October 2009

October is Cooperative Month

Did you know you're more than a customer when you're served by a cooperative like Blue Ridge Electric? You're a member if you receive services from us, and there are many benefits to belonging to a cooperative. One example is capital credits retirements: money that comes back to our members upon board approval each year that represents your share of ownership in the cooperative.

Blue Ridge Electric was founded on a set of principles reflecting the unique advantages of being served by a cooperative. During National Cooperative Month, we'd like to emphasize these guiding principles and encourage you to become more familiar with the benefits of being a member of a cooperative.

Voluntary, Open Membership: Anyone who has the ability to use our services and chooses to accept the responsibilities of membership is welcome to join — free from gender, social, racial, political or religious discrimination.
Democratic Member Control: Members have an active role in setting policies and making decisions because in a cooperative, the members elect a board of directors who live in the cooperative's service area and who answer directly to the membership. Each member has equal voting rights — every member gets one vote.
Members' Economic Participation: Members financially participate in the cooperative through purchasing electric energy and other services. The cooperative also assigns, each year, all monies in excess of operating costs as patronage capital, and normally the board of directors approves an annual return of a percentage of patronage capital known as a capital credits retirement.
Autonomy and Independence: Cooperatives are independent, self-helping organizations controlled by their members. The member-elected board of directors approves strategic direction, policy, rates, and contracts.
Education, Training, and Information: Cooperatives provide education and training that help members, elected officials, employees and youth make a positive impact on the cooperative's development. They provide information that explains the purpose, value and benefits of belonging to the cooperative.
Cooperation Among Cooperatives: Cooperatives seek to work with other state and national cooperatives that can help them serve the best interests of their members and strengthen the entire cooperative program.
Concern for Community: Cooperatives work hard and partner with other leaders to bring a better quality of life to the people and communities we serve.

doug johnson

The Perspective

An Editorial by Chief Executive Officer Doug Johnson

What Will Affect Your Electricity Costs

Even before some on Capitol Hill began considering a national energy tax and fast tracking an expensive “cap and trade system” as a way to help control climate change, a combination of market forces was already causing price increases for electric utilities and consumers across the country.

In fact, over the years a “perfect storm” has been brewing that will ultimately have a significant cost impact for us all. Creating the storm are three primary factors: global demand for fuels and materials, increasing demand for electricity, and an aging electric grid that's nearing its capacity to reliably provide power to families and businesses across America.

The rising cost of fuels to generate electricity is the primary reason consumers across the nation have seen recent increases in monthly electric bills. The most significant factor driving this increase is the spike in coal costs that occurred last year but is hitting utilities this year in their wholesale power contracts. The declining economy has also adversely affected fuel costs.

Since coal represents almost 50 percent of the fuel mix used to generate electricity we receive within Duke Energy's generation area serving North Carolina, any increase in the price of coal greatly affects our power costs. In the past two years alone, the cost of coal has shot up by 50 percent. The increase is primarily a result of global coal demand resulting from emerging economies in China and India, but is also due to significant increases in mining costs and higher commodity prices in general.

Developing countries are also building power plants at a record pace. The resulting increased demand for materials such as a concrete and iron is making them harder and more expensive to acquire. We're already seeing cost impacts this year from power generation plants recently built to replace older plants no longer able to adequately generate electricity, and we'll continue to see rising costs for power plant
construction.

While the economic recession has slowed domestic demand for electricity somewhat, the trend is for consumers to demand more electricity, not less. This is due, in part, to consumer growth, but also because of developments in electronics and appliances.

Overlaid on these factors is our nation's aging electric grid. Much of America's power delivery system — the substations, power lines, and other infrastructure responsible for moving electricity from high voltage power generation plants to safely and reliably reaching our homes and businesses — was constructed in the 1950s and ‘60s.

Upgrading and increasing the capacity of this system is critical. Modernizing the electric grid will help ensure reliable electricity now and in the future. It will become even more necessary if our nation's emerging energy policy calls for greater use of renewable energy resources since the best output of wind, solar, and other renewables are generally in rural areas where more transmission will be required to harness “green” energy onto the grid to reach consumers.

At Blue Ridge Electric, you can be assured we're monitoring the factors that influence the cost we all pay for electricity and that we're actively pursuing all ways possible to keep costs contained. A key way we're working to control costs is by securing the most favorable wholesale power contracts, which helps us keep rates as low as possible.

We've scaled back capital expenditures where feasible. We've also reduced operational costs through an employee-driven “Work Smart” program to identify ways to reduce or eliminate spending without harming customer service or reliable electricity. In fact, due to working smarter and more efficiently, we've been able to achieve lower than state and national averages on operational spending — even while achieving some of the nation's best customer service and reliability scores.

