Michigan Stop Smart Meters will host a public meeting in the East Community Room of the Ferndale Public Library from 6-8 p.m. today.

The event will include the presentation, “‘Smart’ Meters — Helping Us or Hurting Us?” addressed by a panel of speakers, and will be followed by an open discussion.

Lectures will include the future of “smart appliances” and how residents can protect themselves from the downsides of these technological advances.

Smart Meters were designed as advanced utility meters that can record a business or consumer's energy, water or gas usage in real time and in greater detail.

Groups like Michigan Stop Smart Meters say they are concerned about how the utility-backed meters threaten residents in various ways. They point to the privacy concerns of breaking down home activity by the minute, economic concerns about the high rates consumers pay and dangers from the meters continual emission of electromagnetic radiation.

Here’s a look at what the speakers will specifically cover in tonight's Michigan Stop Smart Meetings event:

Dr. Richard Meltzer – Overview: Meltzer will take a look at how society got to the point of “smart” appliances being forced upon citizens and why regulators have failed to ask the right questions or obtain meaningful evidence on which to base decisions.

Diana Ostermann – Harmful Radio Pulse: Ostermann will draw on her background as a retired manager in the cell phone industry to explain how “smart” meter radiation has effects that can outweigh those from cell phone usage.

David Sheldon – Threat to Privacy: Sheldon’s background in physics and economics will guide him in explaining how “smart” appliances are an invasion of privacy and economically inevitable if citizens don’t put a stop to it.

Admission is free and light refreshments will be provided.