electric bill, are they watched by anyone
- Thread starter bdt1981
- Start date
thehole
New Member
Depending on the size of the residence and the history of the electric bill amounts there one can easily double and triple their bill/usage without worry.
Many larger power companies(a friend of mine works for the biggest one in the US) they will actually send you a letter if use gets real high or abnormal, they ask you to respond to see if your total use is accurate because they believe the meter may be malfunctioning. So all in all the power company is not out to get anyone. Just like everyone they want to get paid.
There is also a myth that power companies "red flag" residences that have high energy spikes or usage, this is somewhat true, but it's mainly being flagged so a worker can go out and see if electricity is being stolen.
NEVER, have I read or heard of a power company flagging one of their own customers for high electrical use believing that person was growing pot. Flagging is mostly about electrical theft investigations. And the ONLY time law gets involved and asks a power company to release a customers electrical records is if they already have a investigation going on with you.
If you are talking about a 5,000 watt or less grow you have absolutely no worries unless you cannot pay your bill. I've even read of huge grow op busts where the person went years paying thousands a month in electrical bills but they got popped because of smell or a narc.
It's good to be caution and learn the facts, it's dangerous to be paranoid.
Many larger power companies(a friend of mine works for the biggest one in the US) they will actually send you a letter if use gets real high or abnormal, they ask you to respond to see if your total use is accurate because they believe the meter may be malfunctioning. So all in all the power company is not out to get anyone. Just like everyone they want to get paid.
There is also a myth that power companies "red flag" residences that have high energy spikes or usage, this is somewhat true, but it's mainly being flagged so a worker can go out and see if electricity is being stolen.
NEVER, have I read or heard of a power company flagging one of their own customers for high electrical use believing that person was growing pot. Flagging is mostly about electrical theft investigations. And the ONLY time law gets involved and asks a power company to release a customers electrical records is if they already have a investigation going on with you.
If you are talking about a 5,000 watt or less grow you have absolutely no worries unless you cannot pay your bill. I've even read of huge grow op busts where the person went years paying thousands a month in electrical bills but they got popped because of smell or a narc.
It's good to be caution and learn the facts, it's dangerous to be paranoid.
DST
Well-Known Member
[h=2]electric bill, are they watched by anyone[/h]
yes, my wife!!!!!
as thehole said, as long as you are paying and not running a huge op then there should be no worry. I have two fridges for example, if I chucked one away I could probably add another light to my grow and not notice....games systems, PC's, Servers, Kettles are the worst (do you make lots of cups of tea/coffee?) They all suck juice like nobodies business.
yes, my wife!!!!!
as thehole said, as long as you are paying and not running a huge op then there should be no worry. I have two fridges for example, if I chucked one away I could probably add another light to my grow and not notice....games systems, PC's, Servers, Kettles are the worst (do you make lots of cups of tea/coffee?) They all suck juice like nobodies business.
Puppet14
Well-Known Member
Check out this link.....
http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2012/05/08/thousands-of-plants-seized-in-marijuana-sting-operation-from-diamond-bar-home/
Investigators said they were lead to the house from a tip from Southern California Edison after a technician saw an extraordinarily high power reading from a meter for the house.
http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2012/05/08/thousands-of-plants-seized-in-marijuana-sting-operation-from-diamond-bar-home/
Investigators said they were lead to the house from a tip from Southern California Edison after a technician saw an extraordinarily high power reading from a meter for the house.
RollupRick
Active Member
Yeah but FFS, 2,000 plants ... the electricity bill must have been astronomical ... its that kind of grow that bring trouble upon themselves.
209 Cali closet grower
Well-Known Member
what a snitch!
Cobnobuler
Well-Known Member
I got a letter from mine last week saying that by comparison, I am using 30% more electricity than my neighbors. It went on with all these efficiency checks a customer can do to lower usage etc. I wonder if anyone else has ever received such a thing?
Purplestickeypunch
Active Member
"oh yeah, I knew a high electricity bill would be a consequence of getting into pottery. That kiln sucks the juice but does a great job."
denvermatt
Member
here in Colorado you have a gazillion medical grows. I had a friend get his house re-wired for more power and more lights and the electric company rolled out the red carpet. They are making money hand over fist off of us.
Puppet14
Well-Known Member
Totally agree.
UnfusedGrowth
Member
I have not been arround long but this is the third or fourth time I see this question come up. We should add it to the 101 frequently asked questions and we can all just add our two cents to it then people can just check it out via link we post when people ask. 
Anyways, I've worked for a utility in Northern Ontario, Canada for a while now. And before that I was an electricien. As thehole mentioned and he pretty well nailed it.
The utility wants their money and it is cheaper to work with the customers then it is to do everything yourself. Rather then sending a crew out everytime they see something as odd to investigate letters are often sent out. Just to make sure everything is working. At the end of the day, the utility doesn't want to rip you off but we always want to get paid.
as also mentioned by Thehole's very informative post was the fact that they will not just send your bill to the cops and be like "this dude is using a ton of power, must be growing pot", however the police with he right information can ask us to submit a customers information without question. This combined with whatever suspisions they already had in the first place to come and ask us for your bill is generally enough to move on the next step. Entry or search or what ever it may be.
As originally posted by Puppet
Myself and one other guy were sent out to one house once due to HUGE power consumption. I and the company thought forsure the meter was broken. When we got there we could smell pot so I walked around the the back of the house where the other guy had his nose in one of the 4 exhaust vents. So we knocked on the door (I didn't want to knock due to might get stabbed or something) but my partner insisted on it. When the guy answered we told him about his odd power usage and he told us there was nothing to worry about they just kept the A/C very high.
