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Health & Fitness

In this Wisconsin town, you get the smart meter or they shut you down

By Ryan Ekvall | Wisconsin Reporter

BARABOO – Residents in this small southern Wisconsin city have two choices when it comes to the brave new world of the Smart Grid:  Go along with new ‘smart’ meters for public utilities or get along without water, gas or electricity.

Most residents don’t make a fuss and let the utilities install the new smart meters – which are supposed to provide utility customers and taxpayers with savings from real-time data usage and less manpower needed to read traditional analog meters.

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Some residents, however, including 81-year-old Audrey Parker, say the smart meters are an invasion of privacy and they believe the technology’s use of radio frequency poses health concerns.

Parker and the Sheriffs, a Baraboo family, fought city hall over installation of the new meters and have seemingly lost.

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The two households had their water shut off on Tuesday.

“My husband is 74 years old and he’s been hauling 5 gallon buckets of water into the house for us to flush the toilet,” said Darcy Sheriff, 65. “It’s not even sanitary. It’s just a disgusting situation.”

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