Has any1 you know been busted from power consumption.

[fizzbomb]

hi every1, i got a few questions but my first 1 is does any1 know any grower that has been busted for irregular power consumption as in using too much lights, always been told its best to always pay for the electricty but say im using 4 lights and paying for them for say 2 years and the police get involved in someway and ask the power company to check my bills then would that not be a clear indication that i have been growing for the 2 years so i could not really say that it was a first grow if my power bills have been a bit crazy for the 2 years, i live in the UK, what i guess im trying to say is if im using and paying for 4x600 over a 2 year period would that not be evidence enough from the power company for the police to obtain a warrant IF the police was to contact them as im pretty sure the power company will be more than happy to take the money from you and are maybe not under any obligation to contact the police but if the police contact them for whatever reason then they will give them everything they got on you from power use to what you have been paying, and maybe pinpoint how long you have been growing from the bills you pay???

 

[JAAM]

Dont steal power.... Pay your bill ontime every month... Tell no one.... and all will be fine...

 

[ibjamming]

What we Americans need to worry about...are the "smart" meters...the ones the power companies boast give HOURLY usage statistics...via radio. You bet the computer can be programmed to spit out 12/12 usage abnormalities. These meters will require that large scale growers mix up their lighting times. No more all the lights come on at 6am and go off at 6pm...it'll be too obvious. Growing in your home, just 1 light won't be a problem...A/C, heat, water heater, the refrigerator, they'll all mask the light coming on the same time every day.

 

[Aeroguerilla]

if your running and electric bill any higher then $1000 where i am the electric company will come check to see why the spike occurred. Just have to think of a good "cover" and notify them about the power going up before they see it and red flag you.

Ive seen 2 growhouses get kicked in by the mdea for high power consumption. One grow was running $1700/month electric... they were on there 2nd run... but there problem is that they had been both selling and growing from the same location. They had lived there years previous before they decided to grow. so chances are the heat was already on them... fucked up how the mdea subpoenaed the electric bill to get a warrant. So either the agents get the info from the electric company on certain individuals or the electric company is notifying the mdea. one of the 2. either way if your running over $1000/month i would consider moving your grow every 12months so they dont have time to form a case on you. cat and mouse... fun game if you ask =)

 

[guest456mpy]

Aeroguerilla,

Power companies always monitor for "over demand" and have been since at least the 60's. The reason is not as ominous as it initially seems. Their reasoning is:

They base their "grid" construction on expected demand. If you exceed that demand they will want to know more. Is the demand "peak" or "off peak". If your demand is "on peak" then they will want to charge you more per kwh for the extra load. They don't just investigate residential loads, but all loads. If too many start exceeding demand then they will have to upgrade their hardware accordingly, more cost that has to be planned for. I went through the whole nine yards with them when I was a chief engineer of a major hospital in the 80's. I went over our operations, etc. They even suggested how changing the way we operated would save both entities money and mutually help each other. If you have a convincing cover here they won't even blink an eye.
I'm mentioning this so that anyone planning something like this can have a plan for the eventual visit by the power company. Keeping off the radar is the key here, as you have already correctly stated.

 

[headband 707]

Yeah don't steal power they always know and don't go over 4x1000 lights in your home or they come knockin lol peace out Headband707

 

[theJointedOne]

seen dude steal power get busted b/c the meter dude came to do a random meter check and the grower got paranoid and did somehting hella dumb, so just pay your bills and youll be fine

 

[CaptainChronizl]

usually people that steal power are the ones that get caught and prosecuted. if you are paying the power bill on time, then you have eliminated the first red flag. they have a product to sell, and are in the business of profit. if they suspect or catch you, you are the example to the rest. for every thief they catch, there is a 100 that got away.

if anyone thinks regulated power from the line is too much, i suggest getting a diesel generator. it is cheaper to run, plus you are the only one that knows usage.