Finally, we're also working with elected officials to ensure our consumers have a voice in speaking up for affordable electricity while at the same time crafting legislation to help meet environmental goals.

At Blue Ridge Electric, our goal as a member-owned electric cooperative is to look out for our members' best interests. The energy and economic challenges our nation faces are vast, but you can be assured that your cooperative is working to be part of the solution and to provide you with the most affordable, reliable electricity possible.

More News...

As a member-owned cooperative, Blue Ridge Electric encourages member participation and we offer opportunities for members wanting to become more involved in their cooperative. One key opportunity is participation on one of the four district Member Advisory Committees (MACs).

Each MAC is made up of at least 10 members who are appointed by the board of directors. MACs meet six times a year and select their own chair and vice chair to lead the meetings. Members may serve up to two consecutive three-year terms on their district MAC.

From service on the MACs come additional opportunities for members to be asked to serve on the Credentials and Elections Committee, the board of directors Nominating Committee, the Annual Meeting Planning Committee, and more.

In January, each MAC chair and vice chair make member recommendations for board approval to serve on the cooperative's Nominating Committee, which considers and recommends board candidates.

If you're interested in becoming more involved in your electric cooperative, please contact your district MAC chair or district manager to express your desire to participate in our member involvement process.

Contact	Caldwell	Ashe	Aleghany	Watauga
Member Advisory Committee Chair	Monteen German	Brent Graybeal	Mary Joines	Lowell Younce
District Manager	Jeff Almond 828-754-9071	Gwynita Steele 336-846-7138	Joe Ward 336-372-4646	Susan Jones 828-264-8894

New Technology Being Installed in Ashe County

Specialized Technical Services (Team STS), a contractor for Blue Ridge Electric, is currently installing automated “smart” meters in the cooperative's Ashe County service area.

The automated metering infrastructure (AMI) being installed across the Blue Ridge Electric system holds many benefits for both members and the cooperative. In addition to providing a powerful tool that helps the cooperative even further improve and monitor the reliable flow of electricity to members, AMI brings the latest technology to automated metering and the electric system as a whole. With AMI, energy usage is communicated over the power lines to the cooperative with precise accuracy. This will eventually offer members detailed information about their home or business energy usage, which could be used to help better control energy costs and improve efficiency.

Visit www.BlueRidgeEMC.com for more details about AMI, or contact your local district office.

Attaching Signs to Utility Poles Presents Safety Hazards

Although seemingly innocent enough, putting signs or other items on utility poles creates serious safety hazards. Staples, nails, and tacks used to hang items — as well as the items themselves — pose dangers to our line technicians who must climb poles when either restoring power following storms or while performing routine maintenance to ensure system reliability.

Posters or other objects (birdhouses, balloons, flags, and even basketball nets) can create dangerous obstacles. Also, the nails and tacks left behind from signs can snag utility workers' boots or puncture safety clothing, making line technicians vulnerable to slipping or even electrocution.

Thank you for helping ensure the safety of our line technicians and avoiding damage to our poles by refraining from posting anything on utility poles.

NC Energy® Star Tax Holiday: November 6-8

If you need to purchase or replace an appliance, you can save even more — now and on future electric bills — if you purchase a qualifying Energy Star® appliance during North Carolina's Energy Star Tax Free Holiday slated for Friday, November 6, through Sunday, November 8. Qualifying products meet the energy efficiency guidelines set by the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy, and are authorized to carry the Energy Star label.

More savings may be available if an application by North Carolina's State Energy Office is approved by the U.S. Department of Energy for $8.8 million to help homeowners receive rebates when purchasing Energy Star-rated appliances.

For more information, visit: www.ncrecovery.gov.

CORPORATE OFFICE
PO Box 112 • Lenoir, NC 28645

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Doug Johnson

EDITOR
Renée R. Whitener

PRODUCTION SUPERVISOR
Susan Simmons

DISTRICT OFFICES
Caldwell (828) 754-9071
Watauga (828) 264-8894
Ashe (336) 246-7138
Alleghany (336) 372-4646
Wilkes (800) 451-5474
PowerLine® 1 (800) 448-2383
(PowerLine® is an automated account information and outage reporting system.)

Toll Free 1 (800) 451-5474
(for members outside the service area)

To report an outage at any time,
call one of the numbers listed above.

OFFICE HOURS
8:30 am - 5:00 pm, Monday - Friday
Night deposit available.