COOPERATIVE NEWS Director Election Results, Data Centers Cap 90th Annual Meeting by Preston Knight, Communication Manager
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n Aug. 6, SVEC held its 90th annual meeting. It was the first of its kind in multiple ways. The co-op added a Zoom participation option, in addition to what’s become the customary telephone-style approach. Hundreds of phone and Zoom registrations, along with thousands of returned proxies and online votes in the board of directors election, allowed SVEC to meet attendance requirements. For the first time since the meeting moved to a virtual format in 2020, more than one director election featured challengers to incumbents. Members reelected Bill Orndoff from the Northern Region, Jerry Dofflemyer from the Central Region and Brent Arbogast from the Southern Region. Orndoff was unopposed. The primary order of business at each annual meeting is the election,
CONTACT US Mailing Address 180 Oakwood Dr., Rockingham, VA 22801 Phone Web 800-234-7832 • svec.coop Email svecpr@svec.coop Local Pages Editor Preston Knight Local Pages Designer Ashley Kreis
which takes place in the weeks leading up to the event, via mail and online balloting. Three of nine board seats are on the ballot every year. Board members serve three-year terms. Another unique component to this year’s meeting came in remarks from President and CEO Greg Rogers, who focused on a singular topic rather than providing updates on the cooperative. The topic was data centers and their impact on electric rates and reliability. “In the past year, the prospect of data centers expanding their footprint in the Shenandoah Valley has garnered considerable interest,” Rogers said. “The role of Shenandoah Valley Electric Cooperative in planning for the possibility of these types of very large demand loads is critical for both the ability for us to deliver the power required and, most importantly, planning to do so in a way that protects the rest of the grid and our members from outsized risk.” Data centers and other large consumers will pay “wholly for the dedicated service they require,” he said. “Our cooperative has received approval, through an interim order, from the Virginia State Corporation Commission to charge very large members for the entire cost of the substations and electric service lines they will need and continue to pay for the maintenance and operation of
those facilities,” Rogers said. In the weeks leading to the meeting, SVEC heard concerns from members regarding perceived back-channel agreements with data center developers. The co-op works closely with localities and prospective members when plans are revealed that require coordination at many levels to guarantee electric service, Rogers said. “People can become concerned over the conversations in the planning process that happen privately, and they can even appear to some as nefarious,” he said. “While this is understandable when combined with the greater uncertainty very large demand electric customers present all of us, please remember these protected conversations are had to allow prospective businesses and localities to decide how they may fit together. “Our obligation to serve everyone remains, and we do not advocate for or against anyone choosing to work or live in the Valley.” Thanks to all members who participated in this year’s annual meeting. To listen to a recording of the event, visit svec.coop. Information on the 2027 annual meeting will be shared early next year, when director seats from Rockingham County, Shenandoah County and Winchester will be on the ballot. •
If you would like to unsubscribe from receiving the print edition of Cooperative Living, email svecpr@svec.coop with your home address. Shenandoah Valley Electric Cooperative is an equal opportunity provider and employer. SVEC supports our armed services and veterans in employment opportunities.
