4,000 HOMES HAVE UNUSUAL HYDRO RATES

High Electricity Use Among Potential Signs Of Grow-Ops

Almost 4,000 homes in Nanaimo used unusually high amounts of
electricity in May, which is considered a possible sign of hidden
marijuana-growing operations, B.C. Hydro statistics show.

Under the Safety Standards Act, municipalities can a request a list
from B.C. Hydro with the addresses of homes with suspiciously high
power consumption, making it easier for police and city inspectors to
target indoor grow-ops. B.C. Hydro defines a high-consumption
residential home as using more than 93 kilowatt-hours per day; three
times what the average home uses.

A Freedom of Information request filed by the Nanaimo Daily News
revealed that 3,986 Nanaimo homes fit B.C. Hydro's definition of high
consumption for May, the most recent information available. The 2006
Statistics Canada census shows there were 33,525 private occupied
dwellings in Nanaimo at the time.

Exactly how many of these homes are actually housing grow-ops would
require more investigation by municipalities; air conditioners,
swimming pools and the size of a home can push homes past the 93 Kwh
per day threshold.

After narrowing down its long list of power-sucking residences, the
City of Surrey made major progress in tackling grow-ops in its
community, according to a recent study.

Nanaimo officials say they are watching how other municipalities are
using the Safety Standards Act, which sparked criticism from civil
rights groups in the past, but have not requested a list of homes that
use suspiciously high amounts of electricity. Nanaimo Mounties say the
number of indoor grow-ops they've encountered during the past two
years has remained consistent.

"We're in an information-gathering role and we'd like to know more
about it," said Randy Churchill, bylaws manager for the City of Nanaimo.

Surrey saw an 80.9% reduction in residential grow-ops between 2004 and
2008, according to a study released in June by the B.C. Centre for
Social Responsibility.

It attributed the success to the city's electrical and fire safety
inspection initiative, which began in 2005 as a pilot project that
would later lead to the introduction of the Safety Standards Act.

Now, 18 municipalities have requested lists of addresses from B.C.
Hydro at some point since 2007.

Surrey deputy fire chief Dan Barnscher, who manages the EFSI team,
explained that about 10,000 addresses have high-consumption rates of
electricity in the city, yet only a small number are flagged as
potentially housing a grow-op. If they determine there's a good chance
of marijuana being grown inside, city inspectors, accompanied by
police, pay the home a visit after first giving notice to the tenants
and owners.

"It's something that council has to be prepared to back up 100% and
the City of Surrey's mayor and council totally back this initiative
up," said Barnscher.

Before an inspection takes place, municipalities first research the
history of each home and whether there may be other factors behind a
high rate of electricity consumption.

Jason Kinch, building inspection manager for the City of Nanaimo, said
poorly insulated homes in the south end and a growing trend toward the
installation of heat pumps might influence the amount of electricity
local homes use.

He suspects Nanaimo homes overall consume about an average amount of
electricity. Meanwhile, grow-ops connected to stolen power sources
wouldn't show an increase in electricity use.

The Safety Standards Act has been the target of criticism from civil
rights groups and people who feel they've been targeted unfairly.

The B.C. Civil Liberties Association headed a constitutional challenge
that said the law violated people's rights and was being used as a
tool to conduct warrantless searches. A judge upheld the legislation
in a 2008 ruling, but said that officers who tag along with municipal
inspectors should have warrants before entering homes.

The B.C. Civil Liberties Association says that even if officers do get
warrants before accompanying inspectors, people's privacy rights are
still at risk under the act.