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A MONTHLY NEWSLETTER FROM BLUE RIDGE ENERGY

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August 2019 Did you know...member participation in the Beat The Peak program has helped save almost $450,000 in wholesale power cost! Join the movement today.

Visit BlueRidgeEnergy.com/BTP to learn more.

Why Beat The Peak?

Looking for an easy way to keep costs down for yourself and all members? Blue Ridge Energy’s Beat The Peak program is for you!

Participating is simple and voluntary! Sign up to receive the alert of your choice — text, email or phone call — to let you know when a peak will occur.

Then, take action to help “beat the peak” by shifting some of your electricity consumpSuggested Beat The Peak actions: tion outside of peak hours.

• Raise your thermostat as high as comfortable in summer • Shift times to wash/dry clothes and dishes • Delay tasks requiring hot water • Turn off unnecessary lights • Grill outside or use the microwave

Peaks occur when a majority of people are using the most electricity in a short amount of time and power producers must generate enough electricity to meet that demand. In our area, this is usually between 2-7 p.m. on the hottest days of summer.

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 delay the need to build power plants!

Sign up today by texting BTP to 70216 or at BlueRidgeEnergy.com/BTP.

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From Blue Ridge CEO Doug Johnson

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Member involvement Since adding convenient mail and internet voting options for director elections, thousands of members are making their voices heard each year.

You tell us you like these easy ways to participate in the important cooperative business of voting for your Board of Directors. Members were informed of the process and how to be involved in prior newsletters and at BlueRidgeEnergy.com.

The Board of Directors are members just like you. They live in local communities and work hard to ensure the cooperative is operated in the best interests of member-owners.

Board members devote significant time and effort in training and education to equip them for setting sound policy, rates and strategic direction for the cooperative’s membership. Their most important responsibility is assuring that the cooperative meets your needs for reliable, affordable electricity and energy products delivered with superior member care.

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The cross-section of backgrounds, skills and knowledge encompassed by your Board of Directors helps provide strong leadership to benefit you as members. Your Board is on a continuous course of training and learning to stay updated in a transforming industry. Each director works to achieve their credentials and Board leadership certifications from the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association. These curriculums, along with training by national and state associations, equip your Board with the critical skills and knowledge necessary to effectively guide the cooperative.

I want to thank the members who voted this year and elected four directors to three-year terms, including a new director for the Ashe district to replace retiring director Bradley McNeill. Welcome to James Young as he begins his new role!

Member participation in electing your Board of Directors is one of the seven cooperative principles and one of the many benefits of membership in an electric cooperative!

Board Update More than 6,100 members voted in this year’s director elections, thanks to convenient options of voting by mail or internet. Members could also vote during the Annual Meeting which was held Thursday, June 27, at the cooperative’s corporate office in Lenoir. Video updates are online at BlueRidgeEnergy.com.

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Directors elected to serve three-year terms were: Jeff Joines, Caldwell district; James Burl (J.B.) Lawrence, Watauga district; James Young, Ashe district; and Bryan Edwards, Alleghany district.

The following Board members were also elected as officers at the Board’s regularly scheduled meeting in June: Jeff Joines, president; David Eggers, vice president; Joy Coffey, secretary-treasurer; and Johnny Wishon, assistant secretary-treasurer.

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Attention Nest owners! Don't delay — space is limited!

Announcing Rush Hour Rewards

If you’re a Nest smart thermostat owner or thinking about purchasing one, you can receive a $50 credit on your electric bill when you join the Rush Hour Rewards program! Blue Ridge Energy is now participating in this program offered by the manufacturer.

When you sign up, it allows us to remotely adjust your thermostat by a few degrees during Beat The Peak periods. This helps control wholesale power cost for all members by “leveling out” high demand for electricity on the hottest summer afternoons.

If you participate all summer, you’ll get an additional $10 bill credit!

time by using your smart thermostat’s wall unit or smart phone app.

A smart thermostat helps decrease your overall air and heating energy bills by learning your schedule and automatically adjusting your temperature to an energy-efficient setting. The $50 Rush Hour Reward, and the additional $10 for participating all summer, are a bonus for using your Nest thermostat to help keep rates low for all members!

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You always have the final say in your home’s temperature. You can change your thermostat setting at any

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How to lower summer energy bills

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Costs for cooling your home can make up a large portion of your summer electric bills.

Stay cool and save money with these energy efficiency tips!

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Sign up today at www.BlueRidgeEnergy.com/nest.

• Close blinds and drapes during the day to keep heat out.

• Set your thermostat as high as comfortable when you’re home (and higher when you’re away or during a Beat The Peak alert period).

• Turn off lights and ceiling fans when you leave a room.

• Air dry dishes and clothes.

• Use a microwave instead of your range or oven.

Or, grill outdoors!

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Low-Cost Tips • Plant trees and shrubs that shade the exterior of your home in summer.

• Replace disposable air filters monthly (or according to your manufacturer’s guidelines).

• Use solar lighting to brighten up walkways.

• Replace light bulbs with LED versions.

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What is the number one cause of outages?

If you answered this question by saying trees or tree limbs coming into contact with power lines, you would be right about the leading cause of outages! In fact, trees contribute 65 percent of our outage time.

That’s why your cooperative has a dedicated, year-round vegetation management program to ensure your electricity reliability by protecting over 8,300 miles of power lines on the Blue Ridge Energy system. Balancing the need for reliability with the beauty of scenic western North Carolina is also important. That’s why we employ a certified arborist to oversee the program.

Keeping trees away from power lines is an important safety precaution. Trees and other objects that come into contact with power lines can become energized,

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Doug Johnson

leading to shock or electrocution.

Even fallen power lines can still be energized, which is why no one but our line technicians should ever go near a downed power line.

A clear path for power lines creates a safer working environment for line technicians, whether they’re performing routine maintenance or power restoration.

Members can help by avoiding planting trees near power lines.

For existing trees that are directly in the cooperative’s rights of way, Blue Ridge Energy helps with replacement by offering a voucher for a low-growing species at local, approved nurseries. Vouchers may also apply to a larger tree that is planted farther from rights of way.

For more information, contact Blue Ridge Energy or visit the Resources tab at BlueRidgeEnergy.com.

EDITOR

Renée R. Whitener

Deadline is September 23

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 one of the numbers listed above.

OFFICE HOURS:

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

Visit us on the web: BlueRidgeEnergy.com +

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Teachers: apply now for up to $50,000 in Bright Ideas grants!

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Blue Ridge Energy is celebrating 25 years of lighting up learning in classrooms through the Bright Ideas education grant program. Teachers in K-12 classrooms with innovative ideas for creative learning projects can find and submit an application by visiting ncbrightideas.com. The deadline is September 23 and winners are announced in November.

This year, Blue Ridge Energy will provide $50,000 to fund Bright Ideas grants in the cooperative’s service area! Individual grants are awarded at a maximum of $2,000.

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Since 1994, Blue Ridge Energy has awarded 539 Bright Ideas grants worth over $469,000 that has benefitted over 100,000 students.

Bright Ideas grants are designed to fund innovative classroom projects that benefit students and would not otherwise be funded by regular school budgets.

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This institution is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

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