POT GROWERS HIKE ELECTRIC BILLS, MPP SAYS

Ontario consumers pay $3 to $5 more on their monthly electricity bills
because thousands of illegal marijuana growers are stealing at least $500
million worth of power each year, a Liberal MPP says.

Michael Bryant (St. Paul's) and Toronto lawyer Andrew Evangelista, who acts
for utilities, said the power theft is so serious that, in some cases, it
has caused brownouts and blackouts.

It is estimated at least 10,000 marijuana grow houses exist in the Greater
Toronto Area. The $500 million estimate is based on police calculations,
they said.

Bryant thinks "Ontarians will be rightly steamed to learn that, while they
are being asked to conserve electricity, some pot-growing energy thief next
door is toking up all the electricity causing brownouts and blackouts,
driving up electricity prices."

Growing marijuana is energy-intensive. To avoid detection, operators bypass
the hydro meter and tap right into the power source.

"They consume about $2,000 worth of electricity a month but they don't pay
their bill because they bypass the hydro lines, creating an enormous fire
hazard such that one in 10 go up in smoke," Bryant said.

The Liberal critic called on the Conservative government to give police
"the resources, the human power and the technology to be able to do the
surveillance and to be able to shut these operations down."

Bryant said marijuana is now Ontario's third largest cash crop.

Evangelista urged the government to give utilities the power to place liens
on properties where police find illegal marijuana operations so the cost of
electricity can be recouped.

"The numbers are staggering. There is estimated to be $70 million in hydro
theft in York Region alone per year," he said, noting Markham Hydro shuts
down five to 10 grow houses each week. About 98 per cent are homes where
the meter has been bypassed.

Regional police say the power theft in York is more like $200 million a year.