Oct 08 2010
Hydro theft by BC pot growers costs $100m a year
BC hydro estimates that theft of electricity by illegal marijuana growing operations costs the utility $100 million a year. The amount stolen is equivalent of three-per-cent increase in customers’ hydro bills each year. In 2006, Hydro commissioned three independent studies that found 500 gigawatt hours (GWh) a year was being stolen from the grid by grow operations, and now the study is being refreshed: the new estimates show 850 GWh a year are now being stolen. That’s enough electricity to power 77000 homes a year.
Since we are living in a world of scarcity, everybody desires to use the currently available resources to make money. Same for the marijuana growers, they used so much electricity —- it’s just that they did it in an illegal way by stealing the electricity. We pay the government tax so much and as well as the electricity fee, and in the end consumers just end up with losing electricity power to marijuana growers. More of that, the amount of electricity lost each year is still increasing, all these symptoms show that we surely need a much better plan to protect our consumer’s benefit.
news source: http://www2.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=2deb7b35-c988-44a5-a8f9-b565d6f10a5a