now and just say, ‘I’m one of your constituents. I want to be able to have a choice about what kind of meter is put on my home. Please support the analog choice bill.’ It will take you about 30 seconds.” [At the same time, show them the back of the flyer and point out the wording they can say. You can let them use your cell phone if you have one. Getting people to call NOW is the best way to ensure the call is really made, but do not pester them about this.]

“Just one thing before you call. What we are doing with the call you are about to make is getting the committee to pass the bill along to the House. Once it is in the House, we will have to make a push again. Can we get your contact info so we can let you know when that happens?” [Pull out your clipboard with our Contact Info sheet and show it to them. Use your finger to put to what you are talking about next.]

Here’s a place for your name and so on.  Here’s where you can check to receive Critical Updates. You will only get a couple of those in a year. We will send one when it’s time to call your representative again or push your senator to take action Here’s where you can receive our regular newsletter, which comes out every week or two and gives you important information on the bill and on what your utility company is doing.”  [Anyone who has not been enthusiastic about the bill should not be interested in signing this. If that type of person signs it, make some sort of mark. They could be a utility spy. We wouldn’t really expect this, but just to play it safe.]

[Give the flyer to everyone who says they will call.]

“Thank you so much. Please do make that call right now. And please tell your friends, family, neighbors, and co-workers know about this bill. It is so important that all people in Michigan have a right to choose.”

We suggest practicing what you say a few times. It will help you be as effective as possible.

Other things you can say:
“Most people across the state still have analog meters, which don’t present a threat. We’re simply asking the legislature to give people a choice.”

Hi, my name is _____. The utilities want us to use smart meters instead of the conventional meters we’ve been using for years. The problem with smart meter is, people are getting sick

Give them a flyer, and say to them, “Please tell your friends and family, neighbors and co-workers about this issue. It’s very important that all people in Michigan be given a choice.”

 

 

Newsletter, Facebook—Stay Up to Date

Stay up to date by subscribing to our newsletter (it comes out every 1 to 4 weeks). We constantly update our website, so check back often. You can find updates and time-sensitive actions to take under our “Alerts and Breaking News” box. We also use Facebook to send out quick news updates. (While we understand the privacy concerns with Facebook, at this point in time it is a useful tool for us, and is a great way to spread the word about smart meters. If you only wish to use Facebook for access to our updates, you can get an account without revealing personal information—it’s all in what you choose to share, and you can give them any name or birthdate you like.)

Our newsletter comes out every 1 to 4 weeks. It will keep you informed and tell you what actions you can take to fight smart meters. Note that most email programs will filter out our newsletter unless you adjust your email settings. Even though you may receive individual emails from us, when we send the newsletter out to a large group, the emails may be placed in a folder other than your inbox. This happened to us! We weren’t even getting our own newsletter. Please make sure you look for emails from smartmetereducationnetwork@ gmail. com in your Promotions, Spam, Junk, or other folders. Please contact your email provider to learn how to adjust your settings, or search on the internet.