How Much Does It Cost to Power a Cannabis Grow?

How grow electricity cost is built

Your power bill is the product of two things: how many kilowatt-hours you use, and what your tariff charges for each kWh and for your highest peak kilowatts. Cannabis cultivation is heavy on both. Indoor facilities run high-wattage lighting for 12 to 18 hours a day, HVAC that must hold temperature and humidity while lights add heat, and dehumidifiers that remove water the plants transpire. The Vermont Law Farm and Energy Initiative notes that legal cannabis already accounts for at least one percent of U.S. electricity consumption [vt-fe-cannabis], which is why regulators in several states now require energy reporting or efficiency plans.

The public benchmarks below come from a 2017 survey of licensed producers in Oregon and Washington [nwpcc-cannabis]. They are the best cited starting point, but your facility may sit above or below them depending on LED versus HPS, room scheduling, and climate.

Grow type	kWh per sq ft of canopy per year	kWh per sq ft per day (avg)
Indoor only	128	~0.35
Greenhouse	12	~0.03
Outdoor	1	~0.003
Mixed (aggregated survey)	38	~0.10
All types weighted	29	~0.08

What drives the kWh number

Canopy versus building. Benchmarks that use flowering canopy understate total use if veg, mothers, drying, and offices are on the same meter. A 10,000 square foot flowering canopy in a 30,000 square foot building bills for everything on that account.

Lighting technology. The Northwest Council found that replacing high-intensity discharge lamps with efficient LED or fluorescent designs could cut lighting electricity about in half [nwpcc-cannabis]. See LED vs HPS energy cost for a worked comparison.

End-use split. Lighting dominated at 66 percent in the survey, with HVAC and miscellaneous at 33 percent [nwpcc-cannabis]. Flowering rooms alone were 49 percent of total use. That is why staggered photoperiods affect demand charges even when total kWh stays flat.

Turning kWh into dollars

National averages are a starting point, not your price. The EIA's June 2026 U.S. average commercial rate was 14.19 cents per kWh; Illinois averaged 14.53 and California 24.07 for the same month [eia-epm-5-6-a]. Industrial averages run lower, but many grows bill on commercial schedules with demand meters.

Worked example (labeled assumptions). Assume a 10,000 square foot indoor flowering canopy at 128 kWh per square foot per year [nwpcc-cannabis]:

• Annual kWh: 1,280,000
• Monthly kWh: ~106,700
• At 14.53 cents per kWh (Illinois commercial average, June 2026 [eia-epm-5-6-a]): ~$15,500 per month in energy charges alone
• Add demand: if peak is 600 kW and delivery is $12 per kW (illustrative tariff input), that is another $7,200 per month on the delivery side

Energy as a share of operating cost commonly falls in the 20 to 40 percent range for indoor growers [neep-cannabis-codes]. MJBizDaily's 2025 column put electricity intensity at 2,000 to 5,000 kWh per pound for indoor cultivation [mjbiz-manage-energy]. At 14 cents per kWh, the middle of that range (3,500 kWh per pound) is about $490 in electricity per pound before demand.

Why your effective rate beats the tariff sheet

Utilities publish an energy rate in cents per kWh. Your all-in cost is total dollars divided by total kWh, and for grows it is almost always higher because:

1. Demand charges bill the highest average kW in a billing interval, not total usage.
2. Load factor is low when hundreds of kW switch on at once at lights-on.
3. Riders and pass-throughs for transmission and capacity sit outside the headline supply rate.
4. Supply contract structure may pass PJM or ISO capacity costs separately from the fixed energy price.

Use our facility energy cost calculator with your actual bills rather than a single tariff line.

kWh per pound: another way to sanity-check

Divide meter kWh by dry pounds harvested. MJBizDaily's 2025 column cites 2,000 to 5,000 kWh per pound for indoor cultivation [mjbiz-manage-energy]. Southern California Edison's 2021 market characterization used about 1,200 kWh per pound in a worked example for a 5,000 square foot facility on three harvests per year [sce-etp-2021]. Evan Mills' 2012 Energy Policy paper on indoor cannabis production established early per-pound carbon and energy intensity figures that industry surveys still reference [mills-2012]. If your number sits above 4,000 kWh per pound, look at yield and schedule before you blame the utility rate.

