Pubdate: Wed, 30 Jan 2002 Source: Kitchener-Waterloo Record (CN ON) Copyright: 2002 Kitchener-Waterloo Record Contact: http://www.therecord.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/225 Author: Frank Etherington, Record Staff POT GROWERS PILFER $2M IN HYDRO Stolen electricity used to nourish a proliferating crop of home-grow marijuana operations is costing Waterloo Region and Guelph utility companies about $2 million a year. And the financial consequences of stolen power that juices about 200 pot gardens in area homes is seen in higher customer bills, utility managers agree. Depending on the size of the high-risk operations, the managers estimate the stolen electricity -- hot-wired around hydro meters -- is worth about $1,000 a month per home. Ron Charie, Kitchener-Wilmot Hydro manager, said the $2-million estimate for hydro stolen every year by pot-grow operations "sounds reasonable." "Those millions are part of the reason we're taking an aggressive approach with police . . . it's regular customers who end up paying more for power when this continues," he said. Taxpayers are also billed for the cost of police investigations, prosecutions and work done by firefighters to control blazes at home-grow operations. Among other costs, they also pay for time involved for inspections and repair work done by hydro workers, as well as costs involved when children are taken into agency care after home-grow raids. Staff Sgt. Ray Massicotte of the Waterloo regional police drug squad said intelligence data shows that while police are raiding dozens of in-house dope farms, more than 200 local operations continue to harvest pot crops. He said every officer involved in home-grow investigations earns about $30 an hour and spends 60 to 120 hours plus overtime on a case. Police have raided 70 indoor pot gardens in the past two years, confiscating an average of $1 million worth of marijuana every month. In that time, fire caused by home-grow operations damaged or gutted three Kitchener and Cambridge homes. In addition to unsafe hookups created to conceal unusually high electricity consumption, police have found toxic cocktails of dangerous chemicals used to feed plants, Massicotte said. Police, who found children playing around pot-growing equipment, have called in child-welfare workers who took at least 15 children into care. Meanwhile, police involved in raids in Hamilton and London found booby traps set to detonate if intruders went too close to home-grow crops. Because the operations are a minefield of unsafe conditions, hydro managers said safety training is being given to workers called in to clean up after home-grows. John Grotheer, manager at Cambridge-North Dumfries Hydro, said "awesome-sized'' marijuana operations at homes in his area have consumed large amounts of stolen power. "When I look at the number investigated, it's obvious they result in a major financial loss for all of us," he said. Al Clark, Waterloo North Hydro manager, said the theft of power is expensive, but he's more worried about safety issues experienced by homeowners who live near home-grows. "These people (who grow pot) are a hazard to themselves . . . and certainly cause fire hazards for their neighbours," he said. Charie said when courts order convicted growers to repay the cost of stolen power, restitution is rarely made. "This is not a regional problem, it's country-wide," he said. "Costs are enormous . . . and our first responsibility is to protect our honest customers who pay their hydro bills on time." - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D