The Endesa company closed 1,636 files on points that consumed electricity equivalent to that of 45,000 houses for these plantations
Endesa closed 2021 with a total of 1,636 electrical fraud files related to marijuana plantations in homes or buildings, twice as many as in 2018, the company said.
In particular, this figure shows an average of 4.5 illegal cannabis cultivation connections uncovered per day and points to a growing problem in many locations in the country, affecting the safety of residents, the quality of the electricity supply and the coexistence of citizens.
Similarly, in 2021, the energy recovered by e-distribution, the energy company’s network subsidiary, in fraud related to the cultivation of cannabis plants amounted to 159 million kilowatt hours (kWh), the equivalent of the consumption of 45,000 households.
This amount of electricity represents 20% of the total energy recovered by Endesa last year in the series of frauds discovered.
However, Endesa indicated that these figures only correspond to the areas in which e-distribución operates as a distribution company and to the fraud detected, as estimates indicate that the electricity consumption of marijuana plantations in Spain would be 1.5 terawatt hours (TWh), equivalent to the electricity demand of Palma de Mallorca in one year.
Endesa’s general manager of infrastructure and networks, José Manuel Revuelta, believed that electricity fraud “is harmful to society as a whole, as it translates into an increase in the electricity bills of all consumers and endangers both the safety and quality of the offer for the rest of the users”.
In addition, he emphasized that, “above all”, irregular connections and manipulations of the electrical installation “represent significant risks to the health of the person performing them and the people around him, as they can cause fire, electrocution and electric shock”.
Likewise, the electrical infrastructures used in these facilities are becoming more sophisticated and, in some cases, require power that is compatible with industrial use, demonstrating the enormous electrical load that supports the distribution network, which is not designed to meet this ‘ghost demand’. comply .
In this sense, the average consumption of a plantation corresponds to that of 80 homes and in some areas with a high fraud concentration they represent up to 80% of the total electricity consumption in the area.
Data from the Ministry of the Interior shows that seizures of marijuana and cannabis plants in Spain have risen sharply since 2015, by between 150% and 305%, especially from 2019. The annual drug survey shows that in 2020 more than 1, 7 million cannabis plants were seized -compared to 724,611 in 2016- and by the end of 2021 that number was well exceeded.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
