Dear readers, this is the first ‘guest post’, so to speak, I’m doing here over at Die Fackel 2.0 (and it won’t be the last). Today, I’d like to introduce you to my colleague and friend-of-these-pages Bernd Stracke, a (semi)retired journalist residing in beautiful Innsbruck, Austria (postcards forthcoming, no worries).
Bernd was among the few who, in the 1980s, spoke publicly about what used to the then-’largest political corruption scandal’ in Austria, the so-called ‘Lucona Affair’ and its associated shenanigans, incl. illegal arms deals, contacts to foreign intelligence services (partially because Vienna has a UN HQ and Austria was ‘neutral’ back in the Cold War), and the seemingly unending corruption of political power-brokers. If you’re interested in the ‘Lucona Affair’, there’s even a National Geographic documentary entitled ‘Drain the Oceans’ that dedicated an episode to it (but it appears Youtube has deleted it).
Since then, a lot has changed, and ‘journalism’ appears much more subservient to powerful political and/or economic interests; hence, Bernd Stracke, too, was relegated, in certain ways, to find outlets that would ‘still’ publish his content. Talk about shifts in what scholars call ‘the Overton Window’.
Here’s a piece by Bernd Stracke he wrote for TKP.at a few weeks ago, and I’m bringing it up to set the stage for another posting about him and his very much Central European family connections.
As always, translations, emphases, and bottom lines mine. I have slightly edited the article for clarity.
Mandatory Smartmeters: No More Delays
By Bernd Stracke, orig. published at TKP.at, 12 Feb. 2024 [source]
Shortly, on 23 Feb. 2024, an hourglass ran out at Radetzkystrasse 2 in Vienna's third district. On this day, the last chance for every Austrian to give a (negative) opinion on a new draft law ends. If this legislation is passed, it will have far-reaching consequences for every citizen. The 3rd main part, 1st section of the 124-page paper, which is almost incomprehensible to the layperson, is about ‘intelligent measuring devices’, commonly known as smart meters.
The future law wants to regulate the following aspects:
the equipment with an intelligent measuring device
requirements for intelligent [sic] measuring devices
information and reporting obligations
the measurement of data collection and processing purposes
access to measurement data from intelligent [sic] measuring devices for end customers and
the availability of non-validated near-real-time data.
The draft law and the ‘permission’ for citizens to comment on it are publicly available here, but it takes a great deal of a detective’s instinct to discover this well-hidden information.
The link was put online by the ‘Federal Ministry for Climate Protection, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation, and Technology’ (commonly known as the Ministry of the Environment), whose head Leonore Gewessler [Greens] has modest qualifications in addition to working for [infamous enviro-activist NGO] ‘Global 2000’ and being an advisory board member of the Green Education Workshop. She also holds a Bachelor’s degree in political science.
Since the days of this government's existence are probably numbered, the planned new legislative monster has been under expedited review since 12 Jan. 2024 and its full name will be ‘Electricity Economics Act, Energy Poverty Definition Act and Energy Control Act’ (orig., Elektrizitätswirtschaftsgesetz, Energiearmuts-Definitions-Gesetz und Energie-Control-Gesetz, or ElWG). The new law is intended to replace the previous ‘Electricity Industry and Organization Act’ of 2010 (also known as ElWOG 2010) and it envisions a whole package consisting of:
Electricity Economy Act (Elektrizitätswirtschaftsgesetz, ElWG),
Energy Poverty Definition Act (Energiearmuts-Definitions-Gesetz, EnDG) as well
an amendment to the Energy Control Act (Energie-Control-Gesetzes, E-ControlG), including guidelines and an ‘effects-oriented impact assessment’.
The thousands of ignored statements against the infamous compulsory Covid Vaccination Mandate that was pushed through at the time (and only stopped by the judiciary [after months of sustained popular protests]) proved how ‘powerful’ the ordinary citizen’s right to have a say in the creation of laws actually is. After all: formally, every Austrian can send their protest by email to the address vi-4@bmk.gv.at until 23 Feb. 2024 and will even receive a ministerial confirmation of receipt if they request so.