Greenhouse and outdoor economics

If you can operate in a greenhouse or outdoors, the kWh intensity drops by an order of magnitude in the Northwest data [nwpcc-cannabis]. Operators trade that savings against weather risk, pest pressure, and regulatory limits on canopy type. A facility-specific energy audit is the honest way to compare build options before you sign a lease or expand canopy.

kWh per pound and carbon context

Industry discussions often cite 2,000 to 5,000 kWh per pound of dried flower for indoor cultivation. Southern California Edison's 2021 market characterization modeled about 1,200 kWh per pound in one 5,000 square foot example with three harvest cycles per year [sce-etp-2021]. Your yield per square foot and veg-room sharing determine where you land.

Early academic work on indoor cannabis energy intensity estimated roughly 70 kg CO2 equivalent per kg of product at national-average grid carbon intensity [mills-2012]. That paper predates widespread LED adoption, but it explains why state regulators now track cultivation load. Carbon is not a line item on your bill, but it signals why utilities treat new grow service requests seriously.

Planning checklist before you sign a lease

1. Confirm whether the meter is on a demand or energy-only class before you model costs.
2. Ask the landlord for twelve months of prior utility bills if the space had industrial use.
3. Size service for staggered peaks, not simultaneous room startup.
4. Compare state commercial rates using EIA data or our state rate comparison tool.
5. Budget 20 to 40 percent of operating cost for electricity on indoor models until you have real meter data [neep-cannabis-codes].

If the build includes extraction, kitchen, or drying on the same account, stop using canopy-only benchmarks and model each load zone separately.

State rate spread on the same canopy intensity

The Northwest Council benchmark of 128 kWh per square foot of canopy per year is geography-agnostic [nwpcc-cannabis]. Price is not. June 2026 EIA averages show Illinois commercial customers at 14.53 cents per kWh and California at 24.07 cents [eia-epm-5-6-a]. The same 10,000 square foot canopy at 128 intensity uses 1.28 million kWh per year. Energy-only cost is about $186,000 in Illinois versus $308,000 in California at those averages, before demand.

Industrial rate classes can lower the energy rate but rarely eliminate demand charges. A grow on a commercial demand schedule should model both rate classes with the utility account manager before choosing a benchmark price.

Veg, dry, and extraction on the same meter

Canopy-only benchmarks understate total use when veg rooms, mothers, drying, trim rooms, and extraction share one account. The Northwest survey separated flowering rooms at 49 percent of total electricity among indoor participants [nwpcc-cannabis]. If your meter includes a 40-kW extraction lab running batch cycles, kWh per canopy square foot rises without any change in flower efficiency.

Split submeters during construction if you want defensible benchmarks by department. Retrofit submeters for compliance in New York or Massachusetts cost more than rough-in meters at build time.

Industrial rate class versus commercial

EIA publishes separate commercial and industrial averages by state [eia-epm-5-6-a]. Many grows bill on commercial demand schedules even when load resembles industrial. A facility quoted industrial averages in a pro forma may understate cost if the utility assigns a commercial class with higher delivery demand charges. Confirm class on the service agreement before you use any statewide average in a pitch deck.

Monthly bill sanity check formula

Divide total dollars by total kWh for blended rate. Divide total kWh by canopy square feet for intensity. Compare intensity to 128 kWh per square foot indoor benchmark only when veg and processing share the meter lightly [nwpcc-cannabis]. If blended rate exceeds 20 cents on a commercial schedule, split delivery demand from supply before blaming lighting [eia-epm-5-6-a].

Dry room load on the same meter

Drying and curing can add 15 to 25 percent to annual kWh when on the cultivation meter (planning range, not a cited survey). Include dry square footage in load letters to the utility so service size matches peak dehumidification, not just flower lighting [nwpcc-cannabis].

Dry room load on the same meter

Drying and curing can add 15 to 25 percent to annual kWh when on the cultivation meter (planning range, not a cited survey). Include dry square footage in load letters to the utility so service size matches peak dehumidification, not just flower lighting [nwpcc-cannabis].

Where to go next

Benchmark your canopy against kWh per square foot benchmarks, model energy as a share of production cost on the COGS benchmarks page, compare bills to revenue with the energy cost percent of revenue tool, and run your numbers through the facility energy cost calculator before you trust any single rule of thumb.