How much electricity usage is too much?

thumper60

Well-Known Member
There is a popular member here from CO who has a long thread going about how his grow was busted primarily because of his electric usage. He was over plant count, but not by hundreds of plants, and well under the fed policy grab @100 plants.

So yeah, if you run hot, somebody will notice. Now do they start looking at you and then see the electric usage, or is it the other way around? It doesn't matter really. They can and do "visit" growers and use electric use as PC.
link to that thread please,i have been using hids since late 80s till this day have never seen or heard of any one busted for legal power usage,it dosent happen its always something else then they print it like it was the power bill that got them busted, to scare people like u.
 

jonsnow399

Well-Known Member
link to that thread please,i have been using hids since late 80s till this day have never seen or heard of any one busted for legal power usage,it dosent happen its always something else then they print it like it was the power bill that got them busted, to scare people like u.
No, you are not busted strictly on power usage but any anonymous tip, or the cops smell something and they get a subpoena like they issue 60 a month in Ohio and that combined with the tip will get a warrant.
 

DrGrinspoon1010

Well-Known Member
Different types of loads have different signatures, an inductive load such as a motor has different characteristics to a similar sized load if incandescent lighting as an example. These differences, provided the smart meter is rigged to register and record such things, can be collected and used to distinguish between different appliances.

So although your heater and microwave use 1000w there will be differences due to one having a heating element and the other using a different conversion of energy. You'll only see "1000w", but the leccy company can set all sorts of things of which you know nothing about which can tell them, to a degree, what is being used when. They won't, for example, know if that 200w of quantum board is a grow light or several LED lights around the house being left on all the time for whatever reason, especially if you run your grow lights at night when plenty people leave a load of lights on, inside and out, during that period for various reasons.
Well that pretty much answers my question,, cheers pal
 

greg nr

Well-Known Member
link to that thread please
No thread, but here is one law, typical of what many states have, that makes "intent to use" illegal. Intent is a hard bar to get above, but it is done... (emphasis mine)

Maryland Code Annotated 5-619: Drug Paraphernalia: Use or possession with intent to use; penalty; medical necessity. —
(1) Unless authorized under this title, a person may not use or possess with intent to use drug paraphernalia to:

(i) plant, propagate, cultivate, grow, harvest, manufacture, compound, convert, produce, process, prepare, test, analyze, pack, repack, store, contain, or conceal a controlled dangerous substance; or

(ii) inject, ingest, inhale, or otherwise introduce into the human body a controlled dangerous substance.

(2) A person who violates this subsection is guilty of a misdemeanor and on conviction is subject to:

(i) for a first violation, a fine not exceeding $ 500; and

(ii) for each subsequent violation, imprisonment not exceeding 2 years or a fine not exceeding $ 2,000 or both.

Maryland Code Annotated 5-620: Controlled Paraphernalia:

It is illegal to possess or distribute controlled paraphernalia under circumstances which reasonably indicate an intention to use the controlled paraphernalia for purposes of illegally administering a controlled dangerous substance. The penalty can be up to 1 year of incarceration and a $1,000 fine.
And if a kitchen scale and baggies can be considered paraphernalia, so can a grow light.
 

thumper60

Well-Known Member
No thread, but here is one law, typical of what many states have, that makes "intent to use" illegal. Intent is a hard bar to get above, but it is done... (emphasis mine)

Maryland Code Annotated 5-619: Drug Paraphernalia: Use or possession with intent to use; penalty; medical necessity. —
(1) Unless authorized under this title, a person may not use or possess with intent to use drug paraphernalia to:

(i) plant, propagate, cultivate, grow, harvest, manufacture, compound, convert, produce, process, prepare, test, analyze, pack, repack, store, contain, or conceal a controlled dangerous substance; or

(ii) inject, ingest, inhale, or otherwise introduce into the human body a controlled dangerous substance.

