HYDRO BILL PASSED

Heavy users of electricity will be reported to police under a new
bill introduced this week.

Near the end of this month, municipalities will have BC Hydro records
on demand, data which will be turned over to police to determine if
spikes in power use were caused by a marijuana-grow operation.

Marijuana grow-ops require high power consumption, typically three to
10 times the amount used by a normal home.

"This amendment will help local authorities target and shut down
marijuana grow operations more quickly and more efficiently,"
Minister of Public Safety John Les said in the legislature Thursday,
as he introduced Bill 25.

"With these amendments, municipalities now will be able to obtain
information from electricity companies about residences with unusual
power consumption."

Names and addresses of account holders will be given to local
authorities to investigate whether those homes contain a grow
operation. But using the bill to put a dent in grow-ops in Maple
Ridge and Pitt Meadows could strain resources.

Cpl. John McDougall, the officer-in-charge of Ridge Meadows drug
section, has mixed feelings.

"When you look at it from a safety aspect, it's great. But it is
going to mean a lot of resources," he said, not for just the RCMP,
but fire departments, bylaw and building inspectors.

The bill is the latest tool in a program launched by the Surrey fire
department that sees high energy users put on notice for inspection.
Non-compliance results in power to the home being shut off.

Maple Ridge Coun. Judy Dueck sees two sides to the law.

"I think it's positive in that it gives police another tool. It
should be very positive but the negative side is some safety concerns."

Dueck is worried that grow-op operators now will be tempted to bypass
Hydro meters, increasing the chance of electrical fires.

Surrey and Abbotsford are the only cities in the region running the
initiatives.

One of the main impediments to the program, investigators say, has
been the time-consuming process of acquiring BC Hydro information
through the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.

To do an FOI, the city first had to have tips from neighbours.

Now, the investigation process will be reversed: power records first,
then assessment.

"A key trigger for the inspections was unusual electricity
consumption, but obtaining that information at the time was a
challenge," according to Surrey Fire Chief Len Garis.

"The greater availability of energy consumption information is
expected to greatly expand the ability of these inspection programs
to disable marijuana-grow operations in our neighbourhoods."

Launched last year, the Electrical Fire Safety Initiative involved
fire, police, bylaw and building inspectors tracking high energy use
and posting a notices saying homes would be inspected in 48 hours.

"The pilot (program) results exceeded expectation," notes Garis.

"The Surrey - team processed 420 police tips and rendered safe 119
grow operations."

Ridge Meadows RCMP have discussed the plan with the fire departments
and municipalities of Pitt Meadows and Maple Ridge. No decisions have
been made on whether it will be implemented this year.

Maple Ridge has 16 full-time fire firefighters and relies heavily on
its pool of 100 on-call staff, so a big question is resources.
"Everybody has a pretty full plate right now," said fire chief Peter
Grootendorst.

"Any new project you take on means something either has to fall off
or you have to look at reorganizing it."

Right now, both municipalities are judging whether the plan makes
sense in their communities.

"We already have a grow-op bylaw in Maple Ridge, so what we are
looking at is, does it make sense to do something additional,"
Grootendorst said.

Garis acknowledges the new legislation will be controversial.

"The new program may be viewed by some as an infringement of privacy,
however it is believed that the public's safety is more compelling
and outweighs any privacy rights," Garis said.

"Through this legislation, the provincial government - as part of its
duty to its citizens - has enabled local governments to immediately
and effectively address the grave public safety threat by residential
grow operators."

Whether the police and fire investigate the homes in a blitz or over
a sustained period is yet to be determined.

"We just don't know what we've got out there," Garis said.

However Jason Gratl, president of the B.C. Civil Liberties
Association, said the legislation seems "neither necessary or desirable."

He notes there are enough marijuana-grow operations to keep police
busy for a long time, without the use of power records.

"It all seems a little much for such a purpose," Gratl said Thursday.

"This is one part of a larger tendency of this provincial government
to attempt to simplify the investigative techniques of the RCMP by
providing the police with access to information from other sources."