 

[fizzbomb]

thanks for the reply guys, some very interesting points been made, but how is it possible to keep off the radar if your paying say £30-£40 a week in electricty, i know most of you guys are from the US and a lot of the grows are legal over there but im from the UK and every grow here is illegal, so while i agree that keeping off the radar is #1, how is it possible if your running more than a few lights as will that not be an indication of how long you have been growing by checking irregular power consumption as £30-£40 a week would be classed as irregular, they might be happy taking the money from you for as long as possible but the second the police do become suspicious of you it would be much cheaper to phone the power company and ask about your bills than have a helicopter fly over your property and as already stated, the police can obtain a warrant just on the bills your paying alone if its too high if they are suspicious of you for any reason and the power companys will be more than happy to pass on any information they have on you and it would be a clear indication of how long you would have been growing for also.

now hypothetically speaking, who is more at risk, the guy who pays the £30-£40 a week for say 2 years or the guy who steals some but not all the electricty he is using as in the guy gets a normal bill the same as every1 else but he is not paying for the lights he is using, that is all, so he is stealing some electric but not all, so that way he still gets a normal bill for 2 years, so if the worst case was to happen and the guy was to get busted and find out he was growing, could he not say it was a first grow then as the police could not work out how long he had been growing for by looking at his electric bill as the bills have always been the same for the 2 years compared to the guy who has been paying the £30-£40 a week for the 2 years and before that it was only say £10 a week. and also would it not help keep the guy under the radar if he is only getting a normal bill, now that is a pure hypothetical question, only hypothetical answers please

 

[Marshall]

the police get involved in someway and ask the power company to check my bills then would that not be a clear indication that i have been growing for the 2 years

I believe the OP is asking if LEO asks the electric company for usage records, will that be enough to get a warrant.

In the US the answer is YES. I do not think it matters to term but amount. If all your neighbors are 3-400 and you are at 700, thats probable cause for a warrant. I speak from experience, and what I have read. I read alot of articles where cops were investigating and pulled electric records to get a warrant

2400 watts isnt much, I suggest conserving in other areas, TV, laundry, lights, etc

 

[Bullfrog44]

THat is not enough to get a warrant.

 

[PacificNorthWes]

not enough for warrent even if its very large.. It will be enough for the cop to watch u wit a personal vendetta..

 

[buddymate]

Rather get done for growing than nicking lecky in blighty mate,but plenty of blokes do both and never get their collars felt.

 

[Guest 18340]

I believe the OP is asking if LEO asks the electric company for usage records, will that be enough to get a warrant.

In the US the answer is YES. I do not think it matters to term but amount. If all your neighbors are 3-400 and you are at 700, thats probable cause for a warrant. I speak from experience, and what I have read. I read alot of articles where cops were investigating and pulled electric records to get a warrant

2400 watts isnt much, I suggest conserving in other areas, TV, laundry, lights, etc

No way whatsoever will that be enough for a warrant. If they are pulling your electric bill then they already have a clue that you're growing...

 

[Big D]

I believe the OP is asking if LEO asks the electric company for usage records, will that be enough to get a warrant.

In the US the answer is YES. I do not think it matters to term but amount. If all your neighbors are 3-400 and you are at 700, thats probable cause for a warrant. I speak from experience, and what I have read. I read alot of articles where cops were investigating and pulled electric records to get a warrant

2400 watts isnt much, I suggest conserving in other areas, TV, laundry, lights, etc

Nope, they have to have some other reason to suspect your growing.

stealing power although.... will get you busted!

2400w is nothing I would worry about.

 

[pearlemae]

Get a hot tub or some other power using equipment high speed computors etc. them when the power pikes they come out see a hot tub or spa they leave and you turn it off and then grow they won't be back cause they've seen the power user. That make sense to anyone else. Always pay the bill in full on time each month without fail.

