Free choice. That’s what makes this country great — the ability to choose the things that matter (“PUC should not block ‘smart meters’ program,” Oct. 15).

We not only exercise this right during elections, but in our everyday lives.

We choose where we want to live, what kind of car to drive, where to go and what to do.

We choose whether or not to have a cell phone, who our cell phone carrier is and how many minutes we want.

If we are concerned about lung cancer, we don’t have to smoke.

If we are concerned about pesticides, we don’t have to have our lawn sprayed and we can buy organic food.

America thrives on choice, and we wouldn’t have it any other way, so when CMP tells us we don’t have a choice regarding whether or not to have a wireless smart meter installed on the side of our home, it’s a problem.

Many people are worried about smart meters.

Health risks are just one of the concerns.

There are other significant, critical issues surrounding privacy and security that have not received a lot of publicity, and issues about billing increases and whether time-of-use pricing is fair to those who cannot choose when they use electricity.

There are also issues concerning the rights of electromagnetically sensitive individuals and their lack of choice.

People deserve to have a choice about whether or not they want one of these untested meters on their homes and whether or not they want to accept the risks.

If we can’t choose to keep our old meter, then we should at least have the choice of having our smart meter hard-wired to address wireless risks around privacy, security and health. People deserve to feel safe and secure in their own homes, and CMP owes Mainers a choice.