PITT APPLIES FOR ELECTRICITY INFORMATION TO TARGET GROW-OPS

The District of Pitt Meadows has applied to B.C. Hydro for
information on electricity usage in several homes.

The applications are part of a three-month pilot project to eliminate
residential marijuana grow-operations through safety inspections.

District bylaw inspector Leslie Elchuk said staff is currently
finalizing procedures.

"We will start going once we get everything in place and everybody
knows their job," she said.

Under the program, RCMP will forward a list of suspected grow-ops to
a team of four comprised of a bylaw officer and building, fire and
electrical inspectors.

Under the province's Safety Standards Amendment Act, which came into
force in June, B.C. Hydro and other electrical utilities can share
domestic electrical consumption information with municipal safety authorities.

B.C. Hydro spokesperson Elisha Moreno said only one application from
a municipality has been received for information on abnormal
consumption since the act came into effect.

A residence has abnormal consumption if it uses more than 93
kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity per day or three-times the
average. An average home uses 31 kWh a day.

Moreno said B.C. Hydro will provide the municipality with details of
consumption over 25 months.

"That will give an accurate picture of whether or not weather and
climate will impact consumption," she said.

"It is important to note that there are going to be customers in all
of this that will be on the list at certain times of year and not on
that list at other times of the year."

Once the information is received, Pitt Meadows staff will research
the house, looking for inexplicably spikes in electricity and water use.

If the information gleaned points to a possible grow-op, a notice
advising the resident that an inspection of the premises will be
conducted in 48 hours is posted.

RCMP officers will accompany the team on all inspections and clear
the house if a grow-op is found.

Elchuk said a no-occupancy notice will be posted at the house if an
electrical bypass, mould or furnace modifications are found.

The inspections are expected to start at the end of the month. The
team in Pitt Meadows expects to target 10 homes in residential areas
during the three-month pilot project.

According to a study released by the University College of the Fraser
Valley in March last year, Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows are one of
the fastest growing areas in B.C. for marijuana cultivation.

The report showed that the number of marijuana cases in Maple Ridge
and Pitt Meadows since 1997 had risen 375 per cent, including 152
cases in 2003 - representing 3.4 per cent of all those in B.C. that year.

Elchuk researched similar pilot projects done in Surrey and
Abbotsford when pitching the project to council earlier this year.

In Surrey, the program shut down 120 alleged grow-ops in a 90-day period.

In Abbotsford, 32 houses were inspected. Electrical bypasses were found at 20.