Pubdate: Wed, 16 Oct 2002
Source: Brampton Guardian (CN ON)
Copyright: 2002 Brampton Guardian
Contact:  http://www.thebramptonguardian.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1485
Author: Pam Douglas

POT HOUSES PUTTING STRAIN ON HYDRO BILLS

Houses With Pot Labs Are Dangerous

That house on your street being used to grow marijuana could cause an 
increase in your hydro bill. Brampton Hydro One One officials have been 
working with Peel police in an attempt to stop the massive theft of 
electricity and the damage done to hydro property by the operators of the 
residential hydroponics growing labs.

"This is something that is costing a lot of money," said a hydro official 
who did not want to be identified because of his direct involvement in the 
project. "In the end, we are a non-profit organization and somebody has to 
pay. It's on the backs of other homeowners."

Since July, the 115 marijuana labs identified in this area have cost 
Brampton Hydro One $1.25 million. The bulk of the money is the cost of 
stolen hydro. The rest is the approximately $2,000 per house needed to dig 
and repair the damage done to the hydro cables at each home, according to 
authorities.

So far, Brampton Hydro One has managed to collect $750,000. The money is 
recovered from the owner of the home. Many willingly pay hydro bills 
averaging between $15,000 and $20,000 because service is cut off until the 
bill is settled, according to officials.

It's not known what long-term effect the heavy usage may have on the power 
cables. The average homeowner uses between 35 and 45 kilowatt hours per day 
while a marijuana growing lab set up in a house drains between 400 and 800 
kilowatt hours per day.

"The cables aren't really designed to handle that," the hydro official said.

In an attempt to find more of the thieves, the last hydro bill mailed to 
customers included a list of things neighbours can look for to identify a 
marijuana lab, and the telephone number of the Peel police Morality Bureau.

Money isn't the only concern, or the most important, for hydro officials, 
though.

They say safety concerns are paramount in their quest to search out and 
shut down the drug operations.

One hydro official called it a "rat's nest of wires" inside a home modified 
for growing marijuana and said many light fixtures are "live to the touch."

Peel police Insp. John Nielsen has expressed the same concerns.

The 1,000 watt Mylar bulbs used to grow the marijuana plants suck a lot of 
electricity, so to avoid detection, the hydro boxes at the sides of the 
houses are circumvented, according to Nielsen. That creates a serious fire 
hazard because those doing the rewiring are not electricians, and the work 
is often done incorrectly. In some cases it has left the lawn around the 
hydro boxes "live" and, under certain circumstances, deadly.

"These houses are only five feet apart," Nielsen said last year while 
standing outside one of the residential drug labs. "What I don't want is 
one of these to go up in flames and some innocent kids or people getting 
killed because they were trapped in their house in the middle of the night."

Authorities say they have only found the "tip of the iceberg" when it comes 
to residential marijuana growing labs.

Police and hydro officials say for those homeowners renting their 
properties to a tenant, it is their responsibility to check on it once in a 
while.

As for neighbours, some of the tip-offs are: Nobody is ever home, the 
people who rent the home come by for two hours during the day or night, and 
then leave again, there is a strange odour from the house, the windows are 
never open, the air conditioner never runs, the windows are covered up, 
there is never any natural lighting coming from the upper or lower levels, 
there are indications the ground has been dug up around the hydro box, a 
television is left on, yard work or snow shoveling isn't done regularly.

"These guys want to do a little bit of work, just to blend into the 
neighbourhood," Nielsen said.
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MAP posted-by: Alex