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April 2020
Did you know...you can keep electricity costs low by signing up for “Beat The Peak” today at BlueRidgeEnergy.com/BTP, via email at BeatThePeak@myBlueRidgeEnergy.com or text “BTP” to 70216.
Time IS Money It’s true. Time IS money when it comes to when you use electricity each day. Blue Ridge Energy’s Beat The Peak program is helping members join together to keep costs lower for all members simply by lowering your usage during a few key periods. Peaks occur when the majority of people are using electricity all at once. Power suppliers must generate enough electricity to meet this high usage requirement. Leveling out these peaks helps control the cost. Summer peaks typically occur on the hottest 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 our coldest winter mornings. What can you do to help? Sign up to receive Beat The Peak alerts by text, email or the Blue Ridge Energy mobile app.
BEAT THE
PEAK
When you receive an alert, take steps to reduce your electricity usage during the specified times. Easy but helpful tips include: •
Raise your thermostat as high as comfortable in summer.
•
Shift the time you wash and dry clothes.
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Wait to run the dishwasher.
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Turn off unnecessary lights.
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Grill outdoors or use the microwave instead of the oven or stove.
•
Postpone hot water use until after the peak.
Every action helps! Keep electricity costs low by signing up today at BlueRidgeEnergy.com/BTP, email BeatThePeak@myBlueRidgeEnergy.com or text “BTP” to 70216.
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From Blue Ridge Energy CEO Doug Johnson
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Lineman Appreciation: at home and abroad Line technicians are invaluable to our goal of reliably serving your energy needs. On April 13, Blue Ridge Energy, along with other electric cooperatives across the country, will celebrate Lineman Appreciation Day to honor the brave men and women working hard to keep your power flowing, no matter the weather or conditions! Line crews work around the clock, sometimes in difficult and dangerous conditions, to keep power flowing to local communities. Whether they’re restoring power after a major storm or maintaining critical infrastructure to our electric system, line technicians are at the heart of Blue Ridge Energy՚s purpose. Among all of our line technicians we’ll be honoring here at home in April are two who recently volunteered to travel to Bolivia and work in harsh conditions to put back power lines, poles and other parts of the power delivery system destroyed by the Amazon wildfires. Line technicians Faron Atwood and Johnny Sloan spent many days working in rough terrain and scorching temperatures with the line technicians from Cooperativa Rural de Electrificacion (CRE), an electric cooperative that Blue Ridge Energy helped develop in the 1960s. CRE is now the largest electric cooperative in the world; but it is an area still struggling in many ways. In fact, two other Blue Ridge
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Energy line technicians traveled last year with fellow North Carolina crews to bring electricity for the first time to the small Bolivian village of Laphia. On their recent trip, Faron and Johnny were particularly struck by the lack of equipment and technology that Bolivian lineworkers had available to them. In fact, Bolivian line technicians had never seen climbing equipment like ours that was capable of scaling their poles – let alone the many hand tools and drills that are available to our crews at Blue Ridge Energy. Witnessing the lack of equipment and the hardship faced by the Bolivian workers, Faron and Johnny called home to Blue Ridge to ask if they could leave behind their climbing gear and other tools for the Bolivian linemen. Of course our answer was yes! These tools are now making a difference for the Bolivian crews using them to make their work safer and more efficient. I’m very proud to say that the heart of service exemplified by Faron and Johnny is shared by all our Blue Ridge line technicians. We salute each and every line technician serving the members of Blue Ridge Energy! And, we encourage all of our members to take a moment to share your thanks for the important work they do by using #ThankALineworker on social media or sending us a note to share with the brave crews who power our lives and communities!
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Go green!
Sign up for your director election kit email! If you prefer email rather than paper, sign up now to receive your cooperative’s Board of Directors election kit electronically and vote online! On May 27, the Annual Meeting notice and director election kit will be mailed to members. If you’re signed up to receive the kit electronically, you can quickly and easily vote online by using the link in the email you’ll receive! To go green and sign up for email, go to BlueRidgeEnergy.com/OnlineVoteSignup. The deadline to sign up is April 17, 2020.
Be entered to win a $25 Visa gift card when you update your email on your account! When you do this, you can also sign up to receive your director election kit by email. Update your email and sign up for the emailed director election kit today at: BlueRidgeEnergy.com/UpdateEmail.
Those not signed up to receive the kit by email will receive a paper kit in the mail. It will include a proxy and postage-paid return envelope to cast your vote.
Happy Easter
Even when our offices are closed, you can always go to BlueRidgeEnergy. com, day or night, for information and self-service options. 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
Blue Ridge Energy offices will be closed in observance of the Easter holiday on Friday, April 10, 2020.
check, credit or debit card • Discover ways to lower your bill using your home’s energy footprint • Create a payment arrangement • View your current and past statements + payment history
• • •
Request services Sign up for paperless solutions View our outage map
You can also use our automated telephone options, download our mobile app or make a payment using any of our kiosk locations.
Headed out? We're only a click away with the app!
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The Blue Ridge Energy Mobile App puts these options at your fingertips:
Usage Tracker
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Did you know?
Save time and make your life easier! Download the “Blue Ridge Energy Mobile App” for FREE today on your smartphone or tablet! MEMBERSHIP matters
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Blue Ridge line techs leave more than their hearts in the Amazon Two Blue Ridge line technicians have returned home after helping Bolivian villagers pick up the pieces of a damaged electrical grid, following historic wildfires in the Amazon region. Faron Atwood and Johnny Sloan, among a group of line technicians from sister cooperatives in the United States, contributed to the recovery efforts. pictured: Faron Atwood (left) and Johnny Sloan
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.
highlight of his career. I have a hard time arguing against that. It was a good experience and it humbled us. It really makes you want to do more to help in any way you can.” After seeing the limited equipment being used by the Bolivian line workers, Atwood and Sloan phoned home to make a special request. They wanted to leave all of their personal equipment with their Bolivian colleagues.
Cooperatives have an extensive working history with the villagers of the rural farming communities in Bolivia and around the world. Regardless of where you are, The National Rural Electric linemen are linemen. We see the Cooperative Association brotherhood wherever we go. (NRECA), has been an – Faron Atwood advocate for the introduction of electricity to underdeveloped nations for decades guided by the principles which founded Sloan said their work ethic left them cooperatives in the United States. inspired, but the lack of technology was an eye-opening moment for the Blue Ridge has been a long time American crew. “It really puts things participant in the mission to electrify into perspective. It makes you realize the dark corners of the globe. Atwood how good we have it.” and Sloan joined a growing list of line technicians that have been able to Atwood and Sloan returned home experience the impact electricity can with a new perspective on life and make on the lives of people who have the line technicians living 3,000 miles never used it. away. As a nod to his new colleagues, Atwood added that “regardless of Atwood felt that the experience was where you are, linemen are linemen. life changing, adding that, “An older We see the brotherhood wherever line technician said that it was the we go.”
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
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This institution is an equal opportunity provider and employer.
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