Membership MATTERS
Watch for a Bill Credit or Check!
Over $6 Million Coming to Members in May!
For the best service ...
Please contact us any time you change your telephone number, e-mail or mailing address. This helps us provide you with the best member service experience, especially during outages or when you need us. It also ensures timely delivery of important items such as your capital credits refund!
Money is coming back to members in May thanks to a capital credits retirement of over $6 million approved by your board of directors!
Bill credits will appear on May bills for active members due under $100. Active members due $100 or more will be mailed checks on May 8 separately from their electric bill. Members new to the cooperative as of 2026 will be eligible for capital credit refunds beginning next year. Inactive members—those who moved out of the cooperative’s service area—who are due a capital credits refund will also be mailed a check in May. Over 94,000 active and inactive members will receive refunds.
Capital credits are a unique benefit of being a member of a cooperative. A cooperative like Blue Ridge Energy doesn’t earn profits. Instead, revenues remaining after all expenses are paid each year are considered “margins.” Margins are allocated annually to members and reflect your member equity (ownership) in the cooperative. After being used for a period of years as capital to help finance reliability projects, these funds are returned to members.
This process helps reduce the need for loans, which in turn helps keep your electricity rates lower. It also helps maintain a healthy balance between debt and equity to ensure your cooperative’s financial health and stability.
The percentage of equity to be retired and refunded to members is determined annually by your board of directors based on your cooperative’s financial condition. This year, that amount is 3%.
Over the history of Blue Ridge Energy, more than $111 million has been returned to members.
Shared Strength, Shared Returns
Blue Ridge Energy has returned over $111 million in capital credits to our members throughout our history. It pays to be served by a cooperative, and we’re pleased to provide you, our members, with this important benefit!
One of the greatest advantages of being part of a cooperative is knowing that the money you invest in your electric service comes back to you. Capital credits are a tangible reminder of that value, and we’re proud to continue returning them to our members.
This year, your Board of Directors has approved more than $6 million in capital credit refunds. These refunds will go to active members, former members, and estates, and you’ll find details in this newsletter about how those refunds will appear — either as bill credits or checks issued in May.
While the term “capital credits” may sound technical, the idea behind it is straightforward. Until they’re returned to members, capital credits are funds used as operating capital to invest in power lines, substations, and other electric system assets that provide you with reliable electricity. Capital credits are the annual margins — revenues minus expenses
of the cooperative — which are allocated to each member based on your individual usage and purchase of electricity. After using the money for a period of years to finance investment in electric facilities, it is returned to members over time.
To ensure we can continue returning capital credits while maintaining the financial s trength needed to serve you well, your Board has adopted an equity management plan. This plan follows an industry-leading benchmark of maintaining 40% member equity. It also outlines a consistent schedule for returning capital credits over time. At the end of 2025, our members reached this important equity goal with $211 million in equity and $524 million in total assets. This year’s return represents three percent of member equity.
The equity plan also guides how we balance member-provided capital with long-term debt as we invest in the electric system. Striking the right balance is essential. It helps us manage rising costs, maintain reliability and continue providing service at the lowest feasible cost over the long term. As we move forward in a higher cost environment, this strong financial foundation will be more important than ever in generating value back to you, and continuing our mission to make life better.
From Blue Ridge Energy CEO Katie Woodle
Members will be eligible to win one of three exciting prizes when they vote in this year’s Board of Directors election!
Director election kits will be mailed, and emailed to those signed up for the electronic version, on May 27. As a cooperative, Blue Ridge Energy’s Board of Directors is made up of members who represent the entire membership. Each year, all Blue Ridge members can vote on and elect candidates for four open seats, one in each of the cooperative’s directorate districts: Caldwell, Watauga, Ashe and Alleghany.
Members can vote for director candidates online or by mail during this year’s voting period of May 27 through June 17. Members may vote or change their previous online or mail vote if attending the cooperative’s annual meeting in-person. The annual meeting will be held on June 25 at 4 p.m. at the corporate headquarters in Lenoir.
If voting by mail, the proxy must be signed by the member with their choices clearly marked and received in the enclosed postage-paid envelope no later than 5 p.m. on Thursday, June 17. To comply with election management procedures, the form
cannot be given to an employee or accepted at any Blue Ridge office.
To ensure the integrity of director elections, Survey and Ballot Systems, an independent election administrator, was approved by the Credentials and Election Committee in December 2025. Committee members’ names are available at BlueRidgeEnergy.com. This committee is comprised of members from across the cooperative’s service area and is responsible for ensuring director elections are properly conducted, including certifying election results.
Director election kits will be sent to members on May 27. Included will be:
• Biographical information for all candidates
• Proxy with instructions on how members can vote for candidates in all districts by using one of two options: online or by returning the proxy provided in the kit that includes a postage-paid return envelope
• or, if signed up for the electronic
• director election kit, you will receive a link by email to easily vote online
