NEW BRUNSWICK — NB Power’s demand for stiff rate hikes will drive companies out of business, create job losses, and lead to the utility losing customers warns one of the province’s biggest firms. Glenn Zacher, a lawyer representing J.D. Irving (JDI), submitted a scathing report to the New Brunswick Energy and Utilities Board and on the final day of rate hearings. He called the utility’s application “extraordinary” for its “sheer magnitude,” pointing out that the 9.25% hike this year and next year is an average only for all the customers who buy electricity. When combined with an increase to the rate rider this year – a special catch-up fee when NB Power underestimated how much money it needed the year before – residential customers are facing a 13.25%  increase this year, while big industry, such as JDI, is staring down a more than 15% hike.