Surging Adult Use And Marijuana Cultivation Is Fueling Electricity Demand In Colorado

Strong demand for adult use marijuana in Colorado led to explosive growth in adult use cultivation. Cultivation grew from 25,000 plants in January 2014 to over 280,000 plants in June 2015.

This surging production led Exel Energy to estimate the marijuana facilities in Colorado consumed over 200 million kilowatt hours in 2014 alone. In Denver, marijuana growers have accounted for 45% of the growth in energy use in the city over the past year.

With strong demand projected for the foreseeable future, constraining the use of energy in cultivation will be an increasingly critical challenge for the industry.