Membership MATTERS
Tips To Save On Winter Bills
Awareness of your electricity usage can help you understand when and where your household consumes more electricity. Then you can decide if you can reduce electric usage to help save on your energy bills. Blue Ridge Energy offers a free tool to track your daily usage. Simply go to BlueRidgeEnergy.com > My Account > Usage Tracker. Or, if you’ve downloaded the Blue Ridge Energy mobile app, click on “Usage Details” for access.
Cold weather means more heating, cooking, and lighting — all of which can raise your energy bill. Here are some easy ways to save:
• Use less, save more: Set your thermostat to the lowest comfortable setting, open blinds on sunny days, and close them at night. Run full loads of laundry and dishes, wash clothes in cold water, take short showers and turn off unused lights.
• Pick a payment plan that fits: With FlexPay, you can pay in smaller daily or weekly amounts with no late fees or deposits, but you must keep a positive balance to keep power flowing. Or choose Budget Billing for the same payment 11 months of the year, with an “even up” in month 12.
• Need help? Call Blue Ridge Energy for payment plans or contact your local social services agency for crisis assistance programs, including Operation Round Up®
Perspective
Joining Together To Give Back
There’s no better feeling than giving back — and that’s exactly what we do through the Blue Ridge Energy Members Foundation.
Thanks to members joining us by participating in Operation Round Up, the Foundation has provided over $3.2 million in crisis heating assistance, helping thousands of local families stay warm during difficult times. Additional funds are awarded in grants each year that go to help local members and communities in other ways that improve quality of life.
In 2024 alone, the Foundation assisted nearly 950 families with electric and fuel bill relief during a year marked by the devastation of Hurricane Helene. Most recently, the Foundation awarded $175,000 in community grants to 33 local nonprofits — many directly supporting recovery and rebuilding efforts from Helene.
These impacts are possible thanks to the generosity of members who round up their bills or donate capital credits through Operation Round Up® (ORU). Our subsidiaries, Blue Ridge Energy Propane and Fuels and RidgeLink, also play a vital role, contributing more than $840,000 since 2007.
Every dollar you give goes directly to helping local families and communities. The cooperative provides administrative oversight, while the Foundation is guided by a board of member-volunteers from across our service area.
From emergency heating assistance to nonprofit grants, your cooperative is committed to making life better through the Blue Ridge Energy Members Foundation. Thank you to everyone participating in Operation Round Up. Together, we’re making a lasting difference.
From Blue Ridge CEO Katie Woodle
Outdoor Lighting: Security and Beauty
Outdoor lighting available from Blue Ridge Energy can enhance the safety, curb appeal, and landscaping of your home! Select from a variety of lighting styles, including LED options. Outdoor security lights can be added to your monthly electric bill. For more information, visit blueridgeenergy.com/outdoor-lighting
STATEMENT OF NONDISCRIMINATION
In accordance with Federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, the USDA, its Agencies, offices, and employees, and institutions participating in or administering USDA programs are prohibited from discriminating based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability, age, marital status, family/parental status, income derived from a public assistance program, political beliefs, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity, in any program or activity conducted or funded by USDA (not all bases apply to all programs). Remedies and complaint filing deadlines vary by program or incident.
Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication for program information (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language, etc.) should contact the State or local Agency that administers the program or contact USDA through the Telecommunications Relay Service at 711 (voice and TTY). Additionally, program information may be made available in languages other than English.
To file a program discrimination complaint, complete the USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form, AD-3027, found online at How to File a Program Discrimination Complaint and at any USDA office or write a letter addressed to USDA and provide in the letter all of the information requested in the form. To request a copy of the complaint form, call (866) 632-9992. Submit your completed form or letter to USDA by: (1) mail: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Mail Stop 9410, Washington, D.C. 20250-9410; (2) fax: (202) 690-7442; or (3) email: program.intake@usda.gov.
This institution is an equal opportunity provider.
Your Voice Matters
At Blue Ridge Energy, your feedback helps us deliver the best possible service. Each month, some members receive an email survey from cooperativeinsights@mail1.ddgvips.com. If you’re selected, please take a few minutes to share your thoughts — we want to know how we’re doing and where we can improve.
Thanks to your input, Blue Ridge Energy consistently ranks among the nation’s top cooperatives for member satisfaction. With your help, we’ll keep meeting your needs as they change.
To ensure you receive surveys and updates, make sure we have your correct email address on file.
Ways to update:
• Online at BlueRidgeEnergy.com/emailupdate
• Under My Account at BlueRidgeEnergy.com
• On our mobile app
• By calling 1-800-451-5474
Bylaws, Service Rules and Regulations Updated
At a recent meeting of Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corporation’s Board of Directors, updates to the Cooperative’s Bylaws and Service Rules and Regulations were approved.
The Bylaws updates include qualifications to become a Board member and specifies that a candidate may not be related to an employee of the Cooperative or its subsidiaries. A summary of Bylaws changes will be sent to members while a complete copy can be viewed on the Cooperative’s website or by request at any Cooperative district office. In the Service Rules and Regulations, the Nondiscrimination notice was updated.
Redline versions indicating all changes, as well as final documents, can be found online at BlueRidgeEnergy.com/CorpDocs or by contacting the Cooperative for a hard copy.
Katie Woodle
EDITOR
Renée R. Walker
PRODUCTION SUPERVISOR
Jacob Puckett
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