matters MEMBERSHIP
A MONTHLY NEWSLETTER FROM BLUE RIDGE ENERGY
January 2020
Save on energy costs with Usage Tracker This time of year can bring good times with family and guests enjoying the warmth of your home, cooking and all the things that make this time of year special! But it also means your household is using more energy, which increases energy bills. You can get a handle on energy usage and costs with a FREE tool from Blue Ridge Energy called “Usage Tracker.”
weather temperatures to help you understand the effect weather can have on your electric bill. Knowledge is power - and knowing the amount of electricity you and your family use on a daily basis is a powerful tool when it comes to controlling your costs. While Usage Tracker doesn’t know “how” you use electricity, it does show patterns. And surveys show that when people monitor their daily usage, they tend to take steps to reduce usage by 5 to 15 percent.
Did you know...you can set up alerts to send yourself an email, text or voice mail if your daily electricity usage goes above an amount that you set?
Sign up for Usage Tracker by logging into “My Account” on our website or through our mobile app and see your daily electricity usage. You can also see the daily
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Let us help you manage your electricity costs — any time of the year! Sign up for Usage Tracker today for powerful information that can help you understand and control your usage before winter takes a toll on your pocketbook. Sign up at BlueRidgeEnergy.com > MyAccount or through our Blue Ridge mobile app.
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the
perspective From Blue Ridge CEO Doug Johnson
What's ahead in 2020 Making life better for members and the communities your cooperative serves is why we’re excited about what’s ahead in 2020! Before we look ahead, first let me say that I’m very excited your cooperative was able to pass along about $7 million in savings on members’ November and December bills as a result of lower-than-expected wholesale power costs and one-time settlements with our power supplier. As a not-for-profit cooperative, we’re pleased to pass along savings to our members, especially during winter months! Also timely to winter is our new outage texting now available to members. We listened to your requests for this service so that you can easily text us when you have an outage and receive updates until your power is restored. Find full details on the cover of this magazine on how to sign up today! Another of our new popular texting services is our Propane and Fuels delivery and payment notification service. Plus, when you sign up for this service, you’ll also be among the first to know about showroom sales and specials! Just text FUEL to 70216 to sign up. For members with rooftop solar systems, you’ll be pleased to know we’ve enhanced the net metering rate to follow a national best practice standard. The cooperative will now annually purchase the excess kilowatt hours produced by your rooftop solar system each year during the May billing cycle.
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In 2020, your cooperative will move into its new corporate headquarters in Lenoir. This facility will house critical systems for all three Blue Ridge Energy companies: the electric cooperative, our Propane and Fuels subsidiary, and our RidgeLink telecommunications business-to-business subsidiary. Among the staff and systems it will house include the technology, security and communications connecting our power grid, substations and powerlines, as well as a 24/7 system operators station and a member/customer contact center, all of which connects to four district offices to support our line crew operations, propane and fuels operations, member/customer service staff, and showrooms. Joining a long list of previously funded emergency response initiatives, Blue Ridge Energy is applying for funds through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Economic Development Loan and Grant (REDLG) program for new fire trucks for the following volunteer fire departments: Warrensville (Ashe), Zionville and Beaver Dam (Watauga County), and a new fire station for Piney Creek (Alleghany County). Within this article I’ve shared just a few of the member benefits coming in 2020! I look forward to sharing more with you in the coming months, and I wish all of our members a very happy, healthy and prosperous New Year!
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THROUGH SNOW, ICE OR GLOOM Mother Nature can present all kinds of challenges to the power delivery system. Be prepared by downloading our app and keeping basic necessities on hand. Remember that through it all, Blue Ridge is on call for you.
outage reporting options •
Call PowerLine at 1-800-448-2383
p werline to report an outage. 1-800-448-2383
•
Use the Blue Ridge mobile app
Search for “Blue Ridge Mobile App” in your app store and download it for free on your smartphone or tablet!
