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Vegetation management balances power reliabilit y with scenic beaut y
Vegetation management The single major cause of power outages is damage to power lines from trees and limbs during severe weather such as high winds, heavy snow, ice, or lightning. With more than 8,000 miles of power lines to protect, Blue Ridge Energy works year-round on vegetation management to ensure members have the most reliable electricity possible. While Blue Ridge ranks among the most reliable electric providers, your cooperative has added another method to help achieve reliability in a safe, environmentally friendly manner:aerial tree pruning. This method utilizes trained helicopter pilots who carefully conduct pruning along rights-of-ways. Trained employee “spotters� are located on ground level and are in constant communication with the pilot. Used by utilities across the nation for years, aerial tree pruning is approved by the American National Standards Institute. The process is less intrusive to member property and the environment than traditional methods. As with all vegetation management, members are notified in advance of pruning. Debris is removed from maintained areas, while in non-maintained areas, debris is either left or bush hogged to the ground. Our vegetation management program combines several growth control methods that balance scenic beauty with safe, reliable electricity. For more information, visit BlueRidgeEnergy.com>Resources>Trees, Rights-of-Ways and Reliability.
Vegetation management occurs in rightsof-way. A right-of-way is a strip of land along either side of power lines. It helps protect the lines and allows line technicians to work safely to build and maintain the power system to ensure members receive reliable electricity.
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THE
Perspective Giving back: Member s Foundation
From Blue Ridge CEO Doug Johnson
There’s no better feeling than giving back. That’s the tradition of the Blue Ridge Energy Members Foundation and the power of partnership between members and your electric cooperative.
Also contributing up to $50,000 annually to the Foundation from their profits are the cooperative’s Propane and Fuels and RidgeLink subsidiaries.
In its 14th year, the impact of the Members Foundation looks a little different. In normal circumstances, community grants are awarded to improve local quality of life for all ages. With so many members facing hardships in 2020, we temporarily rebranded our Operation Round Up® program to an “In This Together Relief Fund.” In 2020, 100 percent of Members Foundation funding went to help 2,259 members with crisis heating and electricity assistance during the pandemic. This was a total of $256,313 provided to members in need during a difficult time.
Members also help guide the Foundation. A Foundation Advisory Committee, made up of volunteer members, reviews grant applications annually and makes recommendations to the Foundation’s Board of Directors for funding approval.
This would not have been possible if it weren’t for you, our members, and the cooperative’s subsidiaries.
While crisis heating assistance remains a cornerstone of Foundation support, improving quality of life across our service area is being achieved through funding for Foundation grants in the areas of health and wellness, education and youth, environmental enhancement, as well as economic and community development.
I’d like to take this opportunity to thank you, the members, who generously give to OperaThanks to our members who generously round tion Round Up, as well as those who use our up their monthly electric bills or donate larger propane and fuels services or purchase hearth amounts of their choice to Operation Round Up. and home products from our showrooms. Some even donate their annual capital credits Working together, your Members Foundation is refunds and you’ll see this year’s opportunity helping improve the quality of life for people in to do so on the cover wrap of this issue of our area and we’re also serving those in need Carolina Country magazine. of a helping hand!
If you would like to join Operation Round Up to help the Members Foundation improve local quality of life and provide crisis heating assistance, please call a local Blue Ridge Energy office or sign up online at: BlueRidgeEnergy.com/operation-round-up. To learn more about the Blue Ridge Energy Members Foundation visit: BlueRidgeEnergy.com/members-foundation.
Membership MAT TERS
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Tackling a pandemic and helping our communities
While 2020 was a challenging year for many Blue Ridge Energy members, the Blue Ridge Energy Members Foundation was able to make a tremendous impact due to the generosity of members participating in Operation Round Up® and those who donated to our In This Together Relief Fund.
dge nson
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2,259 members helped as of December 2020.
• $256,313 in assistance provided. • We reached out to our members, employees, and board of directors for special In This Together donations and received over $50,000!
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Thousands of N-95 masks donated to healthcare workers and EMS
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Food and meals provided to our hospital workers
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Sign up for outage texting! Use the mobile number listed on your account to text “START” to 70216
At tention Youth! Scholarship and leadership opportunities are available as part of Blue Ridge Energy’s support of local communities. To qualify for these opportunities, high school students must join Blue Ridge Energy’s Leadership Track in their freshman or sophomore years, or as early as possible during high school. To join or learn more, visit: BlueRidgeEnergy.com/ LeadershipTrack. In February, qualifying seniors involved in Blue Ridge Energy’s Leadership Track will be invited to apply for up to eight $4,000 renewable scholarