POWER IS GOING TO POT, MP CLAIMS

Hydroponic pot growers are stealing as much as $500 million in electricity
each year at an estimated cost to provincial consumers of $3 to $5 a month
on their hydro bills.

Liberal MPP Michael Bryant yesterday called for the provincial government
to weed out the pot labs, which are increasingly found in residential homes.

"I think Ontarians would be rightly steamed to learn that while they're
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, and sending the neighbourhood up in smoke,"
Bryant said.

Bryant said police in York Region estimate $70-million worth of electricity
is stolen by grow house operators in that community each year.

Andrew Evangelista, counsel to the electrical distribution industry, said
Markham shuts down five to 10 grow houses a week. He said grow houses have
been found in every kind of neighbourhood and throughout the province.

Pot growers dig through the foundation of houses to tap directly into
electrical wires, allowing them to get free power but also creating a
dangerous fire hazard and a high risk of a neighbourhood blackout.

One grow house can use $2,000 in stolen electricity a month, and generate
about $1.6 million a year in profit for the grower.

Bryant said criminal groups run many of these grow houses.