{"id":7712,"date":"2017-09-12T17:35:23","date_gmt":"2017-09-12T17:35:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.denverpost.com?p=2784728&amp;preview_id=2784728"},"modified":"2017-09-12T17:35:23","modified_gmt":"2017-09-12T17:35:23","slug":"marijuana-grows-legal-or-not-are-far-from-business-as-usual-for-colorado-electric-companies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/marijuana-grows-legal-or-not-are-far-from-business-as-usual-for-colorado-electric-companies\/","title":{"rendered":"Marijuana grows \u2014 legal or not \u2014 are far from business as usual for Colorado electric companies"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"wp_fb_like_button\" style=\"margin:5px 0 5px 5px;float:right;height:100px;\"><script src=\"http:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\"><\/script><fb:like href=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/marijuana-grows-legal-or-not-are-far-from-business-as-usual-for-colorado-electric-companies\/\" send=\"true\" layout=\"standard\" width=\"450\" show_faces=\"false\" font=\"arial\" action=\"like\" colorscheme=\"light\"><\/fb:like><\/div><div class=\"media_block\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"large-10 large-centered small-12 columns\">\n<div class=\"entry-meta-date\">Published: Sep 12, 2017, 9:35 am \u2022 Updated: Sep 12, 2017, 11:18 am<span class=\"single-comments-link\" \/><\/div>\n<p class=\"byline\">By <span class=\"author\"><a class=\"url fn n\" href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/author\/awallace\/\" rel=\"author\">Alicia Wallace<\/a><\/span><em>, The Cannabist Staff<\/em><\/p>\n<p>WESTMINSTER \u2014 Since marijuana was legalized in Colorado, the standard meter read and utility line check aren\u2019t that simple anymore.<\/p>\n<p>Utilities have had to adapt on the fly to a surge of customers that bring with them heavier energy loads and heftier revenues; but they also have had to account for the unexpected, said representatives of Colorado\u2019s electric providers at a Monday conference.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s not all wine and roses,\u201d said Paul Erickson, chief executive officer of Sangre de Cristo Electric Association cooperative.<\/p>\n<p>Illegal grows operate within some of the counties Sangre de Cristo Electric serves in central Colorado \u2014 creating unexpected safety hazards such as guns being drawn on employees of the utility, Erickson said. The all-cash transactions from the legitimate enterprises pose security risks as well, he added.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt puts us in a tough place, and it\u2019s no-win,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>The good, the bad and the ugly of marijuana legalization\u2019s effects on the state\u2019s electric utilities were put into the spotlight at a day-long conference hosted by the Colorado Rural Electric Association. The organization\u2019s \u201cPot &amp; Power\u201d conference delved into topics such as <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2016\/02\/29\/this-could-be-a-big-problem-for-the-booming-marijuana-industry\/48734\/\">energy demands<\/a> in cannabis cultivation; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2015\/09\/15\/marijuana-electricity-use-carbon-footprint\/37922\/\">sustainability efforts<\/a>; safety risks and concerns; legal and enforcement best practices; and potential legislative measures.<\/p>\n<p>Following the recent economic recession, low or declining energy loads were seemingly the new normal for utilities in Colorado.<\/p>\n<p>Then came the \u201cbright, shiny exception to the rule,\u201d said Dan Hodges, government affairs liaison at Colorado Springs Utilities.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe marijuana industry is using a heck of a lot of power,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n<p>Utilities have to walk a fine line, said Jeff Bauman, electrical engineer for the Cowlitz Public Utility District in Washington state, which voted to legalize recreational marijuana <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2014\/07\/08\/alison-holcomb-washington-retail-marijuana-i-502\/15636\/\">in 2012<\/a> \u2014 the same year as Colorado.<\/p>\n<p>On one hand, utilities are obligated to provide the proper amount of power for the high-use customers who operate well within the bounds of the law, he said. On the other, they also have to account for the precarious nature of gray- and black-market operations \u2014 notably concerns of safety and logistics.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen everything legalized, they started <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2015\/12\/21\/growing-marijuana-indoors-energy-use\/45448\/\">blowing up transformers<\/a>,\u201d Bauman said.<\/p>\n<p>Cowlitz hoped to address the costly losses by being proactive, he said, contacting the heaviest energy users and offering a bit of a compromise: If they pay to upgrade the transformer, then Cowlitz would cover the cost of the old one. Otherwise, if the high-energy user were responsible for the blown device, they would have to pay for both.