Groome Honored for Service

For Immediate Release

Contact: Renee Whitener, Director of Public Relations, Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corporation, (828) 758-2383 ext. 3213; Pager: 1-800-471-1323; or E-mail: Renee Whitener

Lenoir, North Carolina (April 6, 2006) — Houston Groome, general counsel to the Board of Directors for Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corporation, was recently recognized for 20 years of service to the member-owned electric cooperative.

The meritorious service award was presented during a recent meeting of the Board of Directors.

Groome, a practicing attorney for more than 40 years, is senior partner in the law firm of Groome, Tuttle, Pike & Blair. He served as associate counsel to Blue Ridge Electric from 1967-1980 and as general counsel since 1985.

Groome is a member of the North Carolina State Bar Council representing the 25th Judicial District.

His affiliation with electric cooperatives includes serving as past chairman of the Lawyers Committee for the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, which is made up of over 800 cooperatives across the nation. He is also a founding member of the Advisory Board of the Electric Cooperative Bar Association.

Groome is past president of the 25th Judicial District Bar Association as well as past president of the Caldwell County Bar Association.

He received his bachelor’s degree from Duke University and his Juris Doctorate from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Groome and his wife Kaetie, have three sons: Steven, Jonathan and James.

Blue Ridge Electric, a Touchstone Energy cooperative, serves more than 68,000 members in the counties of Ashe, Alleghany, Wilkes, Watauga, Caldwell, Alexander, and Avery. Touchstone Energy is a national network of more than 600 electric cooperatives providing daily energy solutions to more than 17 million member-owners.