NEW GLOUCESTER — Selectman Josh McHenry chastised board Chairman Steve Libby on Monday for taxpayer dollars being used to provide information from the Smart Meter Safety Coalition to board members and others.

“This is a huge issue that affects every home in town,” Libby shouted during the board meeting Monday night when the issue was raised. He said he opposes the meters and will not allow additional power poles on his land if his property is too far from a transmission pole.

“This is inappropriate use of town resources,” McHenry countered.

The exchange came during a two-hour presentation by CMP and the Smart Meter Safety Coalition, which opposes the new devices.

John Carroll, manager of communications and community relations for CMP, said Maine was awarded a $96 million federal grant and other funding to replace all 620,000 meters in Maine with two-way wireless networks and a meter data management system. So far, 280,000 meters have been installed. New Gloucester is expected to have the smart meters, for those who opt to have them, before March 2012.

Carroll said benefits to customers include saving money and energy, better power quality and faster restoration and more efficient operations. He said public health and safety issues have been addressed throughout hearings around the state and before the Maine Legislature and Public Utilities Commission.

He said the Maine Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the California Commission on Science and Technology and the World Health Organization have found insufficient evidence to conclude that is an association between exposure to the meter radio frequencies and cancer.

Carroll said residents would receive a letter explaining their options regarding smart meter installation.

He said converting to smart meter technology transforms Maine’s power grid while integrating modern information, communication and automation.

Four women representing the Smart Meter Safety Coalition presented information urging the public to opt out of the program.

Elisa Boxer Cook of Scarborough cited health concerns, cyber security breeches and radio frequency interference causing malfunctioning of wireless equipment such as Wi-Fi and Netflix. She also said smart meters should be rejected because they cause medical devices such as pacemakers and wireless insulin pumps to malfunction.

Other reasons to reject them, she said, include radio frequency spikes causing appliances to break, health effects such as migraine headaches, nausea, vomiting, muscle spasms, heart palpitations and sleeplessness from intense bursts of radiation that has just been classified as a “possible carcinogen” by the World Health Organization.