Marijuana Growers Steal Electricity, Smart Meters, & Jay Hancock Pisses Off Rambo Brandon

There seems to be some concern brewing in Internet Land about the recent roll out of Electrical Smart Meters. Besides the expected Orwellian, medical and environmental concerns, it seems indoor marijuana growers may also have reason for concern, or at least that is what some would have you believe.

I recently came across an article by Baltimore Sun reporter Jay Hancock entitled â€œSmart Meters Could Bust Marijuana Nurseriesâ€. While nothing was particularly noteworthy about the article, Jay did manage to piss me off. He basically makes the claim that all indoor marijuana growers are pirates and thieves who steal electricity.

In Jayâ€™s own words.

â€œIt’s not that pot growers are using metered kilowatts to grow their weed. Rather, they’re pirating electricity by tapping the lines and routing it, unmetered, to their nurseries. Apparently it’s difficult for the utility to detect unless they see the illegal lines because they have so little information about what’s going on on the grid. Smart meters measure in real time how much energy goes into a network and how much is used at the other end by paying customers. Any difference, apart from normal resistance and line loss, is theft.â€

Iâ€™m not sure how many â€œmarijuana nurseriesâ€ they have in Baltimore, Jay, but Iâ€™m sure youâ€™re well qualified to write on the subject being as your area of expertise is economics. I wonder how it is, that Iâ€™ve managed to grow marijuana for nearly two decades and have never stolen a single watt of power from the utility companies. In fact, I know hundreds of other marijuana growers and I can honestly say, Iâ€™ve never met anyone who steals their power. Iâ€™m not going to make the claim that marijuana growers do not steal electricity. Itâ€™s not difficult to steal. You donâ€™t need to be Nikola Tesla, it only requires a set of jumper cables or balls big enough to wire 240 volts hot.

So where are all these dope growing electrical thieves hiding out? According to the article this is a big problem in B.C. where â€œillegal electricity use by pot growers adds three percent to BC Hydro customers’ billsâ€. By stopping the â€œnurseriesâ€ in â€œbarns and attics and basementsâ€ BC Hydro plans to pay for their smart meters in under a decade.

While reading up on the subject I found plenty of articles speculating on the affects of smart meters on growing marijuana. Some articles are as bold as to say that smart meters can detect what kind of appliances you are using. Other suggest that grow lights will be detectable from the utility companies control center.

Here is the bottom line. If you are stealing power youâ€™re a thief and the utility companies have every right to try to track you down and stop you. Smart meters will make this easier for utility companies. On the other hand, if you are buying metered electricity from a utility company and paying your bills on time, they shouldnâ€™t and generally donâ€™t hassle you. Smart meters probably will not make any difference to growers who pay for the electricity that they use. Â If your use is suspicious, they can report accounts to law enforcement, but a large utility bill is not enough for a judge to issue a warrant. Â It could be a contributing factor to opening an investigation, but if you have your bases covered, they wonâ€™t get into your house.

I frequently see questions in the forums about how big an electric bill can get before you risk being reported. Granted, these questions are usually from first time growers wanting to run a 400 watt light in a closet. In truth, I have been curious myself. Iâ€™ve had my residential power bill up to about $2200 a month without any problems. Lets see who can set the record. Share with us your highest grow room electric bill in the comments. Commercial rate bills are disqualified. I know someone out there is going big.

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