Smart-meter foes take war on city to federal court

The Illinois city of Naperville has become the latest noisy battleground in the war between smart-grid proponents and opponents.

Just before the start of the new year, a non-profit advocacy group called Naperville Smart Meter Awareness (NSMA) filed a complaint in federal court seeking to stop the installation of smart electricity meters at homes throughout the city, a community of around 142,000 located west of Chicago. The group has gathered just over 4,200 signatures seeking a citywide vote on whether the smart metering project and its associated wireless communications network should be installed or dismantled.

NSMA members object to the project, saying the technology poses “risks in the areas of privacy, costs, security and health.”

City officials counter that “several thousand hours of staff time and resources has been dedicated to dispelling miscommunication, untrue statements and responses to this group dedicated to halting the project.”

Responding to the group’s request for a federal injunction stopping the project, city attorney Margo Ely said, “We are confident that the case will ultimately be dismissed by the court system … The lawsuit raises no new issues from the opposition. It simply has no merit.”

A hearing is scheduled today on an objection to a petition seeking to put the project to a public vote during the coming March 20 city election. The hearing is set to be broadcast live on local television.