As of 2018, growing marijuana at home is a legal right in Michigan. Though, if done without the proper knowledge, its impacts on statewide energy could be disastrous.
Michigan’s Marijuana Regulatory Agency – in partnership with the Michigan Public Service Commission, the Bureau of Fire Services, the Dept. of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy and electric providers across the state of Michigan – provided information to residents on how to safely grow marijuana at home.
The organizations hope the materials will help the marijuana growing community keep themselves, their neighbors and their community safe while also protecting Michigan’s electric grid.
Michigan residents with medical marijuana cards, both for patients and caregivers, have been legally allowed to grow marijuana at home since 2008.
With marijuana legalized in Michigan three years ago, residents over the age of 21 have also been permitted to grow up to 12 plants in their home.
These legalizations have majorly impacted Michigan’s electric grid. Growing marijuana plants successfully requires a great deal of energy – usually with nonstop grow lights, ventilation systems and other equipment. The Michigan organizations believe it is essential for residential growers to understand the impact of this increased energy usage.
The biggest risks residents stand to face are fire hazards and electrical outages from overloading power sources.
A Michigan resident growing 12 plants in a home can increase that home’s energy demand by 2.75 times, the Marijuana Regulatory Agency states.
Growing the maximum limit for a medical marijuana caregiver’s home, 72 plants, is equivalent to the average energy use of 10.75 houses.
According to the Agency, before starting a home grow, individuals should:
- Become familiar with local rules and ordinances
- Hire a licensed electrical contractor
- Contact their local utility to ensure their electrical service is sized appropriately to serve the increased energy demand
The partnered organizations report that residential growers can work together with their electric company to avoid significant damage, especially by doing the following:
- Unanticipated significant overloading can lead to catastrophic failure of utility and customer-owned equipment. If a significant customer load is added before the energy provider has an opportunity to review and utility equipment is damaged as a result, the customer causing the issue may be held responsible for associated costs of repair. There could be lengthy delays in the restoration of service. The utility must determine what caused the issue, find out what the true load sizes are, and upgrade its equipment to serve it.
- In addition to damaging the equipment of the customer that added the significant load, there could be possible damage to property of other customers receiving service from the same transformer. This damage can range from appliances to sensitive electronics, smart TVs, computers and more.
- Structural fire dangers are by far the worst-case scenario for marijuana home grows. When circuits are overloaded beyond their rating, it becomes a hazard and the cost associated with this kind of incident is immeasurable as it has the potential to cause death in addition to widespread damage to the electrical system and people’s property.
For more information, visit the Michigan Marijuana Regulatory Agency’s informational guide here.
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