Advocacy group taking City of Regina to court over issues with smart water meters

Members of an advocacy group in Regina are looking for answers and transparency as they launch a legal battle with the City of Regina over issues with smart water meters.

One of the plaintiffs, Tonie Wells, said the city left the group with no choice but to take legal action.

Read more:

• Regina woman fed up with city’s response to smart meter concerns
• ‘Ripping people off’: Regina man on disability refuses to pay high water bills
• ‘We’ve been heard’: Regina Smart Water Meter Alliance group meets with mayor

She’s part of the group United We Stand, which opposes the new water meters and shares concerns around rising bills, safety and installation issues.

“There have been a couple of groups over the years that have attempted to work with the city and get answers from the city, right back to even when they first started rolling this out,” she explained.

Wells said city councillors have told her “there’s just no appetite to talk about this.”

The city started replacing water meters in homes and businesses in October 2022.

The city claimed the project will help reduce emissions, as meter-reading vehicles that emit carbon dioxide during drive-by meter reads will no longer be required. The city said the system is expected to reduce community CO2 emissions by an estimated 10 tonnes per year. It also claims that the new meters collect water-use information, allowing customers to manage and conserve water and detect leaks.

She said members of her group have made countless phone calls, sent letters and emails, hired plumbers and recorded their own data trying to dispute issues or concerns with the city, but they’ve had no luck. Wells said the group has been stonewalled and shot down at every turn, and accused the city of bullying behaviour.

“We’re starting to get threatening letters. We’re getting door knockers (saying) ‘You’re going to be disconnected if you don’t make this appointment.’ It doesn’t sit well with us, and we started really feeling like this was just an overreach,” Wells said.

Wells said she’s been advocating for residents who have faced egregious bills after the smart meters were installed, saying she’s worked with an elderly man on disability who was handed a water bill of $2,400.

She said the man did everything he could to dispute the charge, including hiring a plumber to show that he had no leaks.

Wells said the man was bullied and coerced by the city to pay the bill under threats that his water would be shut off. She said that’s why her group is now taking the issue to court.

“The only choice that we were left was to file an injunction against the city to stop them from this behaviour, and to attempt to force them to talk to us,” she said.

The group filed the first injunction on Sept. 8. According to Wells, the injunction intended to “stop the city from disconnecting and threatening disconnection, their bullying tactics and their harassment on forcing the smart water meters.”

But that was dismissed by the court.

The second injunction by the group was filed on Oct. 23, and Wells said this injunction focuses on the medical and health risks of the water meters.

“A number of the plaintiffs literally cannot have the smart water meter, whether it be radiation illness, people suffering with cancer, or different reasons why their doctors have literally put up a doctor’s affidavit saying these people cannot be around it,” she explained.

On Nov. 6, a town hall meeting was held to give residents a chance to bring forward concerns around the meters.

Wells said around 30 people were in attendance at the meeting, with many expressing similar concerns. She said more than a dozen people got in touch with her afterwards, wanting to know more about her group and how to get involved.

“We are not a small fringe minority,” Wells said. “We are out there. A lot of people are just not feeling comfortable speaking up.”

Group looking for answers

Wells said the group is looking for transparency and an option to return to analog meters.

“Give us the data, give us the facts, give us the results of a pilot project so that we can go through it and rest assured that our safety is a primary concern, not money,” she said.

She said the opt-out option also needs to be “justified.”

People currently without the new meters who are tracking their own data and sending it to the city are being charged a $50 fee.

The city said it has decommissioned the previous meter reading system.

Wells isn’t optimistic about transparency from the city. She has filed a Freedom of Information request in hopes of getting more answers.

She said the group won’t back down until it has answers.

“We are going to continue taking the city head-on,” she said.

However, if the city is willing to talk, she said the group has an “open door” policy and would be willing to work with the city if it decided to “change its appetite.”

Wells said the group will be back in court in mid-December.

Meter installed in Wells’ home

Until recently, Wells was able to avoid getting the new smart water meter in her historic, 130-year-old home.

She has many concerns with the meter, but safety is top of mind.

“I just felt in my heart that something was not right, and I don’t want to put my family at risk and then have it installed, and then have to deal with the consequences,” she said.

Wells is a foster mom and currently has a newborn baby in her care.

The city wanted to install the transmitter right outside the baby’s room. Wells has concerns about the transmitter and lithium batteries.

On Nov. 19, Wells said her water was turned off, and as a mom, she felt she had no choice but to comply.

“It was not a good experience. And being forced like that is the over-reach that we’re talking about with the city,” she said.

She also said the city is not acting in good faith, having turned off her water and upgrading the system during active litigation.

“This impacted me a hell of a lot more than I ever thought it could,” she said.

City is confident in new meters

According to the city, 99 per cent of all the meters in Regina have been upgraded to smart meters.

“The City is confident in the new meters, which meet strict accuracy standards and are factory-calibrated and certified by the manufacturer before installation,” it said.

It said investigations into increased bills are linked to water usage within the property and not because of the new meters.

“There have been two cases where water meters were found to be inaccurate. In both cases, the issue was identified by the City and the City replaced the water meter at no cost to the customer,” it said.

The city said upgrades are mandatory.

“The old meters are at the end of service life and accuracy is declining. For this reason, refusal to upgrade may result in service disconnection,” it said.

Customers can request a meter test, but if no issues are found, the customer has to pay $87.50.

While the city said it was “satisfied” with the Court of King’s Bench dismissing the first filed injunction, it cannot comment further on the second application as it is currently before court.

— with files from 980 CJME