Marijuana operation's power theft difficult to estimate
Monday, June 16, 2008 11:43 PM PDT
By Leslie Slape
Printable version
E-mail this articleIt’s impossible to know how much power two large Longview marijuana-growing operations stole from the Cowlitz PUD, but it could be worth more than $10,000.
When the Longview Police Street Crimes Unit asked the Cowlitz County PUD to look at an electric meter at 1221 Spruce St. during an investigation that began May 21, a PUD supervisor discovered something curious.
According to the police report, an employee removed the meter, which should have stopped the power. Instead, a PUD clamp-on meter showed an unmetered load of amperage still going into the house.
That was enough for Street Crimes detectives to request a search warrant for power theft. When police entered the house June 7, they discovered it was entirely devoted to growing marijuana.
The Street Crimes Unit is still investigating the case. Van Dat Nguyen, the only person arrested so far, is scheduled for a court appearance Tuesday morning.
According to police reports, the PUD found diversion of power within the attic that went to an additional circuit box connecting 45 transformers and capacitors to the grow lights on timers. Bypass lines near the power meter ran up to the attic, police said.
The same type of power diversion was done at 4411 Poplar Way, the site of a marijuana factory twice the size of the one on Spruce, police said.
Because the PUD does not know exactly how many grow lights were used or what wattage, it’s impossible to know how much revenue was lost, said Dave Andrew of Cowlitz PUD. It’s also unknown how long the factories were pirating power, but both homes were purchased in May 2007.
In Canada, where whole-house marijuana grows have been operating at least since 1999, the average bypass steals at least 300 kilowatt-hours of electricity per day, according to a story in Police Chief, a Canadian online law enforcement magazine.
That’s 10 times the average household electricity consumption, the story said.
Andrew said if the Longview grow houses used 300 kilowatt hours a day and operated for a year, it would average $5,600 worth of power per house, or a total theft of about $11,200.
“If it’s the right amount or close, we don’t know,” he said.
Power theft by grow house operators in Ontario, Canada, totaled $85 million in 2004, according to a March 2007 story in the Hamilton Spectator in Ontario.
Andrew said during the past 12 months, the PUD discovered 21 customers who bypassed electric meters or tampered with power, albeit on a less elaborate scale than the two recently discovered marijuana grow houses.
“In fairness to all customers, when we find someone stealing power, we get to the bottom of it,” he said.
Tampering with power is not only thievery, it’s dangerous.
Deputy fire marshal James Graham said firefighters always shut down the power before entering a burning structure. If the meter is bypassed, the house is still alive with electricity, causing risk of electric shock.
“It seems to be fairly rare, but it is something we train on and talk about, because of the potential threat that it poses,” said Mike Zainfeld of Cowlitz 2 Fire & Rescue. “Anytime we secure the power to a structure, we still treat it as live wires and be cautious.”
Graham said drug growers also often use generators to supplement power and plug them into regular circuits. That can backfeed electricity into the system when the power is presumed to be disconnected. A transformer overload can cause a fire.
“Typically, people doing modifications are not electricians. They’re not pulling out a permit from the county to do it properly,” Graham said.
Andrew agreed.
“When local experts are taken out of the picture, it raises the possibility of someone being hurt.”
Related story:
"Today’s pot twice as strong as 1980s pot"
Rural Citizen wrote on Jun 17, 2008 8:55 AM:
What is wrong with the thinking today? Can't anyone do a "word problem" in reverse? "
tugtrio wrote on Jun 17, 2008 10:58 AM:
TDN Bad Boy wrote on Jun 17, 2008 10:58 AM:
momto1 wrote on Jun 17, 2008 11:13 AM:
rosy wrote on Jun 17, 2008 1:27 PM:
Kaijakoira wrote on Jun 17, 2008 1:31 PM:
Kaijakoira wrote on Jun 17, 2008 3:27 PM:
Gondolapete wrote on Jun 17, 2008 3:42 PM:
Dahlaw wrote on Jun 17, 2008 5:57 PM:
That doesn't make sense. If marijuana was legal this would not be a problem? Wrong. They were stealing power for 2 reasons....1) to save money and 2) conceal the operation. If marijuana was legal they would steal power for $$$ savings. "
Mrs. Pellwerds wrote on Jun 17, 2008 8:36 PM:
local-leo wrote on Jun 18, 2008 8:05 AM:
GregN wrote on Jun 18, 2008 10:27 AM:
Rosey Glasses wrote on Jun 18, 2008 10:28 AM:
mole wrote on Jun 18, 2008 10:53 AM:
Kelso Guy wrote on Jun 18, 2008 12:15 PM:
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