Colorado Pot Growers Face Sky-High Power Bills

[Robert Celt]

In the warehouses growing marijuana for Colorado's cannabis industry, rows of plants, thousands of them, bask under bright lights.

The blazing lights are essential to the business – and also one of its biggest threats.

Sally Vander Veer of Medicine Man Production Corp., one of Denver's biggest cannabis companies, knows what she'll find every month when she opens the company's utility bill from Xcel Energy Inc.

"Our bills are nearly $40,000 a month," she said. "I kind of cringe, but it's very stable because we run the same cycles of lights all day every day. I know what my bill will be every month."

News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Colorado Pot Growers Face Sky-High Power Bills
Author: Staff
Contact: 9News
Photo Credit: Theo Stroomer
Website: 9News

 

[420 Warrior]

I have to ask why these large scale growers aren't using LED's at this point? I've been watching tons of documentaries and they keep showing these types of giant grows and every time I see them still using HID lights that suck up electricity like a sponge and I wonder every time why they have not switched over to LED's that use way less energy?

I know LED's cost more on the front end but they will eventually save money and create way less heat that has to be vented which uses even more energy so why not go with LED's to begin with?

This would especially be better if you combined sun light as well as LED's together, or so it would seem to me?

 

[Newfriend]

I am not sure, but, it looks like they are using Florescence lights ?

 

[420 Warrior]

I am not sure, but, it looks like they are using Florescence lights ?

Yea, looks like T5's maybe? IDK? Their pretty energy efficient as well but still not as much as LED's but way more efficient than HID's. This looks like a vegg room here in this pic though. Florescence's work pretty well for vegging plants but more than likely they are using 1000w HPS in that big flower room I'm sure they have?

 

[ketinkrad]

Yea, looks like T5's maybe? IDK? Their pretty energy efficient as well but still not as much as LED's but way more efficient than HID's. This looks like a vegg room here in this pic though. Florescence's work pretty well for vegging plants but more than likely they are using 1000w HPS in that big flower room I'm sure they have?

At $40,000.00 a month why don't they buy natural gas generators to convert N.G. To electricity. Natural Gas is a lot cheaper than electricity. Ketinkrad

 

[420 Warrior]

At $40,000.00 a month why don't they buy natural gas generators to convert N.G. To electricity. Natural Gas is a lot cheaper than electricity. Ketinkrad

Yep, that along with natural sunlight as well as solar panels? There are many ways to cut down on energy cost, it's just a matter of putting a little more money on the front end and letting it pay for itself in savings long term.

Someone here should design something in the way of a huge, super energy efficient greenhouse and market it to these large scale growers. There's bound to be a couple of electrical engineers and architects here somewhere?

 

[JuanCarlos]

I have to ask why these large scale growers aren't using LED's at this point? I've been watching tons of documentaries and they keep showing these types of giant grows and every time I see them still using HID lights that suck up electricity like a sponge and I wonder every time why they have not switched over to LED's that use way less energy?

I know LED's cost more on the front end but they will eventually save money and create way less heat that has to be vented which uses even more energy so why not go with LED's to begin with?

This would especially be better if you combined sun light as well as LED's together, or so it would seem to me?

You really have to compare LED to HID in that environment side by side to see what works for your grows. One thing that comes to mind is penetration. I am no expert on LED vs HID lighting, nor do I partake in the debates, but when you run a business like Medicine Man does, I have to think they scrutinize every single aspect of growing to see where they can eek out another couple bucks.

Another thing to keep in mind is that these documentaries may be old and not representative of the current state of the business.

 

[420 Warrior]

You really have to compare LED to HID in that environment side by side to see what works for your grows. One thing that comes to mind is penetration. I am no expert on LED vs HID lighting, nor do I partake in the debates, but when you run a business like Medicine Man does, I have to think they scrutinize every single aspect of growing to see where they can eek out another couple bucks.

Another thing to keep in mind is that these documentaries may be old and not representative of the current state of the business.

The point here is to not leave a bad taste in the mouths of people who are on the fence about Cannabis and give the rest of us a chance at legalization too. It's the "One Bad Apple Spoils The Bunch" aspect that concerns me.

People in the 4 legal states we have now need to realize that anything and everything they do is being watched through a microscope right now and if they are just blindly making waves and doing things that cause concerns, it's just setting the rest of the country back that much more.

Don't get me wrong here, I want them to have the biggest and best buds they can possibly get out of their grows but it just worries me that any form of greed will somehow put salt in an open wound and diminish our efforts for nation wide legalization, so if that means using less invasive grow strategies and making just a few less dollars, then so be it.

IMO, they need to quit growing in warehouses anyway and be doing these grows in greenhouses so they can be utilizing sunlight and only supplementing with man made lighting. We always go around talking about Cannabis being a God given plant but what do you think the sun is?

I just want the eyes of the world to know that the Cannabis industry is willing to do it right and make every effort to protect the planet like we always said we would do if they made Cannabis legal. The world is watching so we need to do it the right way.

As for those documentaries, none of them I've been watching are more than two years old so I get that some things might have changed but not really enough that their not worth watching and learning from.

 

[JWDUB100]

Alternative power generation is the key to successful marijuana enterprises.
It's time to build the generators to power grow center, free energy devices are available, just seek them out
and save hundreds of thousand's of dollars on your electric bills.

Purchase once and start enjoying your saving on the electric bill!

 

[420 Warrior]

Alternative power generation is the key to successful marijuana enterprises.
It's time to build the generators to power grow center, free energy devices are available, just seek them out
and save hundreds of thousand's of dollars on your electric bills.

Purchase once and start enjoying your saving on the electric bill!

That's right, diesel technology with the introduction of DEF (diesel exhaust fluid) systems, as well as other emission reduction systems has come a long way and could prove to be a much more environmentally friendly way to generate power at a much lower cost than conventional power sources.

I've mentioned in other posts that I have been a professional truck driver since 96 and back when I first started driving, the trucks back then were your prototypical trucks that put out black clouds of stinking and polluting smoke that just got in and stayed in your sinuses all the time and you were always tasting it in your mouth and when you slept in the truck, when you woke up, you felt dizzy and lethargic and for me at least, I felt sick most of the time, so because of that (among other reasons) I got out of driving and pursued other ways to make a living, but here recently, I decided to get back into driving again and the most recent truck I drove was a 2015 Volvo that was equipped with all the latest emission systems including a DEF system and it was like night and day, because with the DEF system, which is a fluid that is injected into the fuel system to reduce pollutants and odor, I never even smelled the diesel smoke and in fact you can't even see any smoke coming out of the stack, so with this new "clean" technology it would only make sense to use it for other applications like power generation for grow operations because diesel engines can pretty much run 24/7 with hardly any down time except for routine maintenance.

Just think of a scenario where you were running one of these "clean" diesel engines with bio diesel made from hemp cellulose? You could purchase a plot of land and grow your own hemp to produce your own bio fuel to run your grow operation and now you've become almost 100% self sufficient. Also, with the rest of the hemp plants you've grown you can use that for tons of other money making products including using the leaf matter to make mulch for your Cannabis grows. It's a win-win situation all the way around and an innovative farmer could just rake in the money like this by cutting there overhead down to bare bones cost while increasing productivity, or at least that makes sense in my mind anyway?

I'm not saying this is the only answer because there are many ways people can save energy cost, but this is certainly an avenue that should be explored IMO.