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A MONTHLY NEWSLETTER FROM BLUE RIDGE ENERGY
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March 2019
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Beat The Peak: Actions and savings add up! Members participating in Beat The Peak as well as other during the peak period: adjust thermostats a few degrees, delay using large appliances such as clothes cooperative efforts are producing positive results! washers and dryers, and turn off any unnecessary lights. Blue Ridge Energy members participating in Beat The It’s easy to join the movement! Even small actions help. Peak combined with the cooperative’s other electric demand reduction programs are generating power Sign up today! cost savings approaching half a million dollars. Since wholesale power cost is the single largest utility expense, efforts • Sign up online at: to reduce this cost are benefitting memBlueRidgeEnergy.com/BTP bers by helping hold rates down.
• Text BTP to 70216 to receive text alerts The power of joining together is growing! Members are signing up for Beat The Peak alerts by text, phone or email • Download our mobile app and enable at BlueRidgeEnergy.com/BTP. Alerts notifications are sent when extreme temperatures cause energy demand from consumers to reach critically high levels, which are typically a few hours on the coldest winter mornings or hottest summer afternoons. Beat The Peak is voluntary. By signing up to receive alerts, members can plan to take a few simple actions
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perspective From Blue Ridge CEO Doug Johnson
Outstanding storm response Since September, Mother Nature has punched our area with several of the most damaging storms in recent history. Blue Ridge Energy line technicians and Propane and Fuels service and delivery employees have battled the worst conditions night and day to ensure our members and customers have the comfort of heat, hot water, lights and safety. They also worked weeks before storms hit preparing for better outcomes for our members and customers. I want to commend their commitment to taking care of our members and customers!
technicians, in particular, are the first responders when power needs to be restored for our homes, hospitals, schools and businesses. They jump out of warm beds in the middle of the night, and as the first ones out, they often must cut trees off roadways to reach mangled power lines, broken poles and other damage to quickly restore power. Equally impressive is that all of our front line staff do their work in a manner that brings them home safely to their families every day — and protects citizens as well.
I am always proud of our employees because they regularly give their all. But it takes a special servant’s heart to keep going, storm after storm, to make sure tanks are full and power is restored quickly when ice, wind or snow damage our system.
I’m always proud of our Blue Ridge Energy line technicians, Propane and Fuels service and delivery employees and entire operations team. But they deserve special recognition for their dedication and performance during the recent months’ storms.
These individuals work in very demanding, dangerous jobs. Line
I hope you’ll join me in saluting these individuals for their service!
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Storm Totals
(Five storms since September 2018)
Damaged Locations: 1,146
Members Affected Outages: 59,442
Outage Time: 1,080 minutes Propane and Fuels Service Work Orders Completed: 2,829 Propane and Fuels Deliveries Completed: 19,379 MEMBERSHIP matters
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er 2018)
mbers cted ages: 442
ane d ls Work ers eted: 29
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Director Proxy Committee to be appointed As part of the director election governance process giving members an option to vote for cooperative directors by mail or Internet, a Director Proxy Committee will be appointed by the Board of Directors at their regular March board meeting. This committee will be made up of three directors whose terms are not expiring and who are not running for re-election this year to the Board of Directors. As stated in the cooperative’s Bylaws, the Proxy Committee serves multiple roles for the membership. First, the committee will cast votes for all members designating their preferences selected on their submitted electronic or paper proxy forms. Secondly, the committee will serve as a proxy for any member wishing to assign their vote for director elections to the committee. Lastly, the committee will cast votes for members who return their proxy but do not make a choice on the voting options. Director election kits will be mailed, or sent by email to members who have requested to receive this information electronically, on May 29, 2019. The notice of Annual Meeting along with information about board candidates will be part of the director election kit.
