Your friend hasn't been caught yet. Give the power company time, there is a pandemic on, they will get there in the end. If you think that an abrupt change in usage will go unnoticed, you do not understand smart meters, and neither does your friend. Hacking the meter is fine, but unless the monitoring system is also hacked, the change in power consumption will be noticed, and if it is significant, will be followed up.
Risking jail time over the power needed for a home grow is a dumb idea in my opinion. Stealing power for a larger grow would be even dumber.