HIDDEN AGENDA FOR SMART METERS

Battle to Curb $154m in Losses to Marijuana Grow Ops May Ding All Of
US

It's amazing how the amount of electricity stolen by marijuana growers
in B.C. is increasing faster than a hippie's appetite after a double
bong hit.

A new report cited by B.C. Hydro pegs the annual amount of power
stolen by marijuana grow ops at an astonishing $109 million.

The report adds some new categories: "illegitimate" power use by
marijuana growers who actually pay their bills, and the amount of
money B.C. Hydro must spend on upgraded infrastructure to deliver all
that power to thousands of grow ops.

Total damage to B.C. Hydro and its customers from marijuana grow ops:
$154 million a year, the equivalent of a five-per-cent surcharge on
your electricity bill.

B.C. Hydro's answer to the problem: spend $1 billion on smart meters
to stop pot-producing power poachers.

It's hard to know where to begin explaining how screwed up and
illogical this is.

But first, let's review Hydro's recent history of estimating
marijuanarelated power theft.

Grow ops need a lot of electricity to power high-wattage lamps, water
pumps, dehumidifiers, security systems and other equipment. Growers
often steal electricity, by tampering with Hydro's existing "dumb
meters," or diverting power from the main supply line.

In 2004, Hydro estimated marijuana power theft at $12 million a year.
Then Hydro rolled out its plan to install smart meters.

Hydro estimated power theft at $30 million last August, then $100
million in the spring, and now $154 million from theft and
illegitimate use.

A cynic might suspect Hydro was exaggerating grow-op thefts to gain
support for its smart meters from suspicious customers.

After all, the original purpose of smart meters is to jack up your
electricity bill through "time of use" billing, where you pay more for
consuming power at peak periods, such as around dinner time.

Hydro denies the smart meters will be used for time-of-use billing.
Instead, the smart meters will be used for things such as catching all
those illegal grow ops, it says.

Really?

If Hydro wanted to catch powerstealing pot growers, it could hire a
few dozen retired cops to inspect power lines for signs of tampering
or jerry-rigging. That would cost a lot less than $1 billion.

Ironically, many marijuana growers like the idea of smart meters,
because it means Hydro won't be sending snoopy meter readers around
their houses any more.

"It's actually better to have the smart meter," writes an anonymous
poster on rollitup.org, a marijuana chat room.

"The guys that check meters won't have to go in your yard any more,
eliminating any chance of seeing or smelling something."

Other large-scale growers are switching to diesel-powered generators
to conceal electricity use. Just last week, Mounties busted a huge
grow-op near Hope powered by a dozen gas generators.

And do you really think clever growers won't figure out a way to
bypass the smart meters, just like they bypass the dumb meters now?
Google "hack your smart meter" for the answer.

The bottom line: B.C. Hydro is stoking reefer madness. It loves
pushing this stamp-out-grow-ops line because that's its best argument
for selling the public on smart meters.

My prediction: Marijuana production in B.C. will continue to soar,
while you get gouged on your electricity bill with time-of-use billing.