Note IEEE COMMITTEE ON MAN AND RADIATION—COMAR TECHNICAL INFORMATION STATEMENT RADIOFREQUENCY SAFETY AND UTILITY SMART METERS Jerrold T. Bushberg, Kenneth R. Foster, James B. Hatfield, Arthur Thansandote, and Richard A. Tell* Abstract—This Technical Information Statement describes Smart Meter technology as used with modern electric power metering systems and focuses on the radio frequency (RF) emissions associ- ated with their operation relative to human RF exposure limits. Smart Meters typically employ low power (-1 W or less) transmit- ters that wirelessly send electric energy usage data to the utility company several times per day in the form of brief, pulsed emis- sions in the unlicensed frequency bands of 902-928 MHz and 2.4-2.48 GHz or on other nearby frequencies. Most Smart Meters operate as wireless mesh networks where each Smart Meter can communicate with other neighboring meters to relay data to a data collection point in the region. This communication process includes RF emissions from Smart Meters representing energy usage as well as the relaying of data from other meters and emissions associated with maintaining the meter's hierarchy within the wireless network. As a consequence, most Smart Meters emit RF pulses throughout the day, more at certain times and less at others. However, the duty cycle associated with all of these emissions is very small, typically less than 1%, and most of the time far less than 1%, meaning that most Smart Meters actually transmit RF fields for only a few mi- nutes per day at most. The low peak power of Smart Meters and the very low duty cycles lead to the fact that accessible RF fields near Smart Meters are far below both U.S. and international RF safety limits whether judged on the basis of instantaneous peak power densities or time-averaged exposures. This conclusion holds for Smart Meters alone or installed in large banks of meters. Health Phys. 108(3):388–391; 2015 Key words: electromagnetic fields; radiation, non-ionizing; radio- frequency; safety standards INTRODUCTION THE INSTITUTE of Electrical and Electronics Engineers— Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (IEEE EMBS) Committee on Man and Radiation (COMAR) acknowledges public concern about the safety of exposure to radio fre- quency (RF) energy from Smart Meters, which are new- generation electric utility meters that are being installed in many parts of the world. This Technical Information Statement describes the Smart Meter technology and the levels of RF emissions from the meters in relation to U.S. and international RF safety limits and in comparison to RF signal levels from other sources. BACKGROUND Smart Meters (a term used both by industry and the public) are electric utility meters that have advanced com- munication capabilities that allow periodic collection of us- age data by the utility. In comparison to a slightly earlier generation of wireless-enabled meters that can be read re- motely by technicians driving through a neighborhood, Smart Meters engage in two-way communication with the utility, allowing frequent (hourly or better) reading of the meters and other functions. Eventually the technology could be extended to other utility meters as well, but at present it is mainly limited to electric meters. Electric utilities have installed Smart Meters and their associated Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) in many places around the world, partly in response to government incentives to adopt time-of-use pricing as an economic tool to improve the efficiency of the electric power grid by smooth- ing out the peaks and valleys of electricity demand through- out the day. AMI systems can also provide consumers with detailed data about household power consumption and pro- mote energy conservation. While they vary considerably in design with different vendors, most Smart Meter systems rely on wireless transmis- sion of data using standard wireless networking technologies. (A few systems send data over power lines or use some other means of communication not involving wireless transmis- sions.) Because of the resulting potential for exposure to RF energy, some citizens have raised concerns about possi- ble health risks from the use of Smart Meters. This Technical Information Statement addresses those concerns. *University of California, Davis School of Medicine, 2315 Stockton Blvd., FSSB 2500, Sacramento, CA 95817. The authors declare no conflicts of interest. For correspondence contact: Jerrold T. Bushberg at the above address, or email at jtbushberg@ucdavis.edu. (Manuscript accepted 10 September 2014) 0017-9078/15/0 Copyright © 2015 Health Physics Society DOI: 10.1097/HP.0000000000000217 388 www.health-physics.com Copyright © 2015 Health Physics Society. Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited.