Question regarding electricity consumption.

buddy of mine settin up a 36kw grow in a 5000sqft home with a 5 story attached barn that was used for a high powered business a few years back. my question is will 36kw on 12/12 raise any eyebrows if paid on time every month? estimating 2800 a month in electric.

already bought 99 15gal smart pots going for trees 16-20 plants under each set of 9kw. going to start with 4 rooms of 9kw.



thoughts? concerns? past experiences? thanks

Id would also like to know how much you can get away with...
interesting

Wow 36kw? Thats alot of electricty.. and at a 12/12 schedule it may look just a little funky if you're on a smart meter
Assuming you are not on a smart meter (hope not!) what kind of electricity was the business before using? 36kw is ALOT of electricity but there are defiently legit business's out there who pump alot more through. Is this zoned residential?

Curious what the max is.. Would love to see some pics of this massive grow

I was going to put in a leccy joke but that kind of consumption is a fast ticket to a bust -
not least because if you were using that much you would have your own tariff and a company rep would come to see you to discuss your leccy needs.

If you get raided, that's an awful lot of equipment to lose, never mind the plants.

generators?

Could you setup the electric service as "commercial" with the power company?

I would call your power company and say your starting a wood working shop and are going to be using massive amounts of power for your large table saws. Ask them if they have a commercial price for electricity. Thats what I did here in Oregon. Worked perfectly I pay 5 cents a kwh and no one is the wiser.

hmmm thanks for the idea

Don't know if that's constituted as an "excess amount of usage," but I can tell you this...

I've read through numerous cases where excessive power usage (even being paid on time) has gotten people raided. The chain of events usually starts like this. Concerned citizen/neighbor and/or CI notices very frequent traffic to/from residence or trash is gone through by LE (due to tip) and marijuana stalks/stems/leaves/dirt is found. This is the starting point. Utility records are then pulled from companies (electric/water) and compared to similar residences in the area. If this is excessive, then it raises more red flags and the investigation goes from there until they get a warrant.

You always see a lot of power consumption/trash statements in affidavits and grow busts articles. (Almost makes stealing power a logical option).

I think the best route is to match whatever the structure/business is intended for to the "normal" power consumption.

You may not get busted for paying your bill on time etc, I mean shit they're are plenty of legitimate/reasonable explanations for high power usage... saw a 300g reef aquarium in a home once that was running 3 400W MH and 2 1k MH lamps (plenty for a grow op)... the point is... You may very well not ever come across any kind of scrutiny, any kind of poking around, but the point is -- if you ever do, you want everything to "appear" normal. Appearance is everything. Give them nothing to go off of, ever.

ZackMorris said:

generators?

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Recently read about a busts where there was a grow op in the middle of bumfuck nowhere running diesel gennys, but diesel was leaking into a nearby stream. Someone out fishing noticed a significant amount of fuel in a creek (after all why would diesel be in a stream out in the middle of no where?). They called it in to Fish & Wildlife. Official came out to inspect... followed the stream of diesel (to find the source of it) basically right to the grow op. I guess this is considered the "X-factor"... but shit, wouldn't you want to ensure the equipment your using to run your op is in full working order?

Remember. LE doesn't magically know about grow ops. They have to start somewhere. Give them no jumping off point.

Celticman said:

". . . just split your flowering room in half and run them flipped. When on is the dark- the other will be lit. That way it looks like constant power being used.

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Oh yeah, the power is constant and so is the power usage. I thought the idea was to use less power or get raided.

Molson, great post - but high leccy usage is the jump-off point. Sorry, man.

powerbill leads to bust

powerbill leads to bust

http://chicagoist.com/2010/04/15/power_bill_leads_to_pot_bust.php

and heres a quote from another bust bc of powerbill....The court heard that further inquiries revealed energy consumption for some of these houses varied from 132 to 665 units of electricity a day which is very high compared to the 25 to 30 units consumed by an average four bedroom house.

Balarama67 said:

Molson, great post - but high leccy usage is the jump-off point. Sorry, man.

