2018 04 bre mm

matters MEMBERSHIP

April 2018

Introducing Did you know...you can keep electricity costs low by signing up for Beat The Peak today at BlueRidgeEnergy.com/BTP. (See the cover of this magazine for more information.)

BEAT THE

PEAK

Time IS Money It’s really true: time IS money when it comes to when you use electricity. Blue Ridge Energy has created a new, FREE program to help members join together to Beat The Peak. When members sign up and participate, it keeps electric costs lower for all members.

Peaks occur when a majority of people are using the most electricity all at once. Power suppliers must generate enough electricity to meet this high usage.

Peaks occur typically on the hottest summer afternoons, from 2-6 p.m., when people are arriving home and using more air conditioning and large appliances for cooking, washing clothes and dishes. Peaks can also occur on the coldest winter mornings.

What can you do to help? Sign up to receive Beat The Peak alerts on our website or by email.

When you receive an alert, take steps to reduce your

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electricity usage during specified peak times. Most helpful are: • Raise your thermostat as high as comfortable in summer.

• Shift the time you wash and dry clothes.

• Wait to run the dishwasher.

• Turn off all unnecessary lights.

• Use the microwave or grill outdoors instead of using the oven or stove.

• Postpone hot water use until after the peak.

Blue Ridge Energy is constantly monitoring weather and electricity usage as we coordinate closely with our power supplier to determine when a peak will occur.

Every action helps! Keep electricity costs low by signing up today at BlueRidgeEnergy.com/BTP or email us at BeatThePeak@myBlueRidgeEnergy.com.

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the

perspective From Blue Ridge Energy CEO Doug Johnson

Working together, we can keep bills low! Join Beat The Peak!

I’m excited to announce that Blue Ridge Energy now has a free, easy way members can join together to hold down electric bills. Beat The Peak is a voluntary program that can maximize the cooperative’s efforts to hold down wholesale power costs to keep rates — and your electric bills — low.

I hope you’ll learn more about this exciting new program in this issue and sign up today!

To understand its importance, it helps to know that Blue Ridge Energy secures and continuously monitors our wholesale power agreements to provide the best cost control for our members. This keeps our members’ bills lower than would otherwise be possible, especially with the challenge of power delivery and reliability to a mountainous service area with fewer consumers than metropolitan areas.

Now, with current cost pressures on wholesale power, we’re seeing a greater opportunity for cost control beyond what your cooperative can do alone. Beat The Peak refers to members reducing electricity usage during a few critical periods. These

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are typically a few hours on the hottest summer afternoons or coldest winter mornings when people are using significantly more electricity for cooling or heating, hot water for laundry, dishes or bathing, lighting, cooking and home electronics.

If members voluntarily reduce their electricity usage during peak demand times, it can make a big difference in controlling expensive wholesale power cost to keep rates — and bills — low. It can even help the environment by delaying building expensive power plants.

Join Beat The Peak!

To sign up for alerts or to learn more, visit BlueRidgeEnergy.com/ BTP

BEAT THE

PEAK

I encourage you to sign up to receive our Beat The Peak text or email alerts to get advance notification of when a peak will occur. Then, make plans with your household to reduce your electric usage during that time. Our Blue Ridge Energy team is constantly monitoring weather and usage patterns to send timely alerts. We’ll be informing members of the savings.

Join our Beat The Peak team today!

You can help keep costs low for you and your neighbors when we work together to Beat The Peak!

MEMBERSHIP matters

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M

Sign up now to receive kit by email

Coming in May: Director Election Kit, Annual Meeting notice On May 30, members will be sent their Annual Meeting notice and director election kit. Members are encouraged to vote online using the website provided in the director election kit. Or, members may vote by returning the proxy in the postage-paid return envelope that will be included in the kit.

To help control costs, members are encouraged to sign up to receive the kit by email and vote using the link provided in the email. Members wanting to receive the kit by email must sign up by April 20. To sign up, go to BlueRidgeEnergy.com and look for the red button that says “Director Elections.”

Lastly, members can vote during the business-format Annual Meeting scheduled for Thursday, June 28, at 4 p.m., at the cooperative’s corporate office in Lenoir.

ak!

or t m/

Happy Easter

Blue Ridge Energy offices will be closed in observance of the Easter holiday on Friday, March 30, 2018.

However, you can always go to BlueRidgeEnergy.com, day or night, for information and self-service options.

Telephone Town Hall announced Join us on our Telephone Town Hall Tuesday evening, April 24, at 6:30 p.m. To participate, simply answer your telephone when we call during this time.

You’ll hear Chief Executive Officer Doug Johnson discuss our new Beat The Peak program, which is an opportunity for members to join the cooperative in our efforts to keep bills low.

Johnson will also share other timely updates about Blue Ridge Energy. You’ll also have the opportunity to ask questions.

We’ll be calling the phone number listed on your account with us, so please be sure to contact us to update your information if needed.

MEMBERSHIP matters

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We’ll call members a few days prior to the event to remind you of the date, time and how to participate if you miss our call to you on the evening of the event. The primary phone number listed on members’ accounts will be used, so please be sure to contact us today to update your information if needed!

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See what BlueRidgeEnergy.com and "My Account˝ can do for you!

Go to BlueRidgeEnergy.com and log into “My Account” to see what customer service options and tools are waiting for you. You can: • •

•

Securely pay your bill 24/7 by check, credit or debit card Discover ways to lower your bill using your home’s energy footprint Create a time extension

• • • •

View your current and past statements + payment history Request services Sign up for paperless solutions View our outage map

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Doug Johnson

EDITOR

Renée R. Whitener

PRODUCTION SUPERVISOR Susan Simmons

DISTRICT OFFICES Caldwell Watauga Ashe Alleghany Wilkes PowerLine®

(828) 754-9071 (828) 264-8894 (336) 846-7138 (336) 372-4646 (800) 451-5474 (800) 448-2383

Toll Free

(800) 451-5474

(PowerLine® is an automated account information and outage reporting system.)

(for members outside of the service area.)

To report an outage at any time, call PowerLine at (800) 448-2383.

OFFICE HOURS: 8:30 am - 5:00 pm, Monday-Friday Kiosk available 24/7 + Night deposit Visit us on the web at BlueRidgeEnergy.com and follow us via our social media channels at

Save time and make your life easier! Download the “Blue Ridge Mobile App” for FREE today on your smartphone or tablet!

This institution is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

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MEMBERSHIP matters

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