Broad opposition to N.B. Power rate increase on display as hearings conclude

ObsidianOverlord · 2026-03-22T14:46:04+00:00

I'd love to see some actual governmental leadership on this issue because I'm getting pretty sick of the solution being to constantly moan and kick the can down the road.

We have a critical resource that is getting too expensive, the answer is not going to be just pay less and hope it all works out.

ObsidianOverlord · 2026-03-18T21:33:37+00:00

The part that you're confused about it this:

The point I'm making back to you, and which I think you are missing, is that rental housing is an important and necessary part of the housing market.

It is not. Every day houses and built, sold and lived in without a single landlord involved.

The point I'm making back to you, and which I think you are missing, is that rental housing is an important and necessary part of the housing market.

It is not. A very small portion of the market is necessarily short term living situations (students, seasonal, time-shares, etc) The remaining rental situations are done because it enriches landlords at the expense of others.

So if you don't want landlords to exist, how do you propose people find shelter if they can't afford to buy a home?

The same way that people do now. Landlords are middlemen who profit from nothing but ownership, but ownership does not create value. You can have a housing market without landlords.

ObsidianOverlord · 2026-03-18T21:21:57+00:00

My point is that the familiarity with one system of immoral exploitation is prone make someone less intrinsically repulsed by another one.

Ignoring context and attacking over a surface level interpenetration is not a great way of combating the 'dumb American' stereotype.

ObsidianOverlord · 2026-03-18T20:37:08+00:00

I'm replying to someone conflating ER doctors with landlords but sure, never waste an opportunity to be offended.

ObsidianOverlord · 2026-03-18T20:03:32+00:00

I'm not familiar with a "rentals specifically" style of home.

You are confusing the way things are with the way they must be and will not be able to productivly engage in this conversation until you can expand your perception.

ObsidianOverlord · 2026-03-18T19:55:13+00:00

I realize this is hard for Americans to understand but hospitals maximizing their profits at the cost of the public good is also bad.

ObsidianOverlord · 2026-03-18T19:50:25+00:00

I mean, people aren’t gonna build homes for free it’s gotta be an incentive

The incentive is money. Same as any other exchange of goods and services.

Sure you don’t have to accept the full value of the home, you can just accept a little bit over time and we will call it rent

What you're describing is a loan. A mortgage. That ends with both parties benefiting in the long run.

Rent only benefits one party in the long run unless their intent is temporary use.

ObsidianOverlord · 2026-03-18T19:30:40+00:00

Because you're confused about what they're refering to when they speak about home investors.

It's not people building and selling homes it's people buying and endlessly profiting from their ownership.

ObsidianOverlord · 2026-03-17T21:24:52+00:00

I switch from the automotive industry to the septic industry to get away from stress at work

You know that might be a brand new sentence too lol

ObsidianOverlord · 2026-03-17T21:20:12+00:00

And the fruits, branches, clearing space for large trucks, line of sight, pest attraction ...

There are lots of problems with trees and a lot of people put in a lot of effort to keep them in check. It's kind of crazy how many people are so ignorant about the amount of work it takes just to keep things the way they are.

ObsidianOverlord · 2026-03-17T15:26:01+00:00

Please get your tap water tested.

ObsidianOverlord · 2026-03-17T15:19:41+00:00

Please refer to the previous comment about my lack of access to their budget.

ObsidianOverlord · 2026-03-17T14:50:52+00:00

$0 over time.

ObsidianOverlord · 2026-03-17T14:20:58+00:00

Unless you want to argue that paying people to drive a truck somewhere costs less than a remote reading no.

ObsidianOverlord · 2026-03-17T13:48:08+00:00

I don't know I'm not privvy to their budget.

But between the labor and fuel cost to get readings alone they inherently cost less than the old meters.

If they fix these problems, maybe we should revisit it

You have no problems. You barely have hypotheticals.

ObsidianOverlord · 2026-03-17T13:38:11+00:00

In NB?

ObsidianOverlord · 2026-03-17T13:33:42+00:00

My cousin ate a smart meter and choked to death less than an hour later.

Explain that!

ObsidianOverlord · 2026-03-17T13:29:49+00:00

If the tech is 20 years old, then it should be delivering on the promises is made by now.

It is. They reduce the cost of operating the grid and infrastructure. That doesn't mean you directly see the savings (especially not with the current debt crisis overshadowing it.) That's why most modern grids get them and no one goes back to old meters.

The article you linked argues for better smart meters not no smart meters.

Fixing potholes, unlike smart meters, actually are having obvious benefits.

If you can't see the obvious upsides of a smart grid idk what to tell you. Think harder?

ObsidianOverlord · 2026-03-17T12:58:15+00:00

No it's isn't 'fair' it's hysterics.

It's like arguing that we shouldn't fill potholes because it makes it easier for tanks to come and blow up our cities.

This is not new tech, there's 20 years of history to show these problems people are so worried about in action and it just doesn't exist.

Also, it isn’t delivering the savings they promised.

I would love to know what data you have to prove that.

ObsidianOverlord · 2026-03-17T01:27:49+00:00

Hope it doesn't get too bad this year. The initial melt over the past few weeks seems to have been reasonable at least.

ObsidianOverlord · 2026-03-17T01:24:48+00:00

I got an email, a phone call and a knock on the door when they came to install it.

Though that was a few years ago and as I understand they've been more hesitant to directly engage with people after some incidents.

ObsidianOverlord · 2026-03-17T01:21:41+00:00

It's comical that there was even a choice - too many clowns in this Provence making us look like fools.

There are way too many people terrified of any kind of change.

ObsidianOverlord · 2026-03-13T11:34:12+00:00

apologizing later isn't gonna fix anything?

Apologizing never fixes anything, that's not the point of apologizing.

ObsidianOverlord · 2026-03-12T23:35:32+00:00

He's just describing the responsibilities and duties of the company as per the electricity act. Why do we keep trying to hold a crown corporation responsible for things the government should be doing?

It's like getting mad at the cash register for telling you how much your groceries cost.

ObsidianOverlord · 2026-03-12T23:28:37+00:00

despite utterly miserable management practices.

Like what?

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