Membership Matters
February 2005Scholarships Available from Blue Ridge Electric
As part of our commitment to supporting local communities, Blue Ridge Electric offers various scholarship and youth leadership opportunities which are now open for applications.
Scholarships
Blue Ridge Electric will award $15,600 in scholarships to high school seniors and adults within the cooperative’s service territory who are seeking a higher education. Scholarships are awarded based on a combination of financial need, community activity, school performance and activities, and personal interviews.
Scholarships available are:
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. Students from Caldwell, Watauga, Ashe, Alleghany, and Wilkes counties are eligible to apply.
2-Year Degrees
Seven scholarships worth $5,600 are available to anyone living in the cooperative’s service territory seeking a two-year degree. Five $800 Goodman-Hurt technical/vocational scholarships are available to students in Caldwell, Watauga, Ashe, Alleghany, and Wilkes counties.
Suddreth and Cockerham Memorial Scholarships
For those seeking a two-year degree, an additional $800 Tom Cockerham Scholarship is available for Ashe County residents and an $800 Charles Suddreth Scholarship is available to Caldwell County residents.
How to Apply
Applications are available from high school guidance counselors, your local community college or at www.BlueRidgeEMC.com.
The deadline for all scholarship applications is March 30, 2005.
Youth Tour
Each June, Blue Ridge Electric awards up to four rising seniors from its service area an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, D.C., where they join other students from across the nation for an educational and fun learning experience. The week-long trip begins June 18 and combines visiting historic sights, learning about rural electrification, meeting North Carolina elected officials and witnessing our government in action. Youth tour winners are also eligible to apply for several college scholarships.
Individual short essays and inter-views determine youth tour winners. Applications are available through guidance counselors or on-line at www.BlueRidgeEMC.com. All applications must be submitted by March 15, 2005.
Broyhill Leadership Conference
Blue Ridge Electric annually sponsors up to seven students from its service area to attend the highly acclaimed Broyhill Leadership Conference at Belmont Abby College. The five-day conference held during the summer is available to any student in grades 10 through 12 nominated by their guidance counselor. Young people from across the nation will participate in the Broyhill Leadership Conference, which is designed to lead students to an understanding and usage of goal setting, motivational techniques, group dynamics, communication, and cooperation. Applications are available through high school guidance counselors who will make the selection of the Broyhill Leadership Conference winners.
Your 911 Address is Critical for Fast Response!
When you have an outage or other electrical need, every second counts! Response time can be delayed when we have only a post office box or mailing address for your account.
Make sure you get the fastest service possible from Blue Ridge Electric by checking the address on your bill enclosed with this newsletter. If it’s not your “911” (physical) address, please add or make the change at the designated place on your bill stub that is returned with your payment so that we can update our records.
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Members Only News
- For Members of Blue Ridge Electric
Board to Appoint Nominating Committee
At their February board meeting, the board of directors will appoint a Nominating Committee consisting of 12 members who will select candidates to fill four available board seats this year. Nominating Committee members may not be employees, agents, officers, directors, close relatives, or known candidates to become directors. The committee should have adequate representation reflecting the number of directors from each district, except one member representing the membership-at-large who must be of the minority membership and may be a resident of any district.
The committee will meet March 24 to develop the slate of board candidates for available seats. A list of the candidates will be posted in each Blue Ridge Electric office the week after the March 24 meeting of the Board of Directors.
Additionally, nominations by petition must be made at least 60 days prior to the Annual Membership Meeting on June 11. Petitions must be signed by 15 or more members with each signing his or her name as it appears on their electric service bill. The deadline for petitions is Monday, April 11. Petitions will be posted in each Blue Ridge Electric office beside the list of nominees from the Nominating Committee.
Information about board nominees will be mailed during late May to every Blue Ridge Electric member.
The following are qualifications to serve as a director of Blue Ridge Electric:
- Must be receiving electric service from Blue Ridge Electric at their primary residence.
- Must not be a close relative of an incumbent director or of an employee of the cooperative.
- Membership must not have been suspended at any time during the 12 months preceding the annual meeting.
- Must be at least 18 years old.
- Must not be employed by or in a position to financially gain from a competing enterprise of the cooperative or its subsidiary, or a business selling electric energy or supplies to the cooperative.
- The director-at-large seat is reserved to represent the minority membership of the cooperative. Only African American, Native American, Asian, or Hispanic members are eligible for this seat.
- Must not have been employed with the cooperative for the previous six years if a nominee is a former cooperative employee.
The Perspective
An Editorial by Chief Executive Officer Doug Johnson
Right-of-Way Planning
Blue Ridge Electric is dedicated to delivering reliable power and providing efficient, safe power restoration when outages occur. As a cooperative business, we are also committed to benefiting our member-owners and the local communities in which we live.
Our right-of-way maintenance program reflects these goals and is designed to reduce outages while maintaining the beauty of our area. With over 7,000 miles of line, our right-of-way program is very expensive, which means we conscientiously weigh the program’s cost with the reliability it provides to members.
To help decrease the number of outages and speed response time, we are reducing the number of years it takes to completely trim the right-of-way for our distribution power lines that deliver electricity to homes and businesses. Beginning this year, we’ve reduced our right-of-way trimming cycle from eight years to six. Our goal is to improve reliability and reduce the volume of limbs and debris.
Large trees and brush are most threatening to the electric system. We remove these by bush hogging or hand trimming and follow up the next year with an approved herbicide gentle enough to let low-growing grasses and vegetation grow back.
Our commitment is to keep you informed about our right-of-way activities and demonstrate our concern for the communities we serve. Before beginning right-of-way work, we mail informational letters to members along rights-of-way where we’ll be working. These letters describe what will be done during the right-of-way project and how to contact us if needed. We also invite members to community meetings prior to starting herbicide treatments so that you have an opportunity to meet with us personally.
Blue Ridge Electric is focused on providing you with reliable electricity while preserving the natural beauty of our area. Our new six-year right-of-way cycle will help us provide this to you, our members, so that you can enjoy the highest in reliable power and continue to enjoy the magnificence of northwest North Carolina.
Downed Power Lines Could Be Deadly!
Power lines that have been damaged or brought down by high winds, ice, snow, or falling trees can still be energized – which means contact with them could be deadly or produce a serious injury.
If you see a downed power line, stay away and contact Blue Ridge Electric immediately. If possible, have someone nearby to warn others to stay away from downed power lines. A call to Blue Ridge Electric will help expedite repair of the line, restore any lost power, and help ensure safety.
How to Report An Outage
Call 1-800-448-2383 to use PowerLine any time, day or night, for the quickest way to report an outage or get account information. Or, call your local Blue Ridge Electric district office.
Published monthly by Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corporation for its 52,333 members.