That is all we are permited to doing and I really didn't want to be a snitch but my partner called the police right there and then in the truck. The police said they'd look into it. And we left. (partner later got brought in for questioning as did I)
I hope this negates some of your paranoid feelings.
~Unfused
Anyways, I've worked for a utility in Northern Ontario, Canada for a while now. And before that I was an electricien. As thehole mentioned and he pretty well nailed it.
The utility wants their money and it is cheaper to work with the customers then it is to do everything yourself. Rather then sending a crew out everytime they see something as odd to investigate letters are often sent out. Just to make sure everything is working. At the end of the day, the utility doesn't want to rip you off but we always want to get paid.
as also mentioned by Thehole's very informative post was the fact that they will not just send your bill to the cops and be like "this dude is using a ton of power, must be growing pot", however the police with he right information can ask us to submit a customers information without question. This combined with whatever suspisions they already had in the first place to come and ask us for your bill is generally enough to move on the next step. Entry or search or what ever it may be.
As originally posted by Puppet
Yes, in that case you might have dug yourself a hole. FFS don't make it so big.
Myself and one other guy were sent out to one house once due to HUGE power consumption. I and the company thought forsure the meter was broken. When we got there we could smell pot so I walked around the the back of the house where the other guy had his nose in one of the 4 exhaust vents. So we knocked on the door (I didn't want to knock due to might get stabbed or something) but my partner insisted on it. When the guy answered we told him about his odd power usage and he told us there was nothing to worry about they just kept the A/C very high.
That is all we are permited to doing and I really didn't want to be a snitch but my partner called the police right there and then in the truck. The police said they'd look into it. And we left. (partner later got brought in for questioning as did I)
I hope this negates some of your paranoid feelings.
~Unfused
calicat
Well-Known Member
It happens alot where I am from which is Humboldt County. Usually what flags an electric bill is if it exceeds 6 times the normal houehold. Those are huge grows with more than 7 light fixtures at 1,000 watts. As long as your not exceeding 6 times the normal house consumption and not on an assisted program to receive cheaper electrical/gas rates you should be fine.
dbkick
Well-Known Member
odd, here the power bill is a important part of getting a warrant. First they catch an odor, then they get in your power bill AND your income and tax records, this just recently happened to someone close to me. after they get the warrant they bust in your door, after they bust in your door they put you cuffed in your own front yard, if you happen to be in your underwear at the time they put you in your own front yard in your underwear , cuffed and toss a flashbang right next to you without you even knowing till you're damn near knocked the fuck out by the flashbang, I'm sure they then have a laugh, this actually happened to someone close to me and is ALL true. Fucking pigs.
UnfusedGrowth
Member
I'm going to assume it's different everywhere... As are the laws and how strict.
They are not nearly that intense here.
Closetgardner
Well-Known Member
probly a snooty nosed cop wanna be!!!! they did not need to pass over that info. fucking GRASS!!!!!
dbkick
Well-Known Member
possibly but a fucking pig is a pig anywhere. Tactics are underhanded and the same. This is a medical state .
Adi1989
Active Member
Guys, I used to work for British gas and they were constantly reporting people but only fair size operations.
We could see when there was a great voltage draw this is caused by the igniters that spark the discharge lamps, there is a great very unique draw to ignite the discharge lamp which we can see, when the bulb is first ignited, its only when they reach full brightness this then drops. Its a very, very unique power draw nothing else like it. LEDS are completely different but still unique, the transformers instead step down the voltage which we can also tell, but a great deal of people use LED for down lighting in their ceilings but these only draw 100 / 300w in houses. We can even tell when people open their fridge due to the power it takes to re-refrigerate, invasion of privacy I know!
The best way to hide it is use Tesla modules to charge and discharge the electricity, you can even charge Tesla modules at charging stations if you want to be super under the radar but a advanced charging system would need to be setup to charge at the 50kw charging speeds, no electrical company will report high usage its only if they see a correlation at certain times of the day lights on / off as people could have 1 electrical heater per room! Thats 3kw, if you have 10 rooms thats 30kw per hour 720kw per day! Some people just dont realise how much a electrical heater costs in power.
Ps What ever you do DO NOT Steal the power!!!!
Thats the biggest reason people got caught, its easy to pin point the house that is stealing power even if you are temporally connecting and disconnecting the meter.
Ps dont tell them I told you guys.
We could see when there was a great voltage draw this is caused by the igniters that spark the discharge lamps, there is a great very unique draw to ignite the discharge lamp which we can see, when the bulb is first ignited, its only when they reach full brightness this then drops. Its a very, very unique power draw nothing else like it. LEDS are completely different but still unique, the transformers instead step down the voltage which we can also tell, but a great deal of people use LED for down lighting in their ceilings but these only draw 100 / 300w in houses. We can even tell when people open their fridge due to the power it takes to re-refrigerate, invasion of privacy I know!
The best way to hide it is use Tesla modules to charge and discharge the electricity, you can even charge Tesla modules at charging stations if you want to be super under the radar but a advanced charging system would need to be setup to charge at the 50kw charging speeds, no electrical company will report high usage its only if they see a correlation at certain times of the day lights on / off as people could have 1 electrical heater per room! Thats 3kw, if you have 10 rooms thats 30kw per hour 720kw per day! Some people just dont realise how much a electrical heater costs in power.
Ps What ever you do DO NOT Steal the power!!!!
Thats the biggest reason people got caught, its easy to pin point the house that is stealing power even if you are temporally connecting and disconnecting the meter.
Ps dont tell them I told you guys.
