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Find out more about Mission Solar Cells and Modules at Mission Solar. in the environment. I'm Stephen Lacy. You know it's often said that electric

vehicles are the key to bringing back load growth for utilities in the U.S.

But maybe there's another way.

Marijuana.

After the November election, seven states and D.C.

have now legalized marijuana for recreational use, causing a frenzy of entrepreneurial activity.

26 states have legalized marijuana for medical use.

In Washington State and Colorado, where marijuana has been legalized for years, utilities are seeing a spike in electricity

consumption. In Denver, for example, cannabis growers account for 2% of electricity use.

In Washington State, grow operations could suck up more

electricity than electric cars over the coming decades. This also poses a challenge

to utilities which are seeing increased outages and may have trouble addressing cannabis head on because of the conflict between state and federal laws.

This week's guest has been watching all of this play out and we're going to learn about the energy impact of marijuana

legalization as well as the financial opportunity for clean tech in managing that

energy use. In the second half of the show we're going to discuss the legal, cultural, and environmental

...