The Enlightener

June 2002

Blue Ridge Electric Awards Scholarships

Supporting local communities is part of the mission of cooperatives like Blue Ridge Electric. One way we show support is by awarding scholarships to local deserving students. The following students were recently selected for our 2002-2003 scholarship honors:

Goodman-Hurt $2,000 scholarship:
Erica Testerman, daughter of Ronda and Dale Testerman of Warrensville, a graduate of Ashe County High School, will attend Appalachian State University (ASU).
Ashley Hawkins, daughter of Alma and J.C. Hawkins of Sparta, a graduate of Alleghany High School, will attend East Tennessee State University.
Hope Millsaps, daughter of Pam and Dana Millsaps of Sugar Grove, a graduate of Watauga High School, will attend ASU.
Breanna Townsend, daughter of Sharon and Lawrence Townsend of Lenoir, a graduate of South Caldwell High School, will attend ASU.

Goodman-Hurt $1,000 Scholarships:
Heather Rhodes, daughter of Brenda and Tom Rhodes of Warrensville, a graduate of Ashe County High School, will attend ASU.
Laura Marley, daughter of Reba and Stanley Marley of Ferguson, a graduate of West Wilkes High School, will attend Western Carolina University.

$800 Goodman-Hurt Scholarships:
Emily Hayes, daughter of Joyce and Kyle Hayes of Crumpler, a graduate of Ashe County High School, will attend Wilkes Community College.
Jessica Hart, daughter of Barbara and Roger Hart of Sparta, a graduate of Sparta High School, will attend Surry Community College.
Natasha Dillard, daughter of Deborah and Dale Dillard of Lenoir, a graduate of Hibriten High School, will attend Catawba Valley Community College.

Charles Suddreth $800 Memorial Scholarship:
Julie Townsend, daughter of Sandra and Jeff Townsend of Granite Falls, a graduate of South Caldwell High School, will attend Caldwell Community College.

Tom Cockerham $800 Memorial Scholarship:
Brandon Patrick, son of Peggy and Samuel Blevins of West Jefferson, a graduate of Ashe County High School, will attend Wilkes Community College.

Winners of the Rural Electric Youth Tour in
Washington, DC:
Kim Roten, of Crumpler
Kellie Coffey, of Lenoir
Rachel Reed, of Laurel Springs

Winners of the Broyhill Leadership Conference at Belmont Abby College:
Katie Greene, of Lenoir
Mandi Lackey, of Lenoir

For more information on scholarship and youth leadership opportunities sponsored by Blue Ridge Electric, visit our web site at www.BlueRidgeEMC.com or contact your local Blue Ridge Electric office.

*Blue Ridge Electric will be closed Thursday, July 4,
in observance of Independence Day.

Members Only News
-For Members of Blue Ridge Electric

Fees and Charges Adjusted

The Board of Directors recently approved an adjustment of the cooperative’s schedule of fees and charges, effective July 10, 2002. Changes were made in order to bring current fees and charges more in line with the actual costs incurred by the cooperative for processing and handling as well as charges to the cooperative from outside vendors. The schedule was last adjusted in 1997.

The most significant changes reflect an effort to recover the significant cost the cooperative incurs from members who are repeatedly delinquent in paying their monthly bill.

Members who are late paying their regular monthly bill must now pay either one percent of the amount of the bill or $5, whichever is greater.

In addition, the fee for delinquent payments on accounts subject to disconnection has risen to $35 plus 3 percent sales tax. These additional charges will ensure other members are not subsidizing–or paying for delinquent account work. Members will continue to have the opportunity to make payment arrangements with a variety of options on accounts subject to disconnection.

Some charges have decreased but will be handled differently to help control costs while meeting member needs. An example is the fee for time extensions, which are requests by members to pay their bill after the due date.

Members will no longer receive “three free” time extensions before receiving a $25-plus-tax penalty. Now, members may request time extensions for a fee of $10 plus tax for each extension.

Available July 10, a complete schedule of fees and charges will be available in the member handbook, which can be obtained by calling your local Blue Ridge Electric office or can be viewed online at our web site: www.BlueRidgeEMC.com.

Members – Get Discounted Tickets to See …
Diamond Rio
Performing in Boone
July 27 • 7:30 p.m.
at Kidd Brewer Stadium,
Appalachian State University

As a member of Blue Ridge Electric, you can purchase up to four advance adult tickets at the discounted price of $20 (regularly $25) each, or for $22 (regularly $30) the day of the concert. Children’s tickets are $5 each.

To order, have your Blue Ridge Electric membership number ready and call the ASU ticket office at 1-800-841-2787 between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. You can also order tickets online at www.BlueRidgeEMC.com. Just look for the Diamond Rio link!

Photo_CEO Johnson The Perspective

An Editorial by Chief Executive Officer Doug Johnson
Blue Ridge Energies Update

Many of you are familiar with the cooperative's electric operations, but you may not know as much about our subsidiary, Blue Ridge Energies. TO help you better understand, I'll be devoting some of my columns to our Energies company.

Blue Ridge Energies was formed to provide additional energy services to our customers and to give us operating synergies that reduce our costs. While diversification into the fuels business has been extremely positive for our customer and our cooperative, we has as expected, experienced both challenges and rewards.

Like other energy providers, the last two unseasonably warm winters led to lower sales than expected. This prevented us fro achieving our business plan for the first three years of operation. To adjust, we restructured our operations and strengthened our marketing plans to create a better opportunity to achieve the plan within the next two years. As a result, we just experienced our most successful quarter to date, and projections indicate we'll begin proving a return on the cooperative's investment during the first quarter of 2003.

Once we reach this milestone, subsidiary profits will flow back to the cooperative to benefit our member-owners. Our long-range vision for Blue Ridge Energies is twofold: profits will be returned to our members either directly or through reduced operating costs, or will be used to create a community foundation providing resources for such areas as education, jobs creation, and health care.

Achieving this vision is a vital part of the cooperative's guiding purpose of helping shape the future of our region in a manner that produces positive results for our members. TO date, the cooperative has invested $13 million out of a total asset base of #210 million in our subsidiary. This investment is well within the 10 percent of assets cap specified by the North Carolina General Assembly for electric cooperative subsidiaries.

Along with the challenges, the rewards experienced by Blue Ridge Energies have been great. During 2002's first quarter, we set a record-high customer service rating of 9.59 and we now serve over 10,000 customers. Our commitment to you is to achieve our plans and provide a good return on the cooperative's investment by giving our customers what they want: great service at competitive prices.

Stay Cool with These Energy Saving Tips

Humidity will make your home more uncomfortable in hot weather so save moisture-producing jobs like mopping, dish washing, laundry and bathing for early morning or nighttime hours.
Reduce the amount of heat in your home by drawing the drapes or blinds during the hottest part of the day.
Turn off unnecessary lights. Light bulbs produce heat.
For moisture control and comfort, make sure your clothes dryer is vented to the outside.
Try to prepare cold meals like salads and grill out to avoid heating up the kitchen.

If You Have Central Air Conditioning . . .

When possible, set your thermostat on 78 degrees. Each degree below 78 will add about 4% to your cooling costs.
Preventive maintenance is the least expensive kind. Regular heating and cooling system checkups as recommended by your installer or owner's manual are the best way to ensure your system will keep working at top efficiency.
Make sure the registers for air supply are not blocked with furniture or drapes.
Check filters once a month. Clean or replace according to manufacturer's specifications.

Published monthly by Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corporation for its 51,584 members.