Red Eléctrica cuts power to industry while marijuana fraud drives up bills
Second power cut to industry in 2025. Marijuana electricity fraud equals the consumption of one million households. Spaniards are paying 200 million extra.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
Red Eléctrica cuts power to heavy industry for the second time in 2025 while marijuana fraud drives up the bill
Last week, Red Eléctrica (Spain's electricity grid operator) ordered a new supply cut to large industrial consumers, the second so far this year. The decision, justified by grid saturation, clashes with a silent scandal: electricity fraud linked to marijuana cultivation, which already equals the consumption of one million households and accounts for almost 30% of energy stolen since 2020, according to recent data.
Lack of grid or twisted priorities
While industry endures scheduled blackouts, a Monitor Deloitte report warns that the lack of grid capacity is holding back the creation of one million jobs. The paradox is that, at the same time, illegal marijuana plantations consume electricity without paying for it, and the PSOE (Spain's Socialist Party) voted against a non-binding motion by the PP (the conservative People's Party) that sought to increase penalties for this fraud. "There is no need to incivil," the Socialists argued.
The Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalonia's regional police) have already warned of the risk that the mafias dedicated to this business could corrupt public authorities. The question nobody answers is why an energy hole of this magnitude is allowed while legal industry is being strangled.
200 million extra on the bill
The nonsense has a direct cost for households: up to July this year, Spaniards paid an additional 200 million on their electricity bills to prevent a general collapse of the system. In other words, they are financing both the implicit subsidy to the electricity drug trade and the cuts to the industry that generates jobs.
Grid saturation is also worsening the housing shortage, according to various sources, because it holds back new developments. Neither jobs nor homes: the official narrative is held together by patches. And meanwhile, marijuana cultivation keeps guzzling kilowatts with nobody putting a stop to it.
Last week, Red Eléctrica (Spain's electricity grid operator) ordered a new supply cut to large industrial consumers, the second so far this year. The decision, justified by grid saturation, clashes with a silent scandal: electricity fraud linked to marijuana cultivation, which already equals the consumption of one million households and accounts for almost 30% of energy stolen since 2020, according to recent data.
Lack of grid or twisted priorities
While industry endures scheduled blackouts, a Monitor Deloitte report warns that the lack of grid capacity is holding back the creation of one million jobs. The paradox is that, at the same time, illegal marijuana plantations consume electricity without paying for it, and the PSOE (Spain's Socialist Party) voted against a non-binding motion by the PP (the conservative People's Party) that sought to increase penalties for this fraud. "There is no need to incivil," the Socialists argued.
The Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalonia's regional police) have already warned of the risk that the mafias dedicated to this business could corrupt public authorities. The question nobody answers is why an energy hole of this magnitude is allowed while legal industry is being strangled.
200 million extra on the bill
The nonsense has a direct cost for households: up to July this year, Spaniards paid an additional 200 million on their electricity bills to prevent a general collapse of the system. In other words, they are financing both the implicit subsidy to the electricity drug trade and the cuts to the industry that generates jobs.
Grid saturation is also worsening the housing shortage, according to various sources, because it holds back new developments. Neither jobs nor homes: the official narrative is held together by patches. And meanwhile, marijuana cultivation keeps guzzling kilowatts with nobody putting a stop to it.
Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (22 replies).
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