BC HYDRO TO REPORT SUSPECTED POT FARMS UNDER NEW LEGISLATION

Until Now, Power Company Has Refused, Citing Privacy Laws, To Alert Police to Houses with Abnormally High Power Use

Provincial legislation introduced Thursday will require BC Hydro to hand over to municipalities a list of all addresses with unusually high power consumption -- a move police say could effectively drive marijuana growers out of residential areas.

There are an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 marijuana growing operations in B.C. -- the vast majority of them in private homes in the Lower Mainland.

Growing operations require massive amounts of electricity. But, citing privacy legislation, BC Hydro would only release information on a home's electricity consumption to police or municipal inspectors if they already had an address under investigation.

Under the new law, BC Hydro and other electricity providers will be required to provide to any city that asks for it a list of all addresses in their jurisdiction with unusually high consumption, plus two years' billing records for each address.

Insp. Paul Nadeau, head of the RCMP's Greater Vancouver Drug Section, said it is impossible to know exactly what effect the new law will have. But he said it could put a major dent in the province's $7- billion marijuana trade.

"I think we're going to see them move out of residential areas," he said. "They need hydro. They can't get around that. The gig is up. This idea that some of them have that, 'Because I pay my hydro, they'll leave me alone' -- that's over now."

Solicitor-General John Les agreed. "If municipalities want to use this legislation aggressively, I think they can -- in very significant ways -- put a run on the grow-op industry in this province," he said.

Some growers, instead of paying for their power, steal it using an electrical bypass.

But because BC Hydro vigorously investigates electricity theft -- and notifies police of the suspects it identifies -- stealing power exposed growers in the past to far more risks than just paying their power bill on time.

The new law -- the first of its kind in Canada -- may encourage more growers to steal power, Nadeau acknowledged, but he said police and BC Hydro have prepared for that.

"We're going to catch them either way," he said. "They're either going to have to pay their bills and surface on these lists, or they're going to be stealing it and surfacing in other ways."

While police will have access to the consumption lists, Les said he expects the information will be used primarily by city inspectors and fire departments to shut down growing operations without a criminal investigation.

Surrey recently spearheaded a project in which city fire inspectors put notices on the doors of suspected growing operations demanding owners allow them in to inspect their electrical work within 48 hours or have their power shut off.

By the time inspectors were let in, the marijuana had usually been removed, but the dangerous wiring remained -- so inspectors shut off the house's power until it was safe again.

The addresses Surrey targeted were those that the police didn't have time to get to.

Surrey Fire Chief Len Garis, who lobbied Victoria for the new law, said the legislation will allow his teams to work more quickly.

"Every billing period, we'll be able to get a batch of data from BC Hydro," he said. "And our goal is to be sophisticated enough that, within two to three months of a growing operation being set up, we'll be knocking on the door."

Police and fire departments have argued that marijuana growing operations pose a significant risk to neighbourhoods.

A study by the University College of the Fraser Valley last year concluded that growing operations are 24 times more likely to catch fire than a normal home.

Innocent homeowners have also been attacked in "grow rips" by criminals looking to steal pot plants who got the wrong house.

Jason Gratl, president of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, expressed concern Thursday that the new legislation invades the privacy of homeowners while increasing the likelihood of fires by encouraging growers to steal electricity through risky electrical bypasses.

Privacy commissioner David Loukidelis also expressed concern about the new legislation in a letter to the government Thursday.

"As a general point, such initiatives amount to a form of surveillance," he wrote.

Loukidelis asked the government to re-word the law so the consumption information can only be used by city inspectors -- and not to help police launch criminal investigations.

[SIDEBARS]

HYDRO THIEF OR HYDRO HOG?

How BC Hydro can spot marijuana growing operations:

- - Marijuana growing operations use significantly more electricity than a typical house. Under legislation introduced Thursday, municipalities will be able to get a list of houses in their jurisdiction with unusually high electricity consumption. Police and city inspectors will then be able to use those lists to investigate and shut down growing operations.

- - Marijuana growers who steal electricity using a bypass will often show up in Hydro's records for having abnormally low electricity consumption. Such homes are investigated for electricity theft by Hydro, which then passes on the names of suspects it identifies to the local police.

IS THAT A MARIJUANA GROWING OPERATION NEXT DOOR?

B.C. authorities provide this list of signs that your neighbours might be sowing more than family harmony:

- - Entry to the home is usually through the garage or a back entrance to conceal activity.

- - Windows are boarded or covered and may have a layer of condensation.

- - Equipment such as large fans, lights and plastic plant containers is carri ed into the home.

- - Sounds of construction or electrical humming can be heard.

- - Strange odours (a skunk-like smell) emanate from the house.

- - The neighbourhood experiences localized surges or decreases in power.