[Globule]

Can't wait for those Tesla Powerwall solar batteries to come down in price and tell the Electric company to go stick a thumb up its arse.

Better go get those shutters and external CCTV camera uninstalled from my garage too while I think about it...

https://www.smh.com.au/victoria/energ...06-grwxpk.html

<Copy & Paste below>


Energy companies are sharing information with police about properties suspected of being used to run cannabis grow houses.

Victoria Police confirmed it worked closely with energy providers to help identify and disrupt illegal hydroponic set ups across the state.

Court documents show that in many cases criminals are bypassing the meter in an attempt to avoid detection and steal energy from the grid.

Tens of thousands of dollars have been clawed back by electricity companies, with offenders ordered to repay them for stolen electricity.

In one case last year a man who grew a hydroponic cannabis crop in a four-bedroom Clayton house that had a bypass system in the roof had to pay almost $50,000 compensation to United Energy.

Another offender was ordered to pay $8900 to SP AusNet after using a bypass system to power a Mill Park grow house.

It is understood police action has resulted from intelligence provided by energy companies, which have become more sophisticated at analysing consumption data.

Court records also show:

• Jemena was unable to record power usage at an eight-bedroom Craigieburn house where more than 450 cannabis plants were grown under high-powered lighting suspended from the ceiling because it had a bypass installed
• Powercor staff were called in to remove a meter bypass at a Sunshine North house where a sophisticated hydroponic set up drained about $4000 worth of electricity from the grid
• Police raided a Werribee grow house that Powercor confirmed had "extremely low" energy use and found a meter bypass diverting electricity from the main power supply
• A Gippsland grower faced court last year after stealing more than $47,000 worth of electricity over 17 months to cultivate cannabis.
• A 65-year-old pensioner was jailed after running a crop house in Moonee Ponds that had a meter bypass installed in the roof cavity
• A horticulturist who ran a Croydon grow house did not divert the electricity and paid his energy provider for usage

A Victoria Police spokesman said authorities collaborated with energy providers to locate grow houses, which were typically manned by a "crop sitter".

"Offenders who have converted homes into crop houses often use almost every area of the house to cultivate plants, save for one area which is typically left vacant for a crop sitter's leisure," he said.

Last month a 26-year-old man was charged with cultivating a commercial quantity of cannabis, theft and other drug-related offences after police uncovered more than 260 cannabis plants in a Chelsea grow house.

And in a raid on a Leongatha crop house in late June, police seized more than 16 kilograms of dried cannabis, 91 cannabis plants and hydroponic equipment. A 34-year-old man was charged with trafficking, theft and other-drug-related offences.

The maximum penalty for cultivating a large commercial quantity of cannabis is life imprisonment.

Authorities said grow houses posed a major safety hazard, with a high risk of fire due to faulty or substandard connections from illegal power line alterations or from overloaded power boards. Records show a Cairnlea house fire was sparked by a meter bypass used to power a hydroponic set up.

MFB fire investigator Steve Attard said fires at grow houses were often caused by electrical faults. "Members of the public that attempt to bypass electrical wiring put themselves and others at risk of electrocution and fire," he said.

Grow houses, often fortified with window shutters and CCTV, have elaborate setups that include high-powered lighting, electrical transformers, reticulated watering systems, thermal tents, chemicals and plant fertilisers.

None of the energy providers approached by Fairfax Media would discuss their processes when dealing with police when a suspected grow house was identified.

United Energy said it may disclose certain data, including to enforcement agencies, when required by law. CitiPower and Powercor said it disclosed data where required and as requested by Victoria Police. AusNet Services said it assisted police with investigations into stolen or illegal uses of electricity.

Jemena refused to comment.

[Globule]

I think that basically distills down to "pay for your electricty, don't steal it and we won't say any more about your additional watt/hours ummmkay?"

Only becomes an issue when you are taking money from the big corporate money engine.
Feed the money engine and all will be gravy!

[flamstaa]

The power companies are saying 'when required by law' which suggests the Police have targeted specific people already known to be growing and using the power company data to help with their case, not just a random fishing exercise as vaguely implied by the article

[rolandomota]

so use a normal amount of power and pay the bill. Then install another meter and bypass it

[seeded]

Power companies use smart meters to record your usage patterns. They can see how much power you're using, for how long it's being used and if it's a cycle that repeats itself. Our grows are clear as day for all to see and it would take almost zero effort for the power companies to have us all caught within the week if they wanted to report our suspect usage which begs the question of why don't they? It's simple really; our appliances don't identify themselves when turned on so they can never be 100% sure of how you're using the power and their job isn't to be the police or even suspect you of criminal behaviour. Their job is to supply power and they use the data they get from us to manage their network as efficiently as possible to save money. The only way to get them to switch roles is to fuck with their bottom line so just pay your bills on time and be thankful you no longer have to deal with the meter man seeing the wheel spin around like it's trying to get into orbit

[EastCoast710]

iuno been doing this 7 years or so .. and I just pay on time and leave it be.. no1 says shit.. even in illegal states.. the energy companies aren't going to help police while turning out tons of power man.. maybe if u tried switching companies so they weren't your provider lol but these businesses are all about profit. they don't give a fuck if u run a grow or a fucking server room.. as long as they get paid.

[elios]

Nice post!

[ice-cream]

Smart meters record the power in 15 minute intervals 00, 15, 30, 45
the components measured are Watt hours and VAR hours, also max demands in the interval and a few other tit bits. if anyone wants a bigger explanation of those feel free to ask
there are a few different "people" in the chain of the supply of power to a house/business
theres a meter provider, a meter data agent, a ROC (the retailer), and a few other "business" types involved
so the company's that supply the meter and install, they dont care what you do or how you do it. as long as you arent bypassing the meter or otherwise scamming it's all good
the retailers dont care about the usage at all, they want their money
the meter data agents look at trends and patterns to identify faults or other problems. looking for grow houses isnt a concern as they dont get any money to look for that

how do i know ? i work for a meter provider, and i sit in an office connecting to smart meters every day pulling out the data and having a look for reasons to a query the data agency have raised
i dont think i've every seen a load profile of a grow house ?? i'd like to lol

if you're going to run a "larger-ish" setup, then I'd think the best way to avoid any trouble is by investing in flip/flop and do the flip in the middle of a 'interval'
the other way to hide the consumption pattern would be to have a battery storage and inverter setup to supply the lighting. setup the batteries to charge during the off peak time and it'll save money, do it during peak time and it'll look like every other house in the area.

[indalo]

So , in other words , there is no way of by passing these new ' smart meters ' ?

[indalo]

I'm expecting one to be installed any week now .