Often forgotten in the rush to expand the cannabis industry is the environmental impact of indoor cultivation operations and environmental considerations for the engineering and design of cultivation facilities. This article will briefly address environmental impacts of cannabis cultivation, specifically energy usage, in various states and how cultivators looking to the emerging New Jersey market can better equip themselves for potential regulation similar to what is being seen in other states.
Growing cannabis, especially indoors, is energy intensive. It can take upwards of 5,000 kWh1 to grow just one kilogram of cannabis (2,000 kWh to grow one pound)2 as compared to roughly 10,000 kWh of energy3 to power a residence in the United States for a year. Recent reports show the cannabis industry is having a significant impact on the use of electricity in states that have legalized it. In 2015, various reports concluded that cannabis growers accounted for approximately 1.7 percent of the United States’ total electricity usage, a cost of upwards of $6 billion.4 The vast majority of states that have legalized cannabis cultivation have not addressed the issues surrounding energy consumption prior to enacting legislation. As a result, municipal governments, state agencies and public utilities have had to take a reactive approach to the astronomical utilization of energy.
Currently, states and municipal governments are implementing various techniques in order to curtail electricity use. The techniques vary, but the most common are taxes and/or fees on energy consumption. For example, Boulder County, Colorado has a requirement that growers either offset energy consumption with the use of renewable energy or pay a $0.02 charge per kWh of energy use.5 In addition, some state regulations have an adverse effect on energy consumption, and compliance results in an increase in energy consumption by growers. For example, when Pennsylvania legalized cannabis in 2016, its regulations required growers to contain their entire crop in indoor facilities without addressing how the state would cope with the corresponding energy use from the requirement.6