Energy Minister Bill Boyd denies seeing the memo in question

 

NDP debuty leader Trent Wotherspoon again called for the resignation of Energy Minister Bill Boyd yesterday, in the wake of a memo regarding Smart Meters. 

Wotherspoon pointed to a 2012 memo from SaskPower and claims Boyd knew about it and met with SaskPower's CEO at the time.

The memo referenced smart meter-related fires in the U.S. and how the safety of the units might be questioned by the public.  In the memo SaskPower says it asked  Sensus (makers of the Smart Meters) about the fires and was assured it wasn't the meters themselves, but the wiring.  

Boyd said yesterday he doesn't remember receiving the memo and can't "recall" if he and then SaskPower CEO Robert Watson ever met to discuss the issue.

Watson resigned over the fiasco on Monday.  The 2012 memo was distributed by Mike Marsh, who was named the new CEO of SaskPower following Watson's resignation.

The Crown Investment Corporation recently released findings of their investigation into the matter that included 8 fires in Saskatchewan caused by the faulty units. The report explains that the units in the fires were completely destroyed but they were able to examine other smart meters that had failed and they all had leaks, allowing rain water to seep inside, causing malfunctions.

The report also states that "customer safety was not given a high enough priority by SaskPower" until after two months of complaints from customers. At that time, the government actually stepped in and ordered the program to be stopped.

CIC Minister Don McMorris says they will ensure that all the smart meters are removed by March 15th.