The Enlightener
July 2003
Blue Ridge Electric Scores Among Top in the Nation on Customer Service
A recent national survey revealed that Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corporation is one of the top scoring electric utilities in the country in the area of customer satisfaction.
Results from the most recent American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), which is one of the most recognized customer satisfaction guides in the United States, show Blue Ridge Electric and other Touchstone Energy electric cooperatives continue to set the benchmark for energy industry service.
In a first quarter 2003 survey by ACSI, Touchstone Energy cooperatives obtained a high score of 82 for customer satisfaction. Blue Ridge Electric was rated among the very highest in the nation with a score of 86.
“Our employees strive every day to give our members exceptional customer service, so this rating is especially gratifying and our employees deserve the credit,” said Doug Johnson, chief executive officer of Blue Ridge Electric. “When you’re a part of a member-owned electric cooperative, you serve the owners of the utility every day. That makes it easy to know the right things to do, yet we don’t rest on the ratings of one quarter. We’re continuously trying to find new and improved ways to meet the needs of our member-owners.”
Touchstone Energy cooperatives’ combined score of 82 is nine points higher than the electric utility industry average of 73, with only one other utility scoring as high as Touchstone Energy cooperatives.
ACSI is one of the most recognized customer satisfaction guides in the nation. It’s managed by the University of Michigan Business School and sponsored by the American Society for Quality. It measures customer satisfaction in 16 major industries and 190 leading corporations.
Blue Ridge Electric serves over 65,000 consumers and is a member of Touchstone Energy, a national alliance of more than 600 local, member-owned electric cooperatives in 44 states providing service to 17 million residential, business, commercial, and industrial consumers.
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Members Only News
-For Members of Blue Ridge Electric
Capital Credits Allocated
Your 2002 capital credits allocation of the cooperative’s total margins is listed on your July bill. This allocation is different from your capital credits retirement amount you will receive in December. The allocation on your bill this month is a figure that is based on the amount of electricity you purchased from January 1 to December 31, 2002. This allocation is added to your total, on-going capital credits account balance each member has with the cooperative. Each December, the cooperative retires a percentage of your capital credits account balance to you either by check or as a credit on your bill.
As a not-for-profit member-owned cooperative, capital credit account balances provide the capital Blue Ridge Electric must use to operate the cooperative and provide reliable electric service to over 65,000 consumers.
Educators:
Apply Early and You May Win!
Local teachers who submit Bright Ideas grant applications before August 15 will be entered in a drawing to win a digital camera from North Carolina Electric Membership Corporation (NCEMC), the organization which serves North Carolina’s 27 electric cooperatives. The winner will be announced August 20.
Public school educators of grades K-12 may apply for grants of up to $2,000 for innovative classroom-based projects that would not otherwise be funded. While the final deadline for applications is September 30, the early bird deadline gives teachers incentive to apply early. Blue Ridge Electric will be awarding up to $18,000 in grants.
Look for full details of the Bright Ideas program at www.BlueRidgeEMC.com or www.ncbrightideas.com. Online applications are now being accepted.
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The Perspective
An Editorial by Chief Executive Officer Doug Johnson
Cooperative Membership
As you read on the front page, Blue Ridge Electric and other Touch-stone Energy cooperatives are rated by consumers as among the best in the nation in customer service. I’m pleased to report these high ratings to you, and I believe there is a reason why electric cooperatives are setting the benchmark for customer service in the electric utility industry: the value of member-ownership.
In contrast to investor-owned businesses, cooperatives exist only to benefit those we serve. Our consumers are called “member-owners” because being a cooperative means people have joined together to provide themselves with a service. As a member-owner, you share in the ownership of the cooperative. Since the cooperative operates on a not-for-profit basis, our mission is simply to deliver reliable electricity to you at the cost of service. Any money left over after operating the cooperative is invested in the cooperative’s electric facilities and assigned to our member-owners in the form of capital credits.
The fact that cooperatives serve the same people who own the cooperative makes us more responsive to your needs. We believe that as an owner of this cooperative, you deserve the very best service we can possibly provide and our quest to continually improve our service is one that never ends.
I also believe our local presence matters to those we serve. With so many companies closing down local offices and doing business only over the telephone, internet, or mail, we take great pride in our local offices with familiar, friendly faces. We realize some people prefer to pay their bill on-line, or talk with us by e-mail, letter, or telephone, so we also make these options available to serve you.
Having a local presence also means we’re involved in our communities. Since we’re also your neighbors, we feel an obligation and pride in supporting areas that matter to us all. Areas such as education, health care, and economic development that improve the quality of life we enjoy in our region.
My hope is that every consumer we serve at Blue Ridge Electric appreciates the value of membership in our cooperative. I also want the service we give you day in and day out to be the primary factor that distinguishes us from other businesses. As a member of Blue Ridge Electric, that’s what you deserve because, after all, you are one of the owners!
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Annual Meeting Update
Four members were elected to the board of directors during the cooperative’s Annual Membership Meeting held at Ashe County High School on June 14.
Re-elected in uncontested elections to serve three-year terms on the board were: Kenneth Greene of Ashe district; Oren Teague of Caldwell district; Joy Coffey of Watauga district; and Charity Gambill, Director-at-Large.
In reports to the membership, Chief Executive Officer Doug Johnson told some 2,500 in attendance that even in one of the harshest winters in recent history, Blue Ridge Electric was able to keep the power on 99.94 percent of the time last year. He reaffirmed that the cooperative would continue its commitment to being a people-first business for its member-owners.
Financial reports show the cooperative in sound financial condition and that $1.1 million was retired to members in capital credits for 2002, providing additional savings for members.
William R. Farlow, an Alleghany district member, won the grand prize, a 1994 Ford Explorer.
Blue Ridge Electric’s first retiree, Forrest Wilson, was in attendance. Wilson recently turned 100 years old. He retired as a lineman in 1968.
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