Members have convenient options to vote by Internet or mail and therefore, are not required to attend the Annual Meeting in order to vote for directors. However, members who have not voted by the deadline date of June 19, 2019, or who voted by Internet or mail but wish to change their vote, must attend the Annual Meeting in order to do so. Members wishing to be considered for nomination to serve on the Board of Directors have two options: the Nominating Committee or Nomination by Petition. Interested members must first submit a director application packet which is available by contacting Julie O’Dell, chief administrative officer, Blue Ridge Energy, at jodell@blueridgeenergy.com or by calling 1-800-451-5474, ext. 3202. The completed packet is due by 5 pm, Friday, March 1, when using the Nominating Committee process or by 5 pm, Monday, April 1, when using the Nomination by Petition process. For a complete list of qualifications and requirements to serve as director of the cooperative, please refer to the cooperative’s Bylaws available at BlueRidgeEnergy.com under Company>Board Governance>Corporate Documents or by contacting any Blue Ridge Energy office.
opens 2019 grant opportunities The Blue Ridge Energy Members Foundation is accepting grant applications for approximately $140,000 in available funds for its 2019 grant cycle. Applications are due by July 31. Since formed over a decade ago, the Foundation has awarded over $1,100,000 to 233 local nonprofit organizations and projects for improving health and wellness, education, economic and community development, the environment, and other quality of life initiatives. Grants are available for nonprofit organizations in the service areas of the cooperative and its propane and fuels subsidiary, including: Caldwell, Watauga, Ashe, Allegany, Avery, Alexander, and Wilkes counties.
MEMBERSHIP matters
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Funding for Foundation grants comes primarily from members participating in Blue Ridge Energy’s Operation Round Up® and Operation Round Up Plus® programs as well as contributions from the cooperative’s subsidiaries and members donating their capital credits. All grant applications are reviewed by a volunteer group of members who make funding recommendations to the cooperative’s Board of Directors. Funding is awarded in late November. For an application or to learn more, visit BlueRidge Energy.com and click on the Community tab. You may also contact Grey Scheer, director of community relations, at gscheer@blueridgeenergy.com or by calling 1-800-451-5474, ext. 3294. Page 27
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Blue Ridge EnergyÛs largest power reliability project progresses Ensuring members have adequate, reliable power to meet their needs now and in the future is the purpose of the cooperative’s largest transmission project currently underway. The upgrade, known as the Horse Gap to Rutherwood 230 kV Project, will improve reliability and increase capacity. The project began in May 2018 and is the largest system improvement in the cooperative’s history. The project involves upgrading a 17-mile portion of the cooperative’s transmission system that brings power from Ashe County to Watauga County. This part of the electric system is over 50 years old. The majority of work is occurring in the path of the existing power line to upgrade the single-circuit 100 kV transmission line to higher voltage double circuit 230 kV transmission line.
“Owning transmission lines and systems is rare for a distribution utility but is necessary to bring electricity to the mountainous service areas of Blue Ridge Energy,” said Alan Merck, chief operating officer. “Member growth and power demand are carefully monitored to determine the optimal time for construction to meet members’ power needs now and in the future.”
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Doug Johnson
EDITOR
Renée R. Whitener
PRODUCTION SUPERVISOR
The project also includes a higher capacity substation near Watauga County’s Rutherwood community.
DISTRICT OFFICES
The project’s first phase should conclude by early fall, with the full project planned for completion by 2023.
(PowerLine® is an automated account information and outage reporting system.)
New contractor firm
Susan Simmons Caldwell Watauga Ashe Alleghany Wilkes PowerLine®
Toll Free
(828) 754-9071 (828) 264-8894 (336) 846-7138 (336) 372-4646 (800) 451-5474 (800) 448-2383
(800) 451-5474
(for members outside of the service area.)
To report an outage at any time, call PowerLine at (800) 448-2383. OFFICE HOURS: 8:30 am - 5:00 pm, Monday-Friday Kiosk available 24/7 Visit us on the web: BlueRidgeEnergy.com + This institution is an equal opportunity provider and employer.
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Blue Ridge Energy has hired a new contractor firm to assist with system upgrade work. Members will begin seeing Pike Electric trucks and personnel, and trucks will include signs identifying them as a Blue Ridge Energy contractor. They will also assist during storms and outage restoration as needed. Contract crews hired by Blue Ridge Energy have been used for years to help improve the construction efficiency of important
projects that enhance electric reliability. “The services of contractors allow Blue Ridge crews to concentrate more on the daily work of keeping the power on as well as system maintenance. The volume and costs scope of contract work changes as projects are completed. Contractors help keep our costs down,” explained Robert Kent, director of operations. Pike Electric bid on the contract and was selected among several competitive bids based on costs and experience. Blue Ridge Energy works closely with contractors to train and instill the cooperative values of customer service, care and safety.
MEMBERSHIP matters
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