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A French court authorized 13 people to refuse the installation of Linky, a connected electricity meter installed in homes all over France, due to medical problems caused by the waves emitted by these devices. The meter has been skeptical since its introduction in 2015 and resistance to mandatory installation is increasing.
Thousands of people across France have refused the mandatory installation of Linky meters, which Enedis, which runs the French power grid, has been installing for free since 2015.
Some have locked access to their meters to prevent technicians from changing them. More than 700 cities have refused to work with Enedis to replace the meters.
"The preoccupations [about the Linky meters] Cécile Chamaret, badociate professor and researcher at École Polytechnique, studied the adoption of innovation through the lens of the French installation Linky.
"The benefits have been sold to people, but as long as they perceive a risk … they do not care about the benefits," she added.
The Linky meters are part of a move towards a smart grid in France and must replace the 35 million electricity meters in the country.
They communicate electricity consumption directly to the supplier, which provides more accurate usage information and allows for more accurate billing. It also means that a technician is no longer required to visit individual homes to check their meters.
The information is transmitted via power lines, a technology called power line communication (PLC). Some people say that the electromagnetic waves transmitted by this transmission make them sick.
Électrosnitivité
The lawsuits against the facility were brought before 22 courts in the country and most were dismissed. A handful of them were victorious using the health argument.
Electrosensitivity, or electromagnetic hypersensitivity, is not recognized as a medical diagnosis and has not been scientifically proven. But some people say they suffer from various disorders, such as headaches or sleep problems, that they attribute to exposure to electromagnetic waves emitted by household appliances, electrical installations or mobile phone towers.
The Tours court said Wednesday that 13 of the 121 cases heard against Linky had enough documented medical problems related to chronic fatigue and sleep problems, which "may be related to Linky's counter." other models.
The judicial decision is based on the precautionary principle and does not constitute a scientific decision on the safety of devices. The National Frequency Agency (ANFR) has studied the exposure to the waves and concluded that the transmission did not significantly increase the ambient electromagnetic field.
In 2017, the National Health and Safety Agency, Anses, said that there was very little chance that these devices would cause damage. The level of exposure to electromagnetic waves is very low compared to those emitted by other household appliances, such as lamps and screens.
A range of concerns
Linky does not only raise health issues. People also refuse the meters because they are worried about how information about their energy consumption will be used.
The fact that the installation is mandatory does not help to dispel suspicions, particularly at this time in France where part of the population is rebelling against the government.
For Chamaret, the Linky meter resistance, although it predates the Yellow Vest movement, is indicative of the feeling that "the government is suppressing the choice".
Moreover, the French have a tendency to skepticism. For example, a recent poll showed that the French are the most skeptical about vaccines in the world.
In Chamaret's research, these worlds overlap.
"During our interviews, we met people who had attended anti-vaccination meetings and started hearing about Linky at these meetings," she said.
But, she adds, Linky's skeptics are also technology enthusiasts, "but they ask: what is the need to replace millions of counters that work perfectly? There is also this ecological problem.
Linky meters include "all types of risks you can think of," says Chamaret. "That's why the resistance is really strong."
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