The Fairfax Town Council has asked the California Public Utilities Commission to put the brakes on plans by Pacific Gas and Electric to install remote-controlled "smart meters" in the town.

The council voted unanimously Wednesday to ask the commission to place a moratorium on the installation of the wireless devices, scheduled to begin in July, until an independent third party can review the program. The council has also asked that the state make participation in the program voluntary, allowing Fairfax residents to opt out at their request.

While the commission is already investigating whether the meters accurately report gas and electricity use - following reports of significantly higher energy bills by customers in areas that have received the meters - Fairfax officials say they're more concerned about the potential health threat posed by the meters' radio transmissions.

"The concern is that these things equate to cell phone towers times 10, and that the ambient electromagnetic and radio wave fields that will come as a result of having these things at every house running constantly is an unforeseen health risk," said Fairfax Mayor Lew Tremaine. "For people who are sensitive to electromagnetic radiation, it's going to be a living nightmare."

PG&E spokesman Paul Moreno said the radio signals emitted by the smart meters are "well within the limits" established by the Federal Communications Commission.

"The meters emit a signal once every four hours for a fraction

of a second, and at very low power," Moreno said. "These levels are far below what you would find in many common household appliances."

The utility has said its smart meters will allow for greater efficiency by making it easier for customers to learn exactly how much energy they're using.

"They offer much more information about energy usage, with electricity usage in hourly increments and gas usage in daily increments," Moreno said.

Yet Fairfax officials have questioned the company's motives. The town has sparred with PG&E in the past; Fairfax is one of the staunchest supporters of the Marin Clean Energy plan, which is competing with PG&E for customers.

"It's just a little Orwellian," Tremaine said of the utility's plans. "The accuracy (of the smart meters) is a big question. Lots of people who have them now have seen a marked increase in their PG&E bills."

Moreno said those increases actually reflect the accuracy of the meters.

"In the vast majority of situations, the higher bills can be attributed to increased usage due to seasonal changes, as well as rates being higher than in the previous summer," Moreno said.

Concerns about the meters' accuracy prompted Public Utilities Commission President Michael Peevey to order PG&E on Tuesday to make the confidential status reports on its smart meter program available to anyone who asks for them.

Fairfax officials would also like to see the utility discuss the impact of its new wireless meters on the jobs of those employees who previously visited homes and read meters.

"What they're doing is putting a whole bunch of people out of a job," Tremaine said.

PG&E says it will provide job training for its meter readers, two-thirds of whom are temporary employees.

"About 80 percent of readers have since transitioned to other jobs within the company," Moreno said. "Meter reading has historically been a stepping stone toward other employment at PG&E, although some people do make an entire career out of reading. We've had very good success at helping meter readers interested in staying with the company transition to other jobs."

The company has invited customers with questions about the program to call its Smart Meter Hotline at 1-866-743-0263.

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Read more Fairfax stories at the IJ's Fairfax section.

Contact Rob Rogers via e-mail at rrogers@marinij.com; the Associated Press contributed to this report.