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMost of the time they don\u2019t understand that the little box out in their backyard is the limiting factor,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>As to the other concerns enveloping the service to gray- and black-market operations as well as state-legal operations that are illegal in the eyes of federal law, regulatory attorney Tom Downey recommended that utilities follow their existing protocols and policies and shift the enforcement burden to other entities. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cDon\u2019t put yourself in the place of law enforcement; don\u2019t put yourself in the place of safety agencies,\u201d said Downey, a director at Ireland Stapleton Pryor &amp; Pascoe P.C. in Denver.<\/p>\n<p>A couple of newly passed bills are meant to help address concerns around illegal growing operations, said Mark Bolton, senior deputy legal counsel and marijuana adviser to Gov. John Hickenlooper.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2017\/06\/08\/colorado-marijuana-laws-home-grows-plant-counts-law-enforcement\/81109\/\">Under two new laws<\/a>, the state ratcheted down the maximum allowable home-grow plant counts to 12 from 99; implemented stricter protocols for <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2017\/03\/08\/colorado-marijuana-plant-limit-gray-market\/75224\/\">plant count exceptions<\/a>; dedicated millions of dollars to rural law enforcement agencies to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2017\/08\/25\/colorado-alaska-washington-oregon-sessions-marijuana\/86753\/\">clamp down on gray- and black-market activity<\/a>; and banned marijuana growing <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2017\/04\/10\/colorado-grow-marijuana-others-co-op\/76967\/\">cooperatives<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think there\u2019s more we can do in this space,\u201d he said to conference attendees. <\/p>\n<div class=\"entry-meta-tags\">\n<div class=\"entry-tags\">Topics: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/tag\/black-market\/\" rel=\"tag\">black market<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/tag\/colorado\/\" rel=\"tag\">Colorado<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/tag\/commercial-cultivation\/\" rel=\"tag\">commercial cultivation<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/tag\/electricity\/\" rel=\"tag\">electricity<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/tag\/gray-market\/\" rel=\"tag\">gray market<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/tag\/home-growing\/\" rel=\"tag\">home growing<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/tag\/illegal-colorado-grow\/\" rel=\"tag\">illegal colorado grow<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/tag\/illegal-grows\/\" rel=\"tag\">illegal grows<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/tag\/indoor-marijuana-growing\/\" rel=\"tag\">indoor marijuana growing<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/tag\/marijuana-cash\/\" rel=\"tag\">marijuana cash<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/tag\/mountain-towns\/\" rel=\"tag\">mountain towns<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/tag\/washington-state\/\" rel=\"tag\">Washington state<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-meta-author\">\n<div class=\"authorimage\"><a class=\"url fn n\" href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/author\/awallace\/\" rel=\"author\"><img src=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/marijuana-grows-legal-or-not-are-far-from-business-as-usual-for-colorado-electric-companies.jpg\" class=\"authormug\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<p class=\"author-desc\">Alicia Wallace joined The Cannabist in July 2016, covering national marijuana policy and business. In her 14 years as a business news reporter, her coverage has spanned topics such as the economy, natural foods, airlines, biotech, retail,&#8230;<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><!-- .row --> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"media_block\"><\/div>\n<p>A gathering of Colorado utilities officials centered around the massive power draw of indoor marijuana cultivation and issues with illegal grows. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5062,6811,6857,7313,7048,6813,77,5577,6933,6815,5667,9,6833,5019,441,1,3,7314,173,61,1736],"tags":[5063,6816,6859,7315,7051,6818,2655,5580,6934,6820,5673,6835,5022,3015,7316,2751],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7712"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7712"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7712\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7712"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7712"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}