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Marijuana Home Growers’ Effect on Colorado Power Grid Proves Substantial

About two dozen residential growers have burned out their electric transformers or meters over the past three years, with overloads that could have sparked house fires.

(TNS) -- At least 130 licensed warehouses are growing medical marijuana in Colorado Springs, but no one knows how many big grow operations are based in houses here.

About two dozen residential growers have burned out their electric transformers or meters over the past three years, though, with overloads that could have sparked house fires, reports local electrician Sam Masias.

"There are so many (home growers) now, even small electricians like me are getting calls," said Masias, who recently testified about the problem at a Colorado Springs Utilities board meeting. "My intent is to get a handle on it and make sure families are safe."

Utilities spokesman Steve Berry said, "I have no quantifiable data. It's not a significant issue for us. Obviously, if anything poses a safety risk and we know about it, we'll check it out."

Home growers using excessive current are a significant issue for Masias, though. Most use high-wattage bulbs that burn hot and also require use of air-conditioning to abate the heat.

Masias said he recently was called to one such house where a grandfather in a wheelchair and his wife both appeared too frail to escape if a fire had erupted.

"They need to monitor these things before the fire department is called out," he said.

"You can ignore it or look at it proactively and see what can be done."

Even a switch to LED lights can improve household safety, said Cary Senders of iGROW, a Beachwood, Ohio-based company that makes induction lighting for growers.

"It's never good to overload your power, especially if houses aren't up to code. And an existing house never gets inspected," Senders said. "If you have children in the house, if they touch that 1,000-watter (bulb), they're going to burn."

The ballast from such a bulb produces great heat "powering up that fire-breathing dragon," he said. "A leaf touches that, a piece of paper drops, it could catch anything on fire -- especially in residential space."

Berry said, "We are not able to discriminate against any customer," such as checking those with unusually high power usage.

The city's utilities company also hasn't measured how much more electricity has been used since the licensed warehouses started operating in its service area in 2010, he said.

Marijuana's effect on the Colorado grid could prove substantial, however. The power to grow four pot plants is about equal to that needed to run 29 refrigerators, the Northwest Power and Conservation Council estimates.

In Washington state, which like Colorado legalized recreational marijuana in 2012, pot operations could increase electricity demand by 60 to 160 megawatts over the next 20 years, the council found.

In Colorado, Xcel Energy found pot growers statewide used up to 200 million kilowatt hours of electricity last year, The Denver Post reported.

"These are big warehouses without skylights or windows, and they're running these lights 24/7," said Howard Geller, director of the Southwest Energy Efficiency Project. "The common lighting technology, 1,000-watt sodium vapor lamps, is the bulk of electricity used."

Energy efficiency doesn't motivate marijuana growers though, Senders said. They're focused on speed, quality and yield -- i.e., profit.

iGROW now is installing multilevel lighting in several medical marijuana warehouses in Colorado Springs, he said.

Its lights cost $1,000 each, compared with $200 to $500 for 1,000-watt sodium vapor lights. But they last five years instead of six months, use little energy and eradicate the need for air-conditioning, often produce better yields and qualify for significant cash rebates from Utilities, Senders said.

When they're installed on multiple levels, he said, the producer can grow two to three times as much product in the same space.

"Helping customers select the right energy-efficient option is one of the services a utility can provide," Geller said.

"If we worked on energy efficiency in a more concerted manner in our homes, businesses and in grow houses, we could offset this new load from the grow houses and keep electricity (usage rates) flat."

©2015 The Gazette (Colorado Springs, Colo.) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.