January Current

January 2022

Current A Monthly Newsletter for Employees of EnergyUnited

In This Issue Employee Spotlight: Ben Godsell | January Safety Message | Word Search

From the Desk of the CEO Dear EnergyUnited Family, Happy New Year to you all. I hope your holidays and New Year's celebrations were safe and fulfilling and that 2022 brings joy and opportunity to your households.

In this issue of Current you will read about many exciting things going on at EnergyUnited. But as a company that always puts safety first, I am especially pleased to share with you that in 2021 we had no accidents or injuries, which is pretty amazing. I congratulate and thank all of you for this tremendous accomplishment and look to build on this in 2022.

success, and about some incredible momentum our state is experiencing when it comes to businesses. You will also find information about counseling services available to all EnergyUnited employees, should you need them, and read about two of our teammates who are retiring after some wonderful years with EnergyUnited.

As you probably know by now, I am retiring this year and the search is underway for my successor. In my whole career, I have never worked with such a wonderful group of people as the team here at EnergyUnited. It is a great source of pride that I have worked alongside you all to build this cooperative into In addition to that tidbit, you’ll read one of the best in the country. I have about some changes the Vegetation no doubt my replacement will be of Management team has initiated the finest caliber and ready to take that should help us prevent outages this company to the next chapter as and restore power quicker when they we add value for our members and do occur. You’ll hear how our IT and create the new future of energy. It Customer Care teams partnered up with NISC to help position us for future has truly been an honor to serve our EnergyUnited | January 2022 Current

members and our employees.

Speaking of service, on a more somber note, we observe the longtime contributions of one of our stalwart board members, Glenn Smith, who passed away at the end of 2021. We will miss him and the value he added to our board of directors. Please join me in keeping him and his family in your prayers.

Finally, I want to thank you all for making this cooperative so great.

In Q4 we ranked as one of the top 5 energy cooperatives in the nation for customer satisfaction, according to J.D. Power. That’s a direct result of the work you do, and what you bring to the table for our members. I, for one, cannot think of a better start to 2022 and beyond.

Sincerely,

H. Wayne Wilkins 2

IT Strategic Initiative Preparing for Success Only when you pause, take a step back and reflect on all that we have accomplished as an organization, do you begin to realize how much we have changed in just one year. Within that short period of time, we have gone through some significant changes that have completely changed the way we perform work, the way we communicate and the way we collaborate for success. One of the ways we are preparing for continued success is to ensure we begin this new year with enhanced performance from our NISC enterprise system by bringing our vendor, people and technology together.

Teams from Information Technology and Customer Care teamed up with NISC to conduct an on-site system and business performance review. For two days in December, the four-person NISC team shadowed six to seven of our Customer Care representatives on-site at the Statesville

HDQ office, to review system performance of the most recent versions of the software in our production environment. The shadowing effort allowed the NISC team to see firsthand how we use the software, and equally as important, observe activities being conducted when we experienced any performance issues. With the on-site observations, the NISC team was able to witness, identify and document any performance issues as they occurred, giving valuable insight to resolving these issues more quickly. Additionally, the NISC team was able to observe and recommend best practices as they related to software utilization. Through our partnership and collaboration efforts with NISC, our teams will continuously work to improve the software applications and to enhance the user experience. Thank you to all who participated in this effort as we strive to make 2022 our best year ever!

Lisa Newton, Customer Care Rep III, works in NISC iVUE Connect as the NISC team of Evan Miller (NISC Team Lead) and Phoenix Calvert (NISC Professional Services Consultant) look on.

EnergyUnited’s Customer Care Rep III, Hanna Black, consults with NISC Professional Services Consultant Phoenix Calvert on the use of NISC’s iVUE Connect Service application.

The NISC team consisting of Keith Horntvedt (VP of Professional Services) and Tim Locklear (NISC Account Manager) addresses the Customer Care team during the on-site system and business performance review.

NISC team of Phoenix Calvert (Processional Services Consultant) and Evan Miller (Team Lead) shadow EnergyUnited’s Becca Coble, Lead CCR.

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EnergyUnited | January 2022 Current

Congratulations Retirees!

We feel so lucky to have had these great employees, teammates and friends with us at EnergyUnited for so many years. Please join us in thanking them for their service to EnergyUnited and the community and wishing them well in their retirement!

Jody Mitc

Warehouse hell pe Retire date rson : 1/22

Terry West

Journeyman Lineman IX Retire date: 1/22

Eddie Mitchell

Journeyman Lineman IX Retire date: 1/17

Sandy FaLgeaadner

Senior Crew 1/4 Retire date:

Kim

Billing Specialis t Retire date: 1/4 EnergyUnited | January 2022 Current

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Employee Spotlight Ben Godsell This month, we're highlighting one of our fellow teammates who plays a vital role in helping EnergyUnited embrace the future of energy. If you haven't already met him in the last seven plus years, we thought you'd like to learn a little about Ben Godsell, Manager of Grid Modernization.

What is your current position and how long have you been with EU?

Has there been one special memory/experience or accomplishment during your tenure with EnergyUnited that you especially value?

I really value the opportunity I had to lead the Sensus AMI system rollout. EnergyUnited put a lot of trust in an engineer with very little project management experience. Leading that project grew me in a lot of ways and gave me the opportunity to use my passion for ingenuity and problem solving.

What is one interesting thing that your

I have been at EnergyUnited for 7 and a half years. I started co-workers may not know about you? as a college intern during the summer of 2013. I just began a new position as Manager of Grid Modernization.

As a child, I took everything apart. Countless radios ended up as a pile of circuit boards in a box in my room. I remember trying to build a robot out of cinderblocks and old radio What do you love most about your job and/or parts. Working as an engineer is really a lifelong dream. working for EnergyUnited? What is the most

rewarding aspect?

I was born to be an engineer and to solve problems.

Working for EnergyUnited has given me new challenges every day. The most rewarding part of my job is coming up with creative solutions to problems and moving the company towards a more modern distribution system.

Please tell us more about your family and any favorite hobbies/activities that you enjoy in your personal time.

I have been married for 7 and a half years to my wife, Madison. We have 2 kids and one more coming June 2022.

Damien is 8, and Judith is 14 months. My favorite hobbies are reading, playing with the family and developing gadgets for my smart home.

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EnergyUnited | January 2022 Current

E&O Strategic Initiatives Enhancement to Vegetation Management Program Over the last year the Vegetation Management group has been working hard to enhance our Vegetation Management Program. There are several different initiatives that are underway now that we would like to update you on.

oms system First we have updated all the cause codes inside the OMS system to better reflect the information needed to be able to make better decisions. These cause codes are entered after an outage is restored and tell us what caused the outage. Previously we had cause codes mainly related to if a tree was inside or outside the right-of-way and how far outside the right-of-way.

While this was good information it really was not telling us the whole story. The Vegetation Management group worked hard in coming up with cause codes that better reflected the information they needed to make decisions around what work needed to be done to improve our outage performance. Some of the new cause codes are Dead Tree Failure, Live Tree Grow in From Side, Live Tree Grow in From Underneath, etc. With these new cause codes, teams will be able to tell if we need to target live trees growing up inside the right of way or dead trees outside the right-of-way. EnergyUnited spends a great deal of money on this program and with better information we can make better decisions.

EnergyUnited | January 2022 Current

right of way Another initiative underway is an increased emphasis on removing trees from within the right-of-way. Over the past several years we have done more trimming of trees within or on the edge of the right-of-way. While effective in the short term to reduce tree outages, this has led to an increase in the amount of trimming being done between cycles. A trimmed tree can grow back into the line before we get back to this area on our full cycle, which led to blinking lights, outages and more instances where we had to go back and trim the tree. All of this increased the cost to EnergyUnited.

The group worked with our contractor Asplundh and has developed a program where an Asplundh crew leader is working farther ahead of the crews so they have more time to work with the member to remove the tree and not just trim.

A couple of examples are in the pictures shown. You can see where we had trimmed the trees in the past but the limbs had already grown back into the wire.

In the long run this will help us reduce costs by not having to go back and trim as often and will help reduce blinking lights and outages. A win-win for both the member and EnergyUnited!

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scorecard

vegetation management

One other thing that the group has done is work with Asplundh on developing a scorecard for each crew. Quarterly we will bring the crew leaders in and go over these scorecards and compare each crew’s performance. This will help promote the flow of ideas between crews and ways each crew can be more effective with their work. We can also work with each crew individually to enhance their performance. We feel that by partnering with Asplundh in this way we can improve performance all-around.

One last item they have worked on is providing more information for our members on our new Vegetation Management page. It includes background on our pruning practices and low-volume herbicide application as well as helpful homeowner planting guides. By providing more information on the benefits to a healthy all around Vegetation Management Program, we can educate our members and avoid problems in the future.

We encourage you to check it out at EnergyUnited.com/ Vegetation-Management/.

EnergyUnited | January 2022 Current 7

Energy Services NC Firing on All Cylinders November 2021 — “North Carolina ranks as the nation’s top state for business in 2021, claiming the lead position for the second year in a row,” according to Site Selection magazine.

North Carolina held the No. 2 spot in Site Selection magazine’s annual ranking for five consecutive years before rising to the top spot in 2020 in a tie with Georgia, then unseating the Peach State this year. Texas, Ohio and Indiana round out the top five states.”

— Per Site Selection magazine It's been an amazing year for North Carolina. Earlier this year we highlighted how exciting the

Economic Development activity was.

North Carolina benefited from 144 corporate recruitment or expansion wins, resulting in more than 20,000 jobs and $6.3B in CapEx investment.

We also mentioned some of the huge wins for the state like Apple coming to Raleigh. Recently, there was another huge announcement: Toyota announced North Carolina will be the home for its first North American battery plant, a $1.2B investment and 1,750 jobs coming to the Greensboro area. A formula from the Economic Policy Institute reveals that for every 100 durable manufacturing positions created, there are also 744.1 other indirect jobs created. So, those 1,750 Toyota megasite jobs could really create a long-term ripple effect of 14,000 new jobs, and that can really benefit EnergyUnited. With residential

growth in Yadkin River and the Triad at the highest levels in years due to more and more subdivisions planned, EnergyUnited is already benefitting from the growth.

Without a doubt, 2021 was another great Economic Development Year for EnergyUnited too. With expansions announced for Paragon Films in Taylorsville and Saertex in Huntersville, along with wins in Mocksville, like Hayward Pools coming to the Davie County Industrial Park, we continue to be well positioned for future growth. Large industrial parks like Southpoint Business Park in Mocksville and The Park in Huntersville are still seeing new buildings go up. With all this product available, it's no wonder North Carolina appeals to site selectors.

Site Selection's 2021 Top State Business Climate Rankings Overall State Ranking

Executive Prosperity Survey Cup Rank Rank

2020 Conway Projects Rank

2020 Conway Projects Rank Per Capita

2021 YTD 2021 YTD Mature Firm Conway Conway Tax Index Projects Projects Rank Rank Rank Per Capita

New Firm Tax Index Rank

Final Total Points

10

3

1

1

6

9

25

29

29

1

15

23

36

36

1

3

8

27

27

27

1

North Carolina 2

1

5

12

7

2

Georgia

2

2

3

2

3

Texas

1

3

1

6

4

Ohio

10

4

2

5

Indiana

9

5

6

5

9

6

10

14

14

6

South Carolina 5

7

14

11

12

5

37

25

25

7

Kentucky

5

7

3

14

7

17

8

8

19

T8

Tennessee

6

9

18

18

13

14

24

30

30

T8

Arizona

15

8

15

17

18

25

15

23

23

T10

Virginia

10

11

8

13

4

3

8

21

21

T10

Alabama

7

12

11

9

24

17

20

4

4

T12

Florida

2

14

9

31

11

40

14

28

28

G12

Michigan

19

10

18

25

14

24

45

46

46

14

Kansas

18

13

20

10

32

28

38

24

24

15

Louisiana

13

15

12

8

10

2

31

7

7

T16

Missouri

10

17

17

14

20

20

34

22

22

T16

Nebraska

19

16

21

4

27

11

36

17

17

EnergyUnited | January 2022 Current

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Occupational Employment Projections

by Annual Growth Rate 2018-2028 Computer & Mathematical

1.4%

Healthcare Support

1.4% 1.3%

Personal Care & Service Construction & Extraction

1.1% 1.1%

Food Preparation & Service Related

1.1%

Healthcare Practitioners & Technical Community & Social Service

1.0% 1.0%

Business & Financial Operations Life, Physical & Social Sciences

0.9%

Legal

0.9%

Management

0.9% 0.7%

Architecture & Engineering Building & Grounds Cleaning & Maintenance

0.7%

Total, All Occupations

0.6%

Education, Training & Library

0.5%

Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports & Media

0.5%

Transportation & Material Moving

0.5%

Installation, Maintenance & Repair

0.5%

Protective Service Sales & Related 0.0% -0.3% -0.4%

0.4% 0.2% Office & Administrative Support Farming, Fishing & Forestry Production

SUBSTATE REGIONAL EMPLOYMENT PROJECTIONS • LEAD conducts projections for 16 substate regions, which cover all 100 counties.

• Every region of the state is projected to see employment growth through 2028.

Employment in six industry sectors is projected to grow in every region:

—Professional, Scientific & Technical Services —Healthcare & Social Assistance

—Construction

—Accommodation & Food Services

—Real Estate & Rental and Leasing

—Government

• Over two-thirds (72%) of the new jobs projected in the state through 2028 will take place in the Charlotte and Raleigh-Durham regions.

,

, Source: NC Department of Commerce, LEAD 2018-2028 Employment Projections

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EnergyUnited | January 2022 Current 9

January Safety Message The meaning of numbers Welcome to 2022. It's a brand-new year! For different cultures, numbers have good or bad meanings. In China the number 4 is considered very unlucky. Its pronunciation sounds like the Chinese term for death.

The number 9 sounds very similar to the term for torture in Japan and is considered an unlucky number. In many countries the number 13 is considered an unlucky number.

Some buildings are not given a 13th floor because of this.

People avoid having 13 guests at parties or events and think Friday the 13th is very unlucky.

There are also numbers that are considered lucky.

Koreans consider the number 3 the luckiest number.

Italians associate the number 3 with balance and strength, represented by a triangle.

EnergyUnited | January 2022 Current

In western countries the number 7 is considered lucky. The number 8 is associated with wealth in China. The number 8 translates to bā, which sounds like the Chinese word fā, which means "to generate wealth."

So why all this talk about numbers? Because it's a new year. 2021 was a great year and 2022 is an opportunity to do even better. We have had no injuries or accidents this past year. This means that zero, nada, no one has been hurt. Let’s keep this up all year long. Keep your brothers and sisters safe. Keep everyone safe. Let us all pledge to have no injuries this year. It can only happen with everyone’s commitment!

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News from HR Counseling Help From Your EAP If you’re feeling overwhelmed by events lately, you aren’t alone. Times are indeed tough. But remember, help is just a phone call away through your EAP, which has a variety of free, confidential counseling and support services available 24/7/365. Benefits are available to you and all eligible family members.

All EAP counseling services start with a phone call, day or night.

Experienced masters and Ph.D.-level clinical counselors provide immediate support.

Often, you can resolve your issues just by talking to a counselor, but if not, they will refer you to video counseling or face-to-face counseling with a local counselor for additional help.

We’ve built a referral network of more than 40,000 private practice providers throughout the U.S. and Canada to supplement our own counseling services.

If you prefer, log in to explore over 25,000 self-help resources covering virtually any problem or issue that you or your family may face.

Get help for: · · · · · · ·

Stress Loss & Grief Money & Debt Problems Relationship & Family Issues Elder & Child Care Legal Issues Health & Wellness

· Substance Abuse

·

Much More!

Your EAP can help — call anytime: 800-252-4555 | www.theEAP.com 11

EnergyUnited || January January 2022 2022 Current Current EnergyUnited

Word Search Send a picture of your completed word hunt to EU-communications@energyunited.com for your chance to win an EU branded shirt or $25 Visa gift card!

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Customer Care

Vegetation

Performance

Counseling

Site Selection

Safety

Retirees

Employment

Top Five

Cause Codes

Accident Free

Score Card

Services

Business

Wayne

EnergyUnited

@EnergyUnitedEMC EnergyUnited.com

EnergyUnited Electric Cooperative 1-800-522-3793

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