Marijuana: USA's fastest growing industry is sucking electricity dry
Marijuana is now the fastest growing industry in the US, and shows no sign of slowing; data shows that sales increased 75% in 2014 to $2.7bn. In fact, if it were produced in all 50 states, it would be larger than the organic food industry, say reports.  However, one of the consequences is a significant amount of energy is being drained from the grid, with the pot industry burning at least 1% of the country's electricity at a cost of $6bn a year and rising.  If all the states legalised the drug, the amount the industry would be spending on electricity would be over $11bn, says High County News, putting a huge strain on electric utilities; in Oregon, home pot growers have already caused several power outages.  One study estimates that it takes as much energy to produce 18 pints of beer as it does just one joint.  With the legalisation of marijuana expected to also spread across Latin America and beyond, this is bad news for those looking to reduce their carbon footprint, as the power grid that the growers rely on is primarily powered by fossil fuels.

As more states legalize marijuana in the US, pot cultivation is sucking up an ever-growing amount of energy from the grid.

Since most of the legal weed is grown indoors, the pot industry burns through large quantities of electricity used to power lamps, ventilation systems, and air conditioning. A square foot of planting requires some 200 watts of electricity (pdf, p. 20), about the same as a data center, according to a report this year in the Columbia Journal of Environmental Law.

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The paper notes that marijuana plantations soak up at least 1% of the country’s electricity at a cost of $6 billion a year.

The US marijuana business has exploded in the wake of state efforts to legalize the drug. Sales increased 74% in 2014 to $2.7 billion, according to ArcView Group, which conducts research on the cannabis industry.

If all states legalized pot, the amount the industry spends on electricity could go up to $11 billion, High Country News notes.

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That’s putting enough pressure on electric utilities that regulators discussed the issue at their annual meeting on Nov. 11, in a session titled “The Straight Dope on Energy & the Marijuana Industry.”

In Colorado, the first state in the US to allow the use of recreational pot, electricity use by the industry has been steadily growing since 2011, according to data presented by Xcel Energy during the meeting.

In Oregon, home pot growers have already caused several power outages. To prevent such incidents, a local nonprofit is providing marijuana farmers rebates to install more efficient lights, as well as technical advice.