The Enlightener

February 2008

Scholarships Available From Blue Ridge Electric

As part of our support of local communities, Blue Ridge Electric offers the following scholarship and youth leadership opportunities that are now open for applications:

Scholarships
Scholarships worth $14,800 will be awarded to high school seniors and adults within the cooperative’s service territory. The following scholarships are awarded based on a combination of financial need, community activity, school performance and activities, and personal interviews:

4-Year Degrees
For high school seniors seeking a bachelor’s degree, $10,000 is available in the form of five $2,000 Goodman-Hurt scholarships.

2-Year Degrees
For residents living in the cooperative’s service territory seeking a two-year degree, $4,800 is available in the form of six $800 Goodman-Hurt technical/vocational scholarships.

Charles Suddreth Memorial Scholarship
An additional $800 Charles Suddreth scholarship is available to a Caldwell County resident seeking a two-year degree.

How to Apply
Applications are available from high school guidance counselors, your local community college or on line at www.BlueRidgeEMC.com.

The deadline for all scholarship applications is March 31.

Youth Tour
Four rising seniors in the cooperative’s service area can compete to win a free week-long trip to Washington, D.C., where they will join other students from across the nation for an educational and fun learning experience. They’ll have the chance to meet and talk with Congressional leaders, visit historic sites, and learn about electric cooperatives and the cooperative way of doing business. Winners are also eligible for college scholarships.
Washington Youth Tour applications are available through the high school guidance counselors or at www.BlueRidgeEMC.com.

Applications are due by March 15.

Broyhill Leadership Conference
Seven students from our service area may be selected to attend the Broyhill Leadership Conference at Queens College in Charlotte. The five-day conference held this summer is available to any student in grades 10 through 12 nominated by their guidance counselor. The conference helps students develop an understanding of goal setting, motivational techniques, group dynamics, communication, and cooperation. Applications are available through high school guidance counselors.

Members Only News
- For Members of Blue Ridge Electric

Hunting Down Vampire Electronics

Most homes never quite shut down for the night. Although lamps may be off, dark rooms are typically spotted with tiny red and green lights of appliances and the glow of digital clocks.

All of those seemingly “sleeping” appliances, however, are using more electricity than most would think. Sometimes called vampire electronics, these devices use five percent of all energy consumed in the United States and cost consumers more than $3 billion every year.

For the average homeowner, vampire electronics can add 20 percent to monthly electric bills, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. To trim this excess energy use, know where these vampires reside and keep them in check.

Any digital displays, such as microwave and coffee machine clocks, are working against your electric bill. And many of those chargers around the house – those that keep cell phones, power tools, and MP3 players at the ready – constantly draw power when plugged in.

Unplugging these vampires helps control costs. Power strips provide another form of control. Simply plug appliances into a power strip and switch it off when those appliances aren’t being used.

In addition, unplug any battery-operated electronic device once charged. You wouldn’t walk away from a flowing water hose, after all. And you certainly don’t want to keep electricity flowing when you don’t need it.

The Perspective

An Editorial by Chief Executive Officer Doug Johnson

Members Helping Members

Members helping members. That’s what the Blue Ridge Electric Members Foundation is all about.

Due to your generosity in participating in Operation Round Up – the primary funding resource for the Foundation – handicapped children are riding horseback as part of a special therapeutic program. Feeding the hungry is easier with the help of a commercial refrigerator. Senior citizens have a telephone system for times of crisis. Heart monitors wait to help emergency responders save a life. And small children are receiving the dental care and nutritious food they need to help them grow into healthy adults.

These are just a few of the programs that received Foundation grants totaling $61,400 last year. And there’s more good news: the Foundation gave $46,000 in crisis assistance for members to help pay heating bills.

And it was you – our members – who made it all possible. A total of 21,767 of you have answered the call to “round up” your electric bills. This amounts to just a few cents each month individually. Yet, when all contributions are combined, our members make a powerful impact in our local communities.

Formed a decade ago to benefit members and provide energy services to this region, the cooperative’s heating fuels subsidiary, Blue Ridge Energies, joined with members last year to make a contribution of $25,000 to the Foundation. Blue Ridge Energies plans to continue benefiting members by making an annual contribution in this same amount to the Foundation from its profit margin.

I want to thank our members for giving back to our local communities through their participation in Operation Round Up. For those who have not signed up, please consider doing so. This year’s goal is for the Foundation to award $100,000 in grants to local, not-for-profit organizations that improve the quality of life for our members and to continue helping members in need of crisis heating funds. With our cooperative power, we can join together to make a powerful, lasting impact on our Blue Ridge communities and the people of this great area.

“Smart Meters” Now Being Installed

Blue Ridge Electric has begun auto-mated meter installations in Caldwell County as part of a three-year project to implement an Automated Metering Infrastructure (AMI) across its service area. These digital or “smart” meters use new technology to record and communicate electricity consumption and power quality in greater detail. Automated metering will create operating efficiencies which in turn provide savings for members.

Members will receive a letter in advance of their meter change date. A door hanger will be left if members are not at home at the time the change is completed or to notify the member if additional contact is needed.

These new meters communicate with Blue Ridge through the existing power lines back to the substations where the data is then relayed to the central AMI computer system.

In addition to cost savings, AMI will help provide even better member service. The detailed information AMI will provide on electricity consumption can help consumers become wiser energy users. It also improves efficiency by eliminating the need for a meter reader to be on a member’s property on a regular basis to read the meter.

AMI also contributes to improved power reliability. Voltage levels can be monitored remotely and outages can be detected and restored quicker in many situations. Power quality problems such as blinking lights can also be more easily isolated and solved.

If you have questions about AMI, please call us between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday – Friday.

Published monthly by Blue Ridge Electric Membeship Corporation for its
72,670 member consumers.