Jay Ma uses the free wifi at Coffee Catz, in Sebastopol, to work on his business Living Mandala on Thursday afternoon, March 4, 2010.

Emit less than microwaves

DEREK MOORE
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Research funded by PG&E found SmartMeters emit less radio frequencies than many other electronic devices, including cell phones and microwave ovens.

PG&E has begun rolling out the new meters in Santa Rosa and other North Coast cities and had planned to start work last month on converting 22,572 electric and gas meters in the Sebastopol area to the upgraded devices. But that has been pushed back for an undetermined amount of time for reasons unrelated to the city's request for a delay, PG&E spokesman Paul Moreno said.

He said the company routinely adjusts schedules as the need arises, and that it's only a matter of time before every meter in Sebastopol will be upgraded.

"There is no opt out," he said. "Every meter is going to be upgraded to a SmartMeter meter because they will no longer be manually read."

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