Cities and Counties That Have Passed
Resolutions Against Smart Meters

 

1. Why Resolutions Are Important
2. Do Resolutions Have the Force of Law?
3. What Local Governments Say About Resolutions
4. How to Get a Resolution Passed
5. Model Resolution to Use
6. List of City and County Resolutions Against Smart Meters

Many Michigan cities and counties have passed resolutions against smart meters. In fact, every municipality that has been approached has passed a resolution. Is your municipality on this list? If not, get them on board! Contact us for information on how to do this, and a referral to someone skilled at getting these resolutions passed.

Why Resolutions Are Important
Getting local governmental bodies to pass resolutions is quite important, and we have been told by those who have worked in the legislature, as well as several lawyers, that getting more of them is essential to our cause. Resolutions by city and county governments give us a lot of leverage in getting legislation passed, because they show that local governmental bodies are concerned about smart meters. Moreover, they can—and have been—used in legal proceedings, including in the current appeals of the DTE opt-out.

Do Resolutions Have the Force of Law?
Resolutions do not have the force of law. They are a statement of a governmental body’s feeling. The legislature and the court take these resolutions into account when making decisions, and this is why getting your city and county governments to pass them is important.

What Local Governments Say About Resolutions
When first approached, every governmental body says that it has no power and cannot do anything about DTE. They tell you to go to the legislature or the Michigan Public Service Commission. But, as you just read above, the council has the power to pass a resolution, and many resolutions can be a powerful political force. The fact is, when the councils are educated, they pass the resolutions. The discussions at council meetings, usually broadcast via cable TV, educate many citizens and help to get the word out to more people.

How to Get a Resolution Passed
Contact us for more information on how to get resolutions passed, and for a referral to someone skilled at getting these resolutions passed in her city and elsewhere. She started off like most us—not knowing a thing. But she stepped in and is now helping others get them passed in their cities and counties.

We have found it very effective to have David Sheldon of Michigan Stop Smart Meters give a 20-minute to one-hour presentation to your council. At every presentation in which both he and DTE have appeared, the council has passed a resolution opposing smart meters. If you would like him to come and speak before your council, please contact him or us. To get him on the agenda, call your City Manager's office and request that they put smart meters on the agenda (for a future meeting) and tell them that you want David Sheldon to come and speak for 15 minutes (or more).  David can give a PowerPoint presentation if the council has a projector.  Contact us and/or contact David Sheldon at fdshel @ gmx . com. Be sure to put “Speak at Council Meeting” in the subject line of your email.

Model Resolution to Use
Here is a model resolution.  You likely won’t get your council to pass one as detailed as this, but it is a starting point.

(Many of the municipalities passing smart meter resolutions did so before anyone understood anything about dirty electricity, and before the Michigan Public Service Commission approved DTE’s and Consumers’ opt-out programs. Thus, the resolutions often do not contain all the language they would if they were passed today. Nonetheless, they stand as a show of governmental disapproval of the way the utilities are treating their customers and their customers’ health and privacy.)

 

City and County Resolutions Against Smart Meters

 

County Resolutions Against Smart Meters

• Allegan
• Macomb
• Oakland

City, Village, and Township Resolutions Against Smart Meters

• Allen Park
• Almont
• Brighton
• Brighton Twp
• Caro
• Dearborn Heights
• Fairgrove
• Farmington Hills
• Grosse Pointe Shores
• Grosse Pointe Woods
• Harrison Twp
• Lincoln Park
• Livonia
• Madison Heights
• Northfield
• Oak Park
• Reese
• Rochester
• Rochester Hills
• Romulus
• Royal Oak Twp
• Shelby Twp
• Southfield
• Sterling Heights
• Taylor
• Troy
• Vassar
• Vassar Twp
• Van Buren Twp
• Warren
• Ypsilanti

Vermont is the first state to pass a statewide, cost-free smart meter opt-out.

 

 

 

 

 

Newsletter, Facebook—Stay Up to Date

Stay up to date by subscribing to our newsletter (it comes out every 1 to 4 weeks). We constantly update our website, so check back often. You can find updates and time-sensitive actions to take under our “Alerts and Breaking News” box. We also use Facebook to send out quick news updates. (While we understand the privacy concerns with Facebook, at this point in time it is a useful tool for us, and is a great way to spread the word about smart meters. If you only wish to use Facebook for access to our updates, you can get an account without revealing personal information—it’s all in what you choose to share, and you can give them any name or birthdate you like.)

Our newsletter comes out every 1 to 4 weeks. It will keep you informed and tell you what actions you can take to fight smart meters. Note that most email programs will filter out our newsletter unless you adjust your email settings. Even though you may receive individual emails from us, when we send the newsletter out to a large group, the emails may be placed in a folder other than your inbox. This happened to us! We weren’t even getting our own newsletter.. Please make sure you look for emails from smartmetereducationnetwork@ gmail. com in your Promotions, Spam, Junk, or other folders. Please contact your email provider to learn how to adjust your settings, or search on the internet.