>who sets the price of these assets

Agreement between the various parties, but if there's disagreement then the courts. And, as with any emanant domain takeover, the government generally pays above value. I've seen everything from 130% to 200% of the value thrown around in reading about this.

With a little searching, Versant was CAD$73 million net profit in 2022 per Microsoft Word - 2022 YE FS - March 8 (enmax.com). CMP had net profit of $132 million in 2021 per CMP 2021 Q3 Notes (q4cdn.com). Call it $185 million total profits annually for both.

Some back of the envelope math. Based on the LEI report on Pine Tree Power's website, it appears the cost to buy out Versant and CMP will be $3.5 billion. At the 3% they say they'll get on the loan, that's $11.3 million every month for a simple 50-year loan repayment, or $135.6 million every year. That leaves $49.4 million of extra profit; more if AVANGRID/Iberdrola and Enmax have debt from their acquisitions.

So, if you do the math there's profit in this acquisition. And that was a super simplified calculation not taking into account anything related to interest, inflation, etc.

Per the LEI report they indicate that electricity rates would initially be higher but would then stabilize and break even in 9 years; then reduce forever after that.

Thanks for the exercise as it made me dive deeper into this, but I believe you're 100% wrong. It will not take 200 years before a profit is seen.

Well, yes, it goes to more than just the debt. It would be a stupid and instant failure of a business if the entirety of its revenue went to debts.

Good question; looking online it appears it would be funded by a government loan paid for with future revenue. Basically, instead of future profit going back to shareholders in other countries the money stays and pays off the debt for the acquisition:

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From here: Maine Creation of Pine Tree Power Company Initiative (2023) - Ballotpedia

State funds or tax dollars: Requires no use of state funds or tax dollars

The company would not be permitted to use general obligation bonds or state tax dollars, and would be financed by issuing debt against its future revenues to purchase facilities of electric transmission and distribution utilities that are owned by investors in the state.[1]

From here: FAQ - Our Power (ourpowermaine.org)

Will creating Pine Tree Power impact our state budget?

No. Pine Tree Power will not use our tax dollars. Utilities use revenue from rates, not taxes, to pay for investments and operations. If anything, by reducing our electric rates over time, it will help to attract and retain business investment in Maine, boosting incomes and easing tax burdens.

What would Pine Tree Power cost ratepayers?

Not more in the short term, and far less than we’ll otherwise pay in the long term. When Pine Tree Power purchases the systems of CMP/Avangrid/Iberdrola (owned by Spanish banks and the governments of Norway and Qatar) and Versant/ENMAX (owned by the government of the City of Calgary, Canada) like a home mortgage, the cost will be amortized. Pine Tree Power will qualify to borrow funds at lower interest rates than investor-owned utilities, which will reduce the cost of future capital expenditures, saving $9 billion over 30 years. It will also save us all money by not shipping profits to investors and owners out of the State and out of the country.

I've not been to the job site so I don't know if there's any hazards (downed lines, unstable roads, etc.) that exist. But generally when there's a bridge out local traffic is permitted to travel up right almost to the bridge if they need to access something on the detoured road.

I'd say go for it and if you see a flagger, cop, or foreman just give a quick shout out your window asking if you can proceed safely and they'll let you know what to do. But obviously there may be other issues beyond what a typical bridge site has that may make this different. Whatever you do, don't approach the culvert area; the embankments by the culvert are almost certainly unstable.

And don't pass any signs or persons that indicate danger ahead. They may also need to close down the area for work to stabilize the site so you might be stopped short of your destination if they need a large area for equipment or what not; but I would hope that worst case is you likely could park close to your appointment and walk to it.

Edit: The proper signage you would normally see is they'll have a detour sign and some barricades with a zig-zag path between them and another sign that says "local traffic only". Then you're allowed to pass. But, again, this was an unplanned detour so I have no idea what signage they've managed to put up.

Sub-consultant structural engineer to the contractor that was hired by the DOT for this job. I designed the concrete and reinforcement for the new culvert. Just finished a re-design of the new culvert this afternoon to allow them to fabricate it faster than scheduled. But it's all a big team effort. MaineDOT does a great job and the major roadway contractors in Maine are top notch.

We're trying to fix it as fast as we can! Old culvert was scheduled to be replaced this year. Got a call this morning that we need the new culvert a littttttttle bit sooner than expected.

In the past 5 years two organizations have launched temporary satellites designed specifically to reflect light. One was somewhat dim and the other wasn't deployed in time due to a government shutdown and could not be seen.

