A French court has allowed 13 people to refuse the installation of Linky, a connected electric meter being installed in homes across France, because of medical concerns over the waves emitted from them, reports Radio France Internationale.
The meter has been the subject of scepticism since it was first introduced in 2015 and there is growing resistance to their mandatory installation.
Thousands of people across France have been refusing the mandatory installation of the Linky meters, which Enedis, which manages France’s electrical grid, has been installing free of charge since 2015.
Some have locked the access to their meters to keep technicians from changing them. Over 700 towns have refused to work with Enedis on replacing the meters.
“The concerns [about the Linky meters] started when people were thinking about the benefits, and were unable to see them,” says Cécile Chamaret, an associate professor and researcher at Ecole Polytechnique, who has been looking at innovation adoption, through the lens of France’s Linky installation.
“The benefits were sold to people, but as long as people perceive risk… they don’t care about the benefits," she added.
The Linky meters are part of an evolution to a smart grid in France, and are to replace all 35 million electricity meters in the country.
They communicate electricity consumption directly to the provider, which gives more accurate usage information and allows for more precise billing. It also means a technician no longer needs to come to individual homes to check their meters.
Information is transmitted through the power lines, a technology called Power-line communication (PLC). Some people say that electromagnetic waves through this transmission is making them ill.
Cases against the installation have been brought before 22 courts across the country, and most have been rejected. A handful have been victorious, using the health argument.
Electrosensitivity, or electromagnetic hypersensitivity, is not recognised as a medical diagnosis and has not been scientifically proven. But some people say they suffer various disorders, like headaches or sleep problems, which they have attributed to exposure to electromagnetic waves emitted by household appliances, electrical installations or mobile phone relay towers.
The court in Tours on Wednesday said that 13 of the 121 cases it heard against Linky had enough documented medical concerns involving chronic fatigue and sleep problems, which "could have a link with the Linky meter”. It said that Enedis must replace the meters with other models.