Get answers to common questions about electricity reporting requirements and how to handle special circumstances.
What is a greenhouse gas emissions intensity?
Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions intensity is a pollution rate. It measures the mass of GHGs that are emitted into the atmosphere to generate one megawatt hour (MWh) of electricity from a particular generation resource or portfolio of resources.
My electricity utility provider’s power content label reports the greenhouse gas emissions intensity in MWh not kWH.
MWh can be converted to kWh. To get kWh, divide the MWh value by 1000.
What if my utility meter is shared by other businesses? I am located in a warehouse and there is only one meter for the whole building, or I share a suite with another business and we only have one meter?
Licensees in this situation may want to consider installing a separate meter to distinguish between the cannabis electricity use and other non-cannabis electricity use. Alternatively, licensees may calculate the electricity used by using the percentage of the bill that you pay or use the Electricity Demand Spreadsheet.
What if I have more than one utility meter?
Licensees should include electricity used from all meters used for cultivation activities.
I have a utility provider and use solar panels; do I need to report my solar panels total electricity
The regulations require that you report the total amount of electricity provided by the utility provider. To enable the Department of Cannabis Control accurately assess the total amount of electricity utilized on site, licensees should report the total electricity produced by solar panels and the total electricity provided by the utility.
How do I report a full 12 months of electricity usage if I renew my license early and I do not have a full 12 months of electricity usage data?
A licensee can provide the electricity data they do have.
What if I do not intend on renewing my license?
The electricity usage reporting would only occur at the time the licensee submits a renewal application.
Which license types does this apply to?
Electricity usage reporting requirements apply to licensees authorized to engage in cultivation activities.
If I am not using electricity during an off season, do I need to report electricity used during those days/ months?
Yes. Total annual electricity usage is required to be reported.
I have a residential home onsite and I am sharing the same utility provider for my cultivation license, how would I distinguish the amount of electricity used for residential and cannabis cultivation purposes?
Licensees may include residential usage in their electricity usage reporting. Alternatively, licensees in this situation may want to consider installing a separate meter to distinguish between the cannabis electricity use and their non-cannabis electricity use. To differentiate the amount of electricity used for cultivation purposes from residential or other non-cannabis purposes you may use the Electricity Demand Spreadsheet. The Electricity Demand Spreadsheet can be used to document the electricity usage of each electrical appliance in use for cultivation purposes.
What if I have multiple non-cannabis businesses using the same electricity source? How would I distinguish the amount of electricity used for cannabis?
Licensees in this situation may want to consider installing a separate meter to distinguish between the cannabis electricity use and their non-cannabis electricity use. To differentiate the amount of electricity used for cultivation purposes from residential or other non-cannabis purposes you may use the Electricity Demand Spreadsheet. The Electricity Demand Spreadsheet can be used to document the electricity usage of each electrical appliance in use for cultivation purposes.
How do I calculate electrical demand for multiple sources if one is missing?
The Electricity Demand Spreadsheet was developed to assist licensees determine their total annual demand of electricity for the cannabis activities.
If multiple power sources were used and the electricity usage or production is unknown for one source, a licensee may calculate the unknown value.
- Determine the total electrical demand of their licensed cannabis cultivation activities.
- Determine how much electricity is provided by one or multiple sources
- Subtract that from the total demand
- This will provide the unknown electricity supplied by the source with missing usage information.
