Plug in. Point up. Power on.

Like a lot of places, New Brunswick has watched the power bill climb a fair bit these past couple of years, a bit faster than the paycheque. Nobody's asking for a handout. Just a small way to push a little of it back in your own favour.

It's pretty much what it sounds like. Small solar panels you plug into a regular wall outlet, like an appliance. You hang them on a balcony, a wall, or a railing, plug them in, and that's about it. Usually no electrician, no roof work, no permits. They quietly make power and send it straight into your home. Germany has more than a million of them. It's safe, it's proven, and it works everywhere it's allowed.

Stand on the bank of the St. Croix at St. Stephen and you can look across at Maine, where, as of this summer, your neighbours can legally plug a solar panel into the wall, right up to the size we're asking for here. Same sun, same coast, same river. On our side it's still tangled in rules written for big rooftop systems, though the idea of letting apartment-dwellers plug in has already been raised at the Legislature. The rules just need to catch up.

So we're asking New Brunswick to do what Maine just did, and open a simple path for plug-in solar. Add your name and we'll put it in front of the province.