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I know. When compared to similar residences/buildings in the area. So if everything appears hunky dory than it's one more red flag that doesn't appear.

IIRC, excess power consumption is not probable cause alone, not enough by itself. It is coupled with other factors, CI, marijuana smell, trash, frequent traffic, etc. But, like you said, it's probably one of the initial red flags in their investigation. But busting down peoples door based solely on high electric consumption, and not finding grows half the time, isn't good publicity.

According to the affidavit, Bryant and Dronebarger had been found in possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia Oct. 2 and refused entry to deputies who were responding to a domestic violence call at their residence Oct. 5.


At the time, Holmes County Sheriff's Office deputy Tim Stryker noticed curtains covering the windows of the basement, "a tool used by indoor (marijuana) grow operations," according to the affidavit. A check of electric utility records showed higher than average use.

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http://www.allbusiness.com/crime-law/law-search-seizure-warrants/14352025-1.html


This is from a raid based on high power consumption (where they found NOTHING) but there were events leading up to pulling utility records.

In his sworn affidavit, Carlsbad Detective Mark Reyes states an unidentified, confidential source told a county Narcotics Task Force agent that someone might be growing pot in the house.

Investigators subpoenaed utility records, which showed the Dagys used 1,584 kilowatts of electricity in February, and 1,616 kilowatts in January, the affidavit states. That's three to four times the amount used in neighboring homes during the same period, according to the affidavit.

Also, surveillance of the home showed that the Dagys placed their trash cans on the curb outside their home the morning of the Thursday pickups.

Why is that a big deal? Some narcotics offenders wait until the last possible moment to put their trash on the curb because they know that investigators retrieve evidence from trash, the affidavit says.

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http://legacy.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20040326-9999-news_7m26wrong.html

It's unfortunate that link Aeroguerilla posted doesn't contain more details, would be interesting to read.

Aeroguerilla said:

http://chicagoist.com/2010/04/15/power_bill_leads_to_pot_bust.php

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Smart reporting.

Officials' suspicions were first raised when NIPSCO said Monday that the house had averaged between 2,300 kilowatts per hour to 2,700 kilowatts per hour in the past four months. An air-conditioning wall unit uses about one kilowatt per hour, meaning the house was using the energy of what amounted to running 2,300 to 2,700 air conditioning wall units per hour.​

Of course, that's just an example. The power was actually being used for a complex irrigation and light system that harbored the growth of 493 marijuana plants.

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Wow, 2300-2700 1K light bulbs for 493 marijuana plants. Whats that, about 5 - 1000 watt lights per plant? I'd say thats just a waste, but I'm no reporter.

this is against are rights. add it to the list.

i dont know how it is in the states but i know people who run bypasses for years and never get caught, but some guys get popped real quick. not sure. the attitude on IC towards theft is obvious but only your buddy can make the decision. where im from the utility company is in bed with the police so anyone stealing power is basically a hero of civil disobedience. i would recommend your buddy to basically start a legit business with all the paperwork and insurance and small business titles and even some equipment and get the 'leccy company to setup a commercial power rate. he would be golden then. not sure what kind of inspections he'd face for a commercial enterprise on a private residental property though. depends on zoning i guess. its doable.


is he planning on trees for legality / plant count issues?


p.s. 18kw on a flip is far more reasonable than 36kw on 12/12 but i guess since its trees it wouldnt work. SOG would but damn can you imagine a 36kw total SOG grow??? i guess 99plants looks alot better than 2300 to the judge if shit ever goes down

its just a misdeameanor if we get caught. fuck it

Hey man I was thinking the same thing and looked at a lot of place up there and a lot of areas a zoned for home based business so that works in your favor. I would look at buying commercial power from a broker. Also I have not heard of any type of bust in that area due to electric usage. I would definitely get a commercial account and maybe pay with business checks. Not much to deny if you get caught but it is only a misdemeanor up to 99 like you said. It would be expensive to test but you could just run the ballets with no room built for a few months and see if any electric people show up. If I was going to do this any where I would do I there. I think it is like always location, location, location, and being really low key.

good luck
darko