So far there has been next to no mention of this newest iteration of ‘lawfare’ in mainstream media, but consumers of [so-called] alternative media have been informed for a long time, not only about the facts of the case, but also about the options for defending themselves against this planned attack on democratic civil rights, including the informative platform https://www.stop-smartmeter.at/, which is operated by the electronics expert and electrical engineering professional Fritz Loindl from Oberwang (Upper Austria). Loindl has now gathered dozens of network partners and supporters, as well as other colleagues in the medical sector—doctors, therapists and coaches. [don’t miss out on this 2017 documentary:
What About Data Security?
According to skeptics, the officially claimed data security is by no means guaranteed, especially since ‘the system’ will probably not be satisfied with what has been achieved. This is confirmed by what is heard from Italy and Sweden, where work is already underway on electricity data transmission that is accurate to the second (!). Furthermore, a study in by the University of Münster showed that even the TV program (!) consumed in the living room can be identified via electricity consumption. Insiders know that network operators have long suspected a gigantic business with smart meter data, and lobbyists are already feverishly working to ‘incorporate’ bespoke wording into the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation.
If this Pandora's box is actually opened, total surveillance would only require a comma in the law. In the USA, smart meter data is already being used for court proceedings, and insurance companies have also expressed interest in the matter. And criminal history shows that crooks are usually the first to crack even the strictest (data) security measures. For example, stolen movement profiles could open up unexpected opportunities for such ‘professionals’…
By the way, the million-dollar ‘Blue Minds Group’ run by former SPÖ Chancellor Christian Kern and his wife Eveline Steinberger-Kern has long specialised in ‘legal’ [sic] smart meter data analysis. With the establishment of company headquarters in Vienna and Tel Aviv (now also in Linz, Graz and Munich), Christian Kern probably benefited from his old connections to Tal Silberstein.
There are also reports circulating online that the global data kraken Google is planning to give free electricity as a ‘reward’ to all those who ‘voluntarily’ reveal their smart meter data.
As usual, Austria is practicing anticipatory obedience [orig. vorauseilender Gehorsam]. When an EU directive gave national states the freedom to act when it comes to smart meters, the Austrian government not only immediately shouted ‘here’, but immediately exceeded the requirements [that’s a feature of EU ‘law’ and how ‘the system’ is set up]. Upper Austria is the first federal state to have already completed the smart meter rollout, and other states will soon follow.
For the smart meter, in addition to data transmission via radio signals (like a cell phone transmitter), there is also the power line communication (commonly PLC variant), which is now favoured in Austria and other countries. Here, a device is used to control or regulate a machine or system is used and programmed on a digital basis. This replaces the ‘hard-wired’ connection-programmed control [no escaping these transmissions, and neither is it possible to opt-out].
It should not be overlooked that smart meters always need (wireless) amplifiers on intermediate routes, which is why not only their own frequencies are ‘floating’, but also those of all neighbors. In the future, many data packets will travel over the airwaves every second, which is why electrosmog warnings are already circulating in the Austrian Medical Association. The weather sensitivity recorded by sensitive people typically affects wavelengths between 3-100 kilohertz, and that is exactly the smart meter range that can cause cell stress. The Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1991 was awarded for the discovery that cells communicate with each other using frequencies. Comparatively gigantic field strengths are now common in our environment, which, from a medical perspective, are being increased even further by smart meter technology.
Critical citizens also worry that smart meter technology can be used to remotely switch off electricity and—similar to bank account blocking (‘debanking’)—‘inconvenient’ and/or non-payers could one day be arbitrarily deprived of their very existence [this is true; I cannot find the link, but 1-2 years ago, Norway’s electricity regulator all but boasted about the possibility of ‘switching off entire city blocks with a mouseclick’, as opposed to going from house to house to do so manually]. Formally, the customer can have the remote shutdown ‘deactivated’, but the network operator can in principle switch it back to ‘activation’ at any time (Loindl) [I suppose all that’s required is a gov’t declaring an ‘emergency’ or regulators calling for ‘force majeure’]. Quite apart from the fact that the general rule is: the more accommodations are upgraded to smart apartments, the more extensive their electronic equipment becomes, which means that the ‘Orwellian omnipotence’ of the network operators grows even further.
