Membership Matters

October 2002

Blue Ridge Sponsors Students

As part of our commitment to education, Blue Ridge Electric sponsors local students to attend annual leadership development opportunities.

Each June, we sponsor up to four rising seniors for the Washington, D.C. Youth Tour, where they meet cooperative-sponsored Youth Tour participants from all over the United States.

Students visit historic sights, learn about rural electrification, see their government in action, meet elected officials and to compete for several college scholarships.

This years’ recipients were: Kellie Ann Coffey, daughter of Dale and Vickie Coffey of Lenoir; Kimberly Ann Roten, daughter of Ronnie and Debra Roten of Crumpler; and Rachel Anne Reed, daughter of Danny and Cathy Reed of Laurel Springs.

Rising seniors recommended by their guidance counselors are eligible for one of seven Broyhill Leadership Conference scholar-ships sponsored by the cooperative. Recipients attend a weeklong leadership session held at Belmont Abby College.

Recipients this year were: Katie Greene, daughter of Roger and Retha Greene of Lenoir, and Amanda Lackey, daughter of William Lackey of Lenoir.

Alleghany Open House

Blue Ridge Electric recently celebrated the opening of its new Alleghany district office with a community open house. The new office, which is located at 1889 Hwy. 21 South, also includes an art gallery showcasing local artists. Please stop by and visit a while.

Winterizing A Seasonal Home

If you shut down your summer home for the winter, a few simple chores can save a lot of trouble and expense next spring. If your summer home is in a cold climate, protecting the plumbing system from freezing is one of the most important tasks.

Turn off the power to your water heater and to the pump if you have a well.
Shut the water off at the main valve and open the all faucets.
Open the low-point drain valves and allow water to drain from the system. This may take a while. Your supply piping should ideally be sloped to low points where drain valves are installed. Some shut-off valves have small caps that you remove to drain sections of pipes controlled by the valve.
Open the drain valve on your water heater.
Use an air compressor to blow any trapped water out of the lines. Connect it to a faucet with a hose or adapter fittings. Close the other faucets. Inject 20-40 pounds of air pressure into the system with the drain valves open to force the water out. Be patient, and move the compressor to other faucets until you have forced all trapped water out of the lines.

You’ll need to treat the drains and toilets differently:

Turn the supply valve off at the toilet tank. Flush the toilet.
Open the tank by removing its lid. Use a big sponge to remove the remaining water. Sponge or scoop the water out of the toilet bowl.
Add a cup or two of nontoxic recreational-vehicle antifreeze to the toilet bowel to prevent any water remaining in the toilet trap from freezing.
Pour a cup of nontoxic antifreeze into all sinks, showers, and tubs. This protects the drain trap that is located under all these fixtures.
Leave all the drain valves open for the winter. When you return in the spring, be sure to fill your water heater tank before you turn its power back on.

National Rural Electric Cooperative Association Source: John Krigger and Saturn Resource Management

John Krigger is a nationally recognized author of numerous energy efficiency books, including Your Home Cooling Guide; EnergyWise Guide to Home Energy Conservation and Residential Energy; and Cost Savings and Comfort for Existing Buildings. For more info on his publications, please visit his website www.residential-energy.com.

Members Only News
-For Members of Blue Ridge Electric

Going South for the Winter?

If you’re a Blue Ridge Electric member with a seasonal home or if you’re going to be away from your home for several months, you have several choices concerning your electric service while you’re away:

You can leave your electric service turned on to help prevent possible damage to your home and furnishings that may result from cold weather conditions (frozen pipes, etc).

You can keep your service turned on, but cut off the circuit breakers to appliances that don’t need to operate during your absence. (If you have a heat pump, leave the circuit breaker on for the heat pump compressor).

You can leave the service turned on, but turn off the main breaker. If you choose this option, be sure to weatherize your home to protect against severely cold weather this region experiences in the winter.

If you choose one of the three options above, your regular billing will continue on a monthly basis. You can have the bill sent to your new location by contacting Blue Ridge Electric before you leave to give us the new address.

An additional option you may choose is to have your service temporarily disconnected but to remain a member of the cooperative.

This is available only if you request it from Blue Ridge Electric ahead of your departure. Several days before you return, you should alert the cooperative to reconnect your service.

Costs for this option include a reconnection charge of $35.00 plus three percent sales tax and a basic monthly service charge plus three percent sales tax for a period of absence up to nine months.

Photo_CEO Johnson The Perspective

An Editorial by Chief Executive Officer Doug Johnson
National Cooperative Month

There's a place where buyers and sellers meet and it's called a market. There's another place where people meet to organize themselves to participate more fully in the marketplace through a business called a cooperative.

As cooperative members, people become something more than buyers and sellers; they become full participants in the free enterprise system. Cooperative members not only buy goods and services from the cooperative, they also own the business. They use their combined power to invest their capital, operate their own business, provide themselves and others with goods and services, and share the benefits.

Each year, cooperative businesses generate more than $100 million in economic activity and enhance the lives of more than 120 million Americans. During October, people from every type of cooperative business celebrate the cooperative way of doing business.

Cooperative businesses bring into the American free enterprise system people from every walk of life and every economic condition. Cooperatives bring people together fro housing, health care, groceries, electricity, hardware, telephone, telecommunications and financial services. Cooperatives are inseparable from our nation's agricultural production, processing and distribution industries.

Earlier in this century, the U.S. Congress, by law, confirmed cooperatives' role in the mainstream of American business. That wisdom has been tested and proven in the marketplace year after year. Today, cooperative businesses are an irreplaceable part of our economy. All across America and around the world, there are numerous examples of cooperatives enriching the lives of their members, and working to improve the quality of life in the communities where they operate.

Business trends come and go and fads and fashions spring up and fade away, but cooperatives continue to provide an enduring economic liberty for all people. That liberty - and the right to aggregate to provide a service for ourselves - is worth celebrating, preserving, and remembering during National Cooperative Month this October.

We're Just a Click Away . . .

Want to know your account balance? Keeping track of your energy usage? Would you like to pay your bill without the hassle of waiting in line or going to the post office? Our friendly Blue Ridge Electric customer service is
just a click away 24 hours a day.

Go to www.BlueRidgeEMC.com and click on “Pay on Line.” If you’re a new user, you can begin using Pay On Line immediately after signing up with your account number, name, and selecting a password. It’s the fastest, easiest way to manage your account!

Published monthly by Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corporation for its 51,887 members.