Cannabis grow houses were illegally hooked up to electricity supplies twenty-four times over the past two years at a cost of at least half a million euro.
Brazen criminals tapped into ESB Networks to cultivate drugs 18 times in 2024, burning through an estimated 1.8 million kilowatt hours of energy.
Based on typical electricity prices of around 30 cent per unit, that level of consumption would have cost a home owner in the region of €540,000.
A further six grow houses were discovered hooked up illegally to the power network last year, according to data from ESB Networks.
Cannabis cultivators typically use colossal amounts of electricity to power lighting systems, heating, and ventilation for indoor growing.
The grow houses were among 319 cases detected in 2025 where people had tampered with meters, bypassed meters, or reconnected without permission.
ESB Networks said there were 64 cases of tampering last year, figures released under FOI showed.
There were a further 104 “unofficial reconnections” and 145 cases where somebody had bypassed meters to access power supplies.
For 2024, ESB Networks was able to provide more detailed data on 357 cases where people illegally tapped into the electricity network.
That included the 18 cannabis grow houses, where none of the cost of the electricity could be recovered by the semi-state company.