Pubdate: Tue, 19 Mar 2002
Source: Cambridge Reporter, The (CN ON)
Copyright: 2002 The Cambridge Reporter
Contact:  http://www.cambridge-reporter.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1470
Author: Mark Nonkes
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada)

GROWERS PAY BACK HYDRO BILLS

Utility Recovers About $70,000 from Power-stealing Pot Growers

Cambridge and North Dumfries Hydro Inc. is working to recover thousands in 
lost revenue from marijuana growers stealing hydro for homegrow operations. 
And it is paying off.

In the last year, the utility has backbilled for $140,000 in stolen 
electricity from busted pot homegrowers, collecting just about half of the 
amount.

"Our success rate is very nearly 50 per cent," said Barb Shortreed, 
communications officer at Cambridge and North Dumfries Hydro.

Shortreed estimated the average homegrow operation sucks between $3,000 to 
$10,000 in stolen electricity, depending on the size of the crop and the 
stage in development at which it is busted.

A single residence used to grow marijuana probably steals hydro worth about 
$1,000 a month, used mainly for the huge lights and fans needed, she said.

Twenty-three homes have been raided in Cambridge in the last two years and 
were modified for the illegal farming.

The utility estimates how much power was stolen by calculating the size and 
age of the crop, and the energy demands of the bulbs, fans and 
transformers, then bills the grower accordingly.

Few fight repayment, she said, probably because the courts look favourably 
on an accused person's attempts at restitution.

"We try to be very diligent in our back-billing because it benefits the 
community," Shortreed said.

Other times judges will order the hydro bill to be paid upon conviction.

To avoid detection, homegrow operators bypass hydro meters and tap into 
underground lines using wires improperly connected and held together by 
spray foam insulation to bypass meters.

Transforming a house into a grow operation is destructive and dangerous. 
The home's wiring is usually altered. Wires from the underground line are 
run through an opening in the house such as a basement window or hole 
chopped through the foundation. Windows are usually blackened and the heavy 
moisture needed for marijuana growing destroys plaster and wooden areas and 
creates harmful bacterial deposits that can damage lungs, especially a child's.

If a home owner is found stealing electricity for a drug operation, the 
power supply is turned off until the bill is paid, Shortreed said. Such 
residences need to be safely rewired and reconnected to the power grid 
safely, and inspected before the lights go on again.

However, such homes are rare, Shortreed said. Most homegrows are the work 
of tenants.

In the past year police have raided about 70 marijuana houses in Waterloo 
Region. Police estimate there are at least 200 more such houses in Waterloo 
Region, stealing hydro for home-grown operations - representing millions in 
stolen hydro.

The losses are mainly recovered by raising energy prices to all users.

"It's the same as shoplifting at Zellers," said Shortreed. "Everyone pays. 
It (shoplifting losses) are worked into the overall cost of doing business."

Shortreed could not say how much local consumers are paying to cover losses 
from homegrow operations, but North Waterloo-Wilmot Public Utilities 
officials said pot operations have added about $3 to the average bill.
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