BILLING INFO A NEW TOOL AGAINST GROW OPS

The war being waged against marijuana grow-ops experienced another
major development May 9 with Bill 25 passing provincial
legislature.

The new law requires electrical companies to forward billing
information to municipalities so they can determine homes that are
using excessive amounts of energy, which can sometimes point to the
existence of a grow operation.

The bill is in response to Surrey Fire Chief Len Garis' proposal to
find new ways of shutting down grow-ops.

Electrical companies will now provide the city with two years of
electrical bills so investigators can isolate spikes in activity.

If a homeowner is approached for inspection and doesn't comply within
48 hours, their power will be cut off.

Constable Rick Peeler, media liaison for the Delta Police, said the
new law is a great tool for them in combatting grow-ops, and hopes it
will cause smaller operations from starting in the first place.

He said neighbors generally approach police after they notice
suspicious activity over a length of time, and this new method will
provide police with much faster tips.

Police will still have to go through the same investigations and
require the proper requirements for warrants.

"This law doesn't suddenly let us start kicking in people's doors;
there is still due process that must be followed," Peeler said.

Homeowners who have hot tubs or saunas have no need to panic, since
police investigations would discover these and recognize them as the
cause for higher electricity bills.

However, Michael Vonn, policy director for the B.C. Civil Liberties
Association, wasn't pleased to hear the news.

"This makes it a dark, dark day for us," he said. "We've been opposed
to this for a long time, and we're far from thrilled to see it pass
because it's another infringement upon peoples rights."

Vonn believes potential profits from grow-ops means people will
continue to run them, but will be forced to use more dangerous methods
of powering their operations, such as propane or circumventing
electrical meters.

Peeler stated BC Hydro currently monitors these types of bypasses
which set the meter readings so that they are consistent for every
month of the year.

"In that instance, alarm bells start to go off when the readings are
the same in the winter months when they are generally higher," Peeler
said.

"We definitely don't want people tampering with the meters, because
it's not only illegal but it's just not safe either."