That said, there's generally not been any outcry because nobody has really done anything that disruptive (these sats were small points of light), but it's pretty well understood that the first organization that functionally changes the night sky for some commercial purposes will receive nothing but bad publicity from it. So I doubt anyone will actually do it.

SpaceX sats are specifically designed to not reflect light when in position specifically because of the backlash over the number of them. Currently they still mess with astronomy to some degree but they're not going to be visible when in their final orbit. Most anyone else launching sats will do the same.

Well, no.

Basement pipes, yes. Very yes.

A lot of the time you can lookup firearm ordinances on town websites since it's a commonly asked question. Many towns won't restrict it, some restrict it to certain areas, and some do not permit it at all inside the town limits.

Be aware of ricochets and your backdrop. Bullets can travel quite far if they skip off of hard ground. Soft berm backstop or equivalent to keep the projectiles from leaving your property if you're shooting anything in the rifle category. And, as always, shooting at a public or private range is preferred (though I too go shooting in my backyard sometimes; got to keep those property values down).

As courtesy, I'd be friendly and talk to nearby neighbors in hearing range to see if they have any times/dates they'd prefer you not shoot and see if you can accommodate them. I grew up next to an avid shooter; 90% of the time it wasn't an issue but sometimes they'd be going to town around dinner time and it's disruptive trying to watch TV/Movie while someone's dumping off 50 rounds half a mile away. It would have been nice if we could ask him to limit how much shooting they did past 5 pm or whatnot.

Ahahahah, I fucking knew it. This person messaged me, asking about what to do on a trip to Maine. I said that really depends and basically spammed them some tourist links since I got better shit to do. They then replied with something that look copy-pasted. I asked if they were a bot and they said ".... no" and then never replied. Was fishy as fuck, hope they didn't scam anyone on here.

Power systems in Maine are hard; I've seen raging storms that knocked all sorts of limbs off trees around my house; zero lost power. Tiny bit of wet snow; no power for 2 days.

Just takes one branch falling in the wrong place. I put off buying a generator for so long but it wasn't worth it; buy a generator one saved fridge load of food will pay for it.

A old meme of a video where some crazy person talking about chemtrails that were being sprayed to make frogs gay or something stupid like that.

The enemy's gate is down.

I'm with the other guy. I won't judge people for a lot of things but meth is not one of them. People do stupid shit on meth. I loaned a bike to a meth head once; got it back a week later with a bent rim.

My wife has mint and only loses it in valleys when traveling away from towns, basically has cell service 99% of the time. I use Verizon since I travel to lots of random towns and off-grid areas for work so I need the greater coverage in these spotty areas.

Yeah, the snow is only a problem if you're wading around in it (which isn't often unless you're going out to play in it). The wind and cold is what makes it uncomfortable to go around outside. Scarf, hat, gloves, and winter coat are a must almost immediately. Without them you'll be very uncomfortable for anything more than just a quick jaunt from the parking lot into a store, and in physical danger if your car broke down or got stuck or something and you were in the cold for an extended period of time.

The biggest thing is keeping cold wind off of exposed skin. Scarf and hat the covers your face and ears, gloves, a jacket that insulates, and thicker pants that block wind (or especially long underwear). This is what keeps you warm.

The biggest thing you'll learn is how to dress in layers. You need to be able to add or remove layers depending on what you're doing and the weather. Fully bundled up and shoveling some snow with no wind and the sun and you'll quickly overheat (I've sometimes shoveled snow in boots, jeans, and a long-sleeve shirt) but add no sun, wind, and blowing snow and I'll be out there looking like I came from the arctic.

Overall it's an easy skill to learn; just make sure you have some of the basics and you'll quickly adjust.

Nice. Yeah, shit happens; surprised the DOT on-site inspector didn't catch that but things happen. Glad they had such a proactive response. Thanks for letting them know.

Yikes. Not good.

MaineDOT does good work; I briefly reviewed the plans for this job and they had details for traffic control plans so I presume there wasn't any planned shutdowns; especially not during rush hour. But traffic control is the pervue of the general contractor and is only approved by MaineDOT and not their responsibility. It could just be that traffic got backed up due to the lane closures and they didn't actually shut anything down.

The general contractor awarded the project was listed as McNamee Construction Corp. of Lincolndale, NY. Never worked with them so no idea how good they are.

Bus is cheapest, driving is best, flying out of Trenton or Bangor is probably fastest, hitchhiking is free.

I did Mo's BBQ and the we had some homemade things like lobster rolls and various snacks and treats. Definitely more on the cheap side than the moderate side.

Okay, Karen.