Jane Seyd reports that BC Hydro pushed back when RCMP obtained an order for them to turn over all customer records based on energy usage:
North Vancouver RCMP have backed off on a request that would have forced BC Hydro to turn over the records of more than a thousand North Vancouver homeowners using large amounts of power to police.
On Thursday, at a closed-door hearing in North Vancouver provincial court, the federal department of justice withdrew the request for the Hydro records after facing a court challenge by the power authority.
BC Hydro filed a petition in B.C. Supreme Court this month fighting the request after a North Vancouver judge ordered the power company to hand over a list of residential addresses to police of anyone in North Vancouver whose power consumption averaged more than 93 kilowatt hours per day.
Details about why the North Vancouver RCMP made the unusual request have been sealed by the court, but are believed to involve a search for potential marijuana growing operations, which typically use large amounts of electricity.
Read more on Global Toronto.
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