By the way, according to Loindl, there are currently ‘many problems with incorrect measurements with smart-controlled consumers’. Customers complain that electricity bills have been higher since the smart meter was installed. To clarify these allegations, investigations are underway with second smart meters. A study conducted by the University of Twente in the Netherlands showed that out of 9 devices tested, only one (!) gave correct information. Here one is involuntarily reminded of the lies about the effectiveness of vaccinations from the Covid era [this is a very important aspect, for once installed, there’s no ‘legal’ way of getting rid of these devices—with the only (partial) exception of going ‘off grid’, although these devices would then still be there, but there’d technically nothing to meter…].
Last but not least, according to Fritz Loindl, smart meters are ‘ecological madness’. While conventional Ferrari meters last for 50 to 100 years, smart meters only have a maximum calibration period of 10 to 13 years. The Austrian exchange frenzy, which affects 5.4 million electricity meters, is creating ‘endless electronic waste’. But there is also ‘economic madness’: E-economic studies have shown that the smart meter ‘innovation’ costs 2.53 billion euros, but the benefits from it are only 127 million.
Why Does Legacy Media Remain Silent?
It can be assumed that mainstream media do not or hardly report on the topic because of advertising from electricity providers, hence publishers put their journalists under pressure to keep quiet about the smart meter problem.
Incidentally, the widespread dead-end argument that consumer resistance is pointless since ‘smart meters are already installed almost everywhere’ does not apply—at least until the end of the legal objection period on 23 Feb. 2024. In retrospect, protest still has a good chance of happening within the deadline [they didn’t].
According to the current law, you can still refuse to install smart meters that have not yet been installed [this will be changed]. ‘Stop Smartmeter’ lawyers are currently working on preventing a planned overturning of the right to object—for example by means of inserted clauses. It is also not ruled out that the highest judges will one day allow for a free dismantling obligation. By the way, there are line filters that any electrician can install to prevent signal extraction.
Bottom Lines
In lieu of many words, an anecdote from Norway. When we bought our farmstead, we discovered a smart meter sitting in-between the many ‘vintage’ circuit breakers:
Do note the black ‘antenna’ in the bottom left corner—this thing sends information constantly. I tried to have this device removed (which is illegal in Norway since 2017), and it is similarly ‘unlawful’ to move it outside the house. Such dreadful devices must be inside the house.
The best the electrician could do is to move the antenna and attach it to the outside (he claims this would be permissible); I’m also installing Faraday’s cage once the renovations are done (and the old metal circuit breaker compartment does the rest), but I shall also paint it with special paint designed to stop/block radiation.
One aspect Bernd Stracke doesn’t mention must be talked about: forget EVs and the like for a moment, but everyone is incentivised to charge ‘their’ EVs at night, or wash the clothes at night as electricity is typically cheaper off peak demand hours (i.e., at night).
Problem is, though, that no-one bothers to read the fine print of their home/car insurance policies, which typically stipulate that if anything happens to, say, your car (e.g., the battery catches on fire at 2 p.m.) or your washing machine (e.g., it breaks and inundates the laundry room, thereby causing damage to your house) while you’re asleep, insurance won’t pay because you were in no position to rapidly intervene.
Until and unless this ‘loophole’ is fixed, those affected by such problems will have a very rude awakening.
‘Smart metering’ simply means ‘more control’ over consumers, and it doesn’t matter if the utility provider is ‘public’ or ‘private’. There’s no opt-out clause other than going off-grid, that is, provided you life in the countryside where you could have ‘alternative’ means of staying warm in winter etc.
We’re turning into ‘the Borg’ more rapidly than before. Buyer beware.
That final photo of your farm electricity meter box is chilling.
A 'green group' in Australia recently proposed to enter people's homes and catalogue everyone's appliances for the purposes of a 'community battery project.' I said if anyone enters my home for the purposes of making lists of what I own they will find themselves buried in my backyard as fertiliser.
I feel I’m back to “no words”… in the UK I’m/we are still a bit behind thankfully.
Many have volunteered to have them “to save the planet” of course.
Last couple of years they’ve started pushing cheaper tariffs and rewards if using them.
Just in the last couple of months I’ve started getting semi-threatening (completely non legal) emails from my supplier that I have to have one installed according to the government so when is a good time.
Ehhh never!!