•
.
Sign up for Outage Texting - Text “START” to 70216
- Text “OUT” to 70216 to report an outage and receive updates until final restoration * Your mobile number must be listed on your Blue Ridge Energy account to enroll for Outage Texting. Go to BlueRidgeEnergy.com/ outagetexting to learn more.
A new cooperative conversation As Blue Ridge Energy begins 2020, we are pleased to announce a new communications tool — podcasts. cooperative conversations
Blue Ridge Energy’s new podcast, Unplugged, gives listeners a chance to hear stories about Blue Ridge Energy, told by the people working to serve its members and communities across northwest North Carolina. Monthly episodes of Unplugged are
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around 15 minutes long with topics ranging from renewable energy and the future of the electric grid to storm stories and energy efficiency tips to help you save money on your electric bill. Subscribing to Unplugged is easy! Simply go to the Apple Podcast or Spotify application on your smart device and search for “Unplugged Blue Ridge Energy.” You can also listen by going to BlueRidgeEnergy.com/Unplugged. Page 23
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Vegetation management helps ensure reliable, safe electricity
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Doug Johnson
EDITOR
Renée R. Whitener
PRODUCTION SUPERVISOR Susan Simmons
Severe weather that involves ice, wind and lightning, which can result in damage to trees and power lines, is the major cause of outages. With more than 8,000 miles of power lines to protect, and because over half of our outages are caused by trees, limbs and other plant life, your electric cooperative works year-round on our vegetation management program to ensure members enjoy the most reliable electricity possible. This effort has also placed Blue Ridge Energy among the best performing utilities in the nation for reliability. Vegetation management occurs in our rights-ofway. What is a right-ofway? It’s a corridor or strip of land along either
side of power lines that allows our linemen a safety zone while building and maintaining the power system to ensure you receive reliable electricity. The majority of our system is made up of distribution lines, which carry power from substations to homes and businesses. The right-ofway for this type of line is a total of 30 feet (15 feet on each side).
250 feet, depending on the voltage of the line.
Blue Ridge Energy is a unique cooperative in that we must also build and maintain our own transmission system.
Many people don’t know that power lines carrying electricity can energize anything or anyone that gets too close to the line, including a tree or tree limb, ladder, or even a wet kite string. Maintained rights-of-way help ensure that trees don’t get close enough to power lines to energize them. While this helps keep electricity reliable, it also helps keep people and even animals from being electrocuted or severely injured.
These high-voltage power lines deliver electricity from our supplier in the foothills to reach our mountain district members. The right-ofway for these lines ranges from a total of 100 to
Our vegetation management program combines several methods to control growth — all with the goal of balancing the beauty of our area while ensuring safe, reliable electricity.
DISTRICT OFFICES Caldwell Watauga Ashe Alleghany Wilkes PowerLine®
(828) 754-9071 (828) 264-8894 (336) 846-7138 (336) 372-4646 (800) 451-5474 (800) 448-2383
2020 director candidate nominee options
(800) 451-5474
Members wishing to be considered as a candidate for the Board of Directors have two application options: the Nominating Committee process or the nomination by petition process. Interested members must complete and submit a director application packet by contacting Julie O’Dell, chief administrative officer, at jodell@blueridgeenergy.com or 1-800-451-5474, ext. 3202.
(PowerLine® is an automated account information and outage reporting system.)
Toll Free
(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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All application information is due by 5:00 p.m. on Monday, March 2, 2020 when going through the Nominating Committee process and by 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, April 1, 2020 for those seeking nomination by petition. Nominations by petition must include signatures of 20 or more members with a minimum of five from each of the four directorate districts with a requirement that each signature is the name that appears on their electric service bill. For a complete list of qualifications to serve as a director of Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corporation, please refer to the cooperative’s Bylaws available at any district office or online at BlueRidgeEnergy.com. MEMBERSHIP matters
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