 

[supermanlives]

there was a case here in so cal where theyu got a warrant for high electric usage and raided the home. it was on the news. turns out the family did alot of laundry.i think they were doing peoples laundry for extra cash but not sure

 

[fizzbomb]

i think marshall might have been a little bit off with his numbers but everything else he said is spot on, they will just check with the other houses in the street and do an average, if yours is far to high its reason for a warrant i think, and i also agree that the police would have to be suspicious of you first to be contacting the power company asking about your bills, but if it comes back as normal bills, they aint got cause for a warrant then.

buddymate im from the uk m8 and stealing electricty is not a new thing, people have been doing since i can remember, from the 70's people have been stealing electricty, the worst they can do is charge you for any damage done to the meter and any units you have not been charged for but if you get caught growing you could be possible looking at a jail sentence, just depends on how many you get caught with and the judge on the day, caught with both and i agree your a bit fucked, but as you say, people have been doing both for years without any trouble. if i had to choose 1 or the other to be caught with it would be the electricty for sure m8, not the growing.

this is difficult as there is a lot of legal growers here from the US but every1 here is here because of the love of the plant, and im sure every1 is disgusted at any1 facing any possible jail time for growing, but in the UK its dodgy as fuck just now with all these programs making people more aware on what to look out for with people growing, so im sure you will all agree also that keeping safe is #1, no1 should have to go to jail for growing, but it does happen here, now i hear people say that keeping off the radar is very important as well which i agree 100%, so how is paying more than the person next door for your electric and giving the police a possible timeline on how long you have been growing for the smart thing to do as i see a lot of people say, as long as you pay you wont have anything to worry about, and if any1 here says they think its dodgy as fuck stealing a little bit of electricty if it helps keep a possible grower off the radar then i cant really understand the logic behind that tbh as were all growers here, it seems every1 here is here for the cannabis plant but but anything else is frowned apon, like stealing some electricty, so i have came to a possible hypothetical moral dillema, remember people before you answer that cannabis is illegal here in the UK, Mr A pays for his electric and gives the police possible cause for a warrant if his bills are to high and put him right on the radar, or Mr B who steals a little bit of electric to keep him off the radar and not give the police also probable cause for a warrant as his bills are normal, which is the correct thing to do???, remember also, the growers safty is #1. who is doing the correct thing, Mr A or Mr B.

 

[Wise]

You can easily compensate for the energy around the house. Some cheap ideas...

1. Turning the water heater down or possibly put it on a timer convenient to your schedule
2. Updated window and curtains are a cheap way to retain heat
3. Turn the heat or air conditioners off when you're not home. It's cheaper to heat or cool the room while you are home rather than trying to keep it at a certain temperature all day, even when you are not home. It's a waste, but people actually do this. The air conditioner probably doesn't have to be on high all the time haha...
4. Obviously, change all incandescent bulbs to CFLs and make sure lights and electronics are off in unused rooms
5. Computers off when not in use
6. Memo: Today's big screen TV's draw a lot of power. This will probably change with emerging technology such as LED.
7. Do full loads of laundry and fill up the dish washer
8. Fire places are a cheap source of heat. Most of those electric heaters draw 1500 watts and is quite expensive to run. A fully electric heated/cooled home could account for high power usage I would think. On the flip side, a well engineered home can improve ventilation and lower cooling cost considerably. Do some research into this, it's an interesting topic.
9. Turn the refrigerator and freeze to a reasonable temperature. It's also better to have a full freezer because it retains the cold temperature. Plus that means more food!
10. That beer fridge that's constantly empty from constant use is going to draw a decent amount of power. Just use the main fridge as your source! haha
11. When it becomes cost effective.. go off the grid!

I like the idea of having a hot tub!

There are hundreds of different ways to lower your energy usage, and save money. Everyone should be practicing smart energy use. It's your money! I hate paying the utility bill, but I cannot deny is necessity. Might as well pay them as little as possible.

 

[Zygomatic Major]

Pretty much depends on if you give the coppers a reason to want to go through the hassle of getting a warrant and and getting the records. If you've got a clone set up or bags of twigs and plant matter lying around they'll charge you with production instead of cultivation. You want to avoid a production charge if poss as it implies dealing. But if they've already caught you with 4 lights I'm pretty sure they'd go for production anyway. I don't think it's routine to get electric records, can't recall ever reading about it. Keep an eye on your local papers website for busts and see what happens to other people.

I wouldn't worry if I were you. It depends on where you live and what judge you get, someone near me got busted with a room filled with quite a lot of plants and was charged with cultivation got a 2 year suspended sentence some community service and a fine.