(2) A person who violates this subsection is guilty of a misdemeanor and on conviction is subject to:

(i) for a first violation, a fine not exceeding $ 500; and

(ii) for each subsequent violation, imprisonment not exceeding 2 years or a fine not exceeding $ 2,000 or both.

Maryland Code Annotated 5-620: Controlled Paraphernalia:

It is illegal to possess or distribute controlled paraphernalia under circumstances which reasonably indicate an intention to use the controlled paraphernalia for purposes of illegally administering a controlled dangerous substance. The penalty can be up to 1 year of incarceration and a $1,000 fine.
And if a kitchen scale and baggies can be considered paraphernalia, so can a grow light.
u said there was a thread made by a well known member?man your all over the place we r talking about power use I thought
 

greg nr

Well-Known Member
u said there was a thread made by a well known member?man your all over the place we r talking about power use I thought
Oh, that thread. lol. Look for thykts vertical grow. Note: I can never spell or pronounce his name correctly.
 

thumper60

Well-Known Member
No, you are not busted strictly on power usage but any anonymous tip, or the cops smell something and they get a subpoena like they issue 60 a month in Ohio and that combined with the tip will get a warrant.
oh thought we were talking about power use,stupid me lol
 

greg nr

Well-Known Member
u got ya facts wrong sorry.he wasn't busted for power usage
Well, that is what he posted they said when they did their knock and talk. He wasn't busted for power usage, he was busted for growing over the limit, but he said very clearly when they showed up at his door they told him they were there because of his power use.

Now was there more to the story? Could they have gotten a tip from a disgruntled customer or competitor? Sure. I don't know the whole story. But what he said was clear.
 

blake9999

Well-Known Member
If the power company starts construction of a power sub-station next to your house.... I think you may be using too much juice. :leaf:
 

thumper60

Well-Known Member
Well, that is what he posted they said when they did their knock and talk. He wasn't busted for power usage, he was busted for growing over the limit, but he said very clearly when they showed up at his door they told him they were there because of his power use.

Now was there more to the story? Could they have gotten a tip from a disgruntled customer or competitor? Sure. I don't know the whole story. But what he said was clear.
he's in a legal rec state knock an sniff don't work any more,he can have a fat blunt hanging out of his mouth nothing the pigs can do,yes he was over his limit. come on u think jonny law is knocking on doors in a legal state over power bill!! u seem to like to spread fear
 

greg nr

Well-Known Member
he's in a legal rec state knock an sniff don't work any more,he can have a fat blunt hanging out of his mouth nothing the pigs can do,yes he was over his limit. come on u think jonny law is knocking on doors in a legal state over power bill!! u seem to like to spread fear
Apparently they are in CO. They are strictly enforcing both rec and med grow limits. Partly, the searches are because the old law allowed growers to form a collective, and have hundreds of plants in one grow house. When the law changed, they started looking for those coops. They were no longer legal.

A few members have posted about grow busts in CO. And it wasn't a knock and sniff, it was a knock and talk. He was a licensed grower so they could easily get a warrant if they wanted one. He let them in. He didn't realize they would bring real charges for being moderately over the state limit, but well under the fed limit. But he said they would have come in either way.

So yeah, they do actually enforce laws in "legal" states, because it isn't true legalization, but rather regulation. Stay within the reg's and you are good to go. But if they catch you outside the box, they will put you in a different container of their choosing.

Sticky hasn't been around in a while. He seems to have gone incognito, but others know him and can correct me if I'm wrong. I'm just going by what he posted.
 

Lucky Luke

Well-Known Member
And Smart meters don't KNOW anything, they use algorithms to guess what your using. So they can be fooled. But id be more worried about loose lips than the energy company who is making money off you and loving anyone's high bills.

"a process where its computer algorithms can be used to learn the different power loads in a house over a week or two depending on how often each is used"

https://www.treehugger.com/clean-technology/new-smart-meter-can-tell-your-appliances-apart.html
 
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