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SVEC offices will be closed Monday, Sept. 7, in observance of Labor Day. September 2026 • Cooperative Living • 15
A Q&A with SVEC’s Regulatory Authority by Preston Knight, Communication Manager
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VEC is a regulated, not-forprofit utility. The latter part is selfexplanatory. But the one about regulations can bring a field day of questions. We can easily address the most basic one. Who regulates SVEC? That’s the Virginia State Corporation Commission. After that, questions are best answered with more explanation, in terms of why the current state of regulations exist. And you probably do not want to hear it from us. To provide the appropriate neutral perspective, we consulted Samuel T. Towell, one of the SCC’s three commissioners. In March 2024, he was sworn in as the 38th commissioner in SCC history. ‘NATURAL MONOPOLIES’ SVEC: Consumers view Virginia electric utilities as monopolies, but they may not understand there is a regulated part to it via the SCC. Why does Virginia operate as it does with its electric providers? Towell: Because they are capitalintensive and provide a commodity product, electric utilities are what we call “natural monopolies.” It would be inefficient and worse for society to have multiple power lines going to individual residences, businesses and industries — that sort of infrastructure redundancy gets expensive fast. And so rather than have duplicative capital-intensive infrastructure sprawling throughout our communities, Virginia (and every other state) has elected to engage in what is called a regulatory compact: A utility is granted an exclusive right — called a franchise — to serve all customers in a specific 16 • Cooperative Living • September 2026
geographic area. In exchange for that state-sanctioned monopoly, the utility has a duty to serve all comers (within reason) and submit to state regulation of the rates it can charge its customers. SVEC: How can this be a positive for consumers? Towell: While no system is perfect, Virginia’s current method does have Samuel T. Towell a number of advantages for consumers. The duty to serve has helped bring electrification to all corners of the commonwealth, and the regulated utility model has helped ensure reliability at a rather high level. If
electricity were a purely competitive market, more parts of Virginia — especially rural areas — would likely have trouble attracting a provider. And even if a provider initially arrived, it might determine that certain areas were no longer economically viable to maintain and serve. Protections also exist for consumers with respect to prices. In general, the prices utilities are allowed to charge their customers are regulated by the SCC. Utilities are only allowed an opportunity to recover their prudently incurred costs and the opportunity to earn a reasonable rate of return (or profit) on their invested capital. Importantly, these are opportunities, not guarantees. This system helps
SVEC’s Service Area Frederick/Clarke counties & Northern Region City of Winchester Shenandoah/Warren counties & Central Region Page County & Central Region Rockingham County & Southern Region Augusta/Highland counties & Southern Region
Shenandoah Valley Electric Cooperative
Under the regulatory authority of the State Corporation Commission, SVEC crews work to bring electricity to a specific geographic area of the Valley.
ensure that utilities cannot use their DRAWING THE LINE monopoly position to overcharge SVEC: How, exactly, were service consumers. boundary lines drawn and determined Of course, in part because they are over time? member-owned, electric cooperatives Towell: Most original electric enjoy greater latitude in rate-setting cooperative service boundaries were than investor-owned utilities such as established around the 1930s, as Appalachian Power Company and electric service providers in rural Dominion Energy. Under Virginia areas started to take hold with federal Code, cooperatives can set their own loans from the Rural Electrification rates, so long as Administration. those changes The SCC granted “If electricity were a purely do not result those original competitive market, more in a cumulative charters and net increase or parts of Virginia — especially mapped exclusive decrease in excess rural areas — would likely have distribution of 5% in any boundaries. There trouble attracting a provider.” three-year period is occasionally – Samuel T. Towell, (exclusive of fuel some tweaking State Corporation Commission judge costs). around the SVEC: margins, as Why might internet, phone or cable economic growth can suggest that providers be regulated differently? certain developments are more easily or Towell: Before the federal efficiently connected by a neighboring Telecommunications Act of 1996, provider. But because of the regulatory traditional wireline telephone compact, largescale changes to service companies were regulated in a similar territories are not permitted. fashion. And certainly policymakers SVEC: Are there any lessons could have elected to treat internet learned from states/areas with electric and cable providers similarly to electric choice that helps explain Virginia’s utilities. However, those technologies regulatory setup? arose in a time in which regulation Towell: There is no one perfect was largely out of fashion, and the model for electric regulation. Aspects infrastructure costs (for fiber) are of Virginia’s market are deregulated for markedly lower than powerlines. certain customers, but on the whole, It is interesting to ponder how the Virginia is classified as a regulated footprint might have been different state. We explored more significant had broadband been placed under a deregulation in the 1990s and early more regulated regime, and what other 2000s, but policymakers ultimately tradeoffs might have been necessary to elected to (more or less) maintain the allow for that expansion. status quo. There are a lot of challenges in the electric space at present, but in svec.coop
the current environment of relatively scarce capacity and significant load growth in our regional grid, it appears that Virginia is, in general, faring better from a customer bill standpoint than most of our fellow citizens in deregulated states within our regional grid. •
About the State Corporation Commission The SCC is a state agency with regulatory authority over many business and economic interests in Virginia. Created in 1902, the SCC’s powers are outlined in the Virginia Constitution and state law. These include regulation of public utilities, insurance, state-chartered financial institutions, securities, retail franchising and railroads. It is also the state’s central filing office for corporations, limited partnerships, limited liability companies and Uniform Commercial Code liens. The SCC’s structure is unique – it is constitutionally organized as an independent department of state government with delegated administrative, legislative and judicial powers. Commission decisions may be appealed to the Virginia Supreme Court. The SCC has three commissioners and nearly 750 fulltime staff. The SCC’s commissioners are elected by the General Assembly for six-year terms. The terms are staggered in increments of two years. Source: scc.virginia.gov
September 2026 • Cooperative Living • 17
Big Wheels Keep on Turning — Thanks to Them Meet the mechanics keeping SVEC’s fleet operational
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hen you think about the people it takes to bring electricity to your home, you probably think of linemen first, then engineers or meter technicians. But there’s another behind-the-scenes group that all these departments rely on to get the job done: mechanics. Gabe Roach, facilities and transportation services supervisor, says SVEC’s mechanics maintain 192 vehicles, 11 forklifts, 73 trailers, seven utility terrain vehicles, four mini excavators and more. To put it lightly, this department of five men keeps everyone and everything moving. “If the fleet is not running, people cannot do the work they are assigned,” Roach says. MAINTAIN THE MASSES SVEC’s mechanics say that most of their work lies in routine maintenance, rather than repairs. Tasks like inspections, tire rotations, oil changes and yearly service on trailers with wire pullers make up a normal day, but they 18 • Cooperative Living • September 2026
by Lydia Weaver, Community Relations Specialist
will troubleshoot pretty much anything with a motor. “We work on everything,” says Charles Chapman, mechanic in SVEC’s Winchester district. “Some of these guys come over with the electric tools, the Milwaukees. We try to fix it before they have to have something down for weeks on end.” Donald Blevins enjoys the change of pace of the job. Based between the Luray
Donald Blevins runs diagnostics on a fleet vehicle.
office and the Mount Jackson central warehouse, Blevins, with 40 years of experience working in shops, regularly has his hands in about 30 vehicles and six forklifts. “It gives you different stuff to do,” Blevins says. “We work on small engines. We work on chainsaws. We work on weed eaters. The little compressors that [linemen have], we service those.” Rockingham mechanic Hunter Patterson says, “We keep the trucks going, so the linemen keep the power going,” Scottie Armentrout is largely responsible for upfitting new vehicles, which entails preparing them for SVEC employees to use in the field. He is based in Rockingham’s headquarters, and Chapman assists with upfitting in Winchester as schedules allow. A single truck typically takes at least a week to be fully equipped for use. “We’ll mount strobes, go lights, inverters, boxes, hose reels and ground reels,” Chapman says. A stock truck is also transformed by Shenandoah Valley Electric Cooperative
adding SVEC’s telecommunications system for radios, modems for mapping and location services, and other necessary equipment, depending on the vehicle’s purpose, before it can be driven by crews. READY FOR EVERYTHING Donald Biller, based in Rockingham and the longest-tenured mechanic, says he’s proud of how well the department keeps the fleet running. “We don’t have a lot of them broke down or sitting around,” Biller says. After all, when a storm hits, having all-hands-on-deck is only possible when Blevins explains routine the trucks are available to transport maintenance checks to a coworker. them. “In most of the big storms, we try to fix anything we can [as soon as] they call us,” Biller says. Chapman says: “If people are out of power, trucks are running. If trucks are running, they’re bound to break down. So, we just need to be ready.” That readiness doesn’t stop when the mechanics clock out for the day. Even though Charles Chapman services a bucket truck’s engine. they work an early shift to have vehicles serviced before crews arrive, they are always available at a moment’s notice for emergencies. “We’re on call 24/7,” Blevins says. “It doesn’t matter if it’s a storm or something’s broke down. We go out.” Armentrout adds, “If trucks ain’t rolling, they ain’t getting nothing done.” That can also include the occasional repair of another electric cooperative’s vehicle if they are assisting SVEC with outage restoration or traveling with crews for mutual aid elsewhere. Though it doesn’t happen often, Biller has been to Kentucky and South Carolina Educating coworkers, Hunter on storm duty. He says they pack the Patterson (front) demonstrates and necessities and make do with what they Scottie Armentrout (back) explains have, even if every truck’s wench breaks how to change a tire.
on day one of travel, such as during a 2009 trip to Kentucky. Blevins says SVEC’s most common repairs involve brakes, tires and hydraulics, but he’s also had to make electrical repairs on a truck struck by lightning. With such a large fleet and wide variety of equipment, repairs fall into a multitude of categories, all of which SVEC’s mechanics are well versed in. Newer vehicles have more integrated technology and computers, requiring an additional level of technical expertise. Bucket trucks have mechanisms and additional motors that require regular inspection. Automatic and manual; gas, diesel, propane and electric; rear-wheel and front-wheel steering – SVEC’s mechanics need to know it all. The rest of the mechanics don’t claim a favorite repair task, but Chapman admits he prefers tackling the challenge of repairing large equipment, especially digger derricks, to smaller items like chainsaws. Whether the problem is as big as a bucket truck or as small as a weed eater, SVEC’s mechanics work tirelessly to keep equipment in working order and prevent issues before they arise. Luckily, they all enjoy their work, labor-intensive and spontaneous as it may be. Though they are humble when questioned about their job, you can feel the sense of pride the mechanics have in their contribution to providing power to the community. “This is the best job I’ve had. I have no complaints,” Blevins says. “I tell everybody I wish I could’ve got on here when I was 25. I love it.” So, the next time you flip on your light switch, remember to thank a mechanic. SVEC, literally, couldn’t go far without them. •
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September 2026 • Cooperative Living • 19
Your Money is Looking for You Unclaimed capital credits may be waiting in your name.
👀 20 • Cooperative Living • September 2026
Capital credits remain unclaimed because members moved, changed contact information or never received their checks. If you see a name you recognize or have information on how to locate someone on the list, call 800-234-7832 and speak with a member service representative. With your help, we can locate those listed and deliver the capital credits to the appropriate party.
VISIT SVEC.COOP/CREDITS
Shenandoah Valley Electric Cooperative
Sawing Through a Tree Truck…Sorry, Trunk Headquarters walnut hides toy surprise by Lydia Weaver, Community Relations Specialist
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fter years of study and treatment attempts, SVEC’s Rockingham headquarters had to say goodbye to its large walnut tree in April. The tree was estimated to be at least 200 years old, but its health had steadily declined, despite fertilizer, soil aerations and a sonic tomography study. However, there’s good news to share: The tree will receive new life through student projects at Massanutten Technical Center. SVEC had the tree cut into workable lumber and donated the slabs to the school.
of growth and layers of wood was a little toy truck. The small, metal figure was a unique find, according to David Hanger of Powell-Hanger, the company SVEC used for sawmilling. “We’d been finding bolts and nails and bullets,” Hanger says. “As we cut down it was like, all of a sudden, ‘Hey look there, it’s something yellow.’ It was found down in the crotch of the tree. I thought it was pretty neat. “We went through five chains that day. There was a lot of stuff in that tree. You could see where they nailed up a
“I love seeing the grain of the wood, what it looks like after it’s done,” Hanger says. “You’ll saw into some pieces that will be very plain, and some don’t have a straight grain in it, and they’re magnificently gorgeous. You never know what you’re going to find until you open a tree up.” •
PHOTOS COURTESY POWELL-HANGER
Nestled deep in the wood, the truck wasn’t revealed until many slabs were cut away.
Even though the tree will have more stories to tell as it is sawed, screwed and sculpted into furniture and models, the milling process uncovered a glimpse of its past. Fully encompassed by decades Other findings in this walnut tree are commonly uncovered, but the truck was unique.
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target on the tree because the nails, and then all the bullets, were grouped around in one spot. [In] walnut, you almost always find something in the tree.” The toy truck is likely a ‘50s or ‘60s model, Hanger says. A friend of his even found what appears to be the same truck in its original packaging for 25 cents. As for the wood, there should be plenty for the tech center’s students to use on several projects. Hanger says SVEC’s walnut tree was one of the biggest their company has worked on, maxing out their 6-foot-diameter sawing capacity.
SVEC’s walnut tree was a tight squeeze in the portable sawmill. September 2026 • Cooperative Living • 21
Valley Veteran, 102, Garners Overseas Attention by Preston Knight, Communication Manager
World War II veteran Jack Einstein of Frederick County sits in a helicopter used for SVEC’s aerial trimming; he worked on the original model in the military.
SVEC supported Stump’s fundraising efforts to fly Einstein, a co-op member and feature subject in a 2022 Cooperative Living article. “Einstein visited four schools with a question-and-answer session, attended
numerous ceremonies and banquets, Normandy parachute jumps, visited with local folks,” says Stump, who founded Lest Never Forget Our Heroes, a veterans support organization in Petersburg, W.Va. “It was a wonderful trip.” Her annual pilgrimages include visits to original World War II battlefields, participation in daily remembrance ceremonies and “deeply moving” interactions with local schoolchildren who learn directly from the war heroes, she says. “I have personally witnessed veterans find long-awaited closure – some after 82 years of silent suffering,” Stump says. Einstein, who has since turned 102, worked 40 years for the Department of Defense, 25 of those in the Army aviation program. Although an injury prevented him from serving in Normandy, his work back home managing the development of helicopters for combat left its own legacy abroad to the French, Stump says. In 2022, SVEC and its helicoptertrimming partner, Aerial Solutions, invited Einstein to watch the chopper in action, after the veteran took interest in the service from local media coverage. He observed an MD500D/E model helicopter, an upgraded version of its predecessor, the Hughes OH-6, he worked on for the defense department. Einstein seemingly hasn’t changed much since then. He still drives to
Einstein enjoyed a visit with local schoolchildren in France. 22 • Cooperative Living • September 2026
Einstein received the French Senate Medal Award in June during a special presentation.
church and medical appointments. With Stump’s help, he crossed off a bucket list item upon his return from Normandy — he took a hot air balloon ride over the Shenandoah Valley.
PHOTOS COURTESY WANDA STUMP
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fter more than 100 years, it’s hard to present someone with a trip of a lifetime. Wanda Stump wasn’t deterred. As she entered planning mode for her 10th, and final, excursion escorting a World War II veteran to Europe, she thought big. The result was Frederick County resident Jack Einstein returning to Normandy, France, and receiving the French Senate Medal Award in June during a private ceremony at Chateau de Servigny, which dates to the 16th century.
Einstein is flanked by organizers, including Wanda Stump, to his visit to Utah Beach in Normandy, France, this summer.
“I hope when I get to be 102,” Stump says, “I get to be a Jack Einstein.” In an email after the 2022 magazine article was published, the veteran gave a timeless quote that doubles as a perfect fit to capture his overseas medal achievement yet to come. “It’s good to know that some old folks efforts are not forgotten,” Einstein wrote. • Shenandoah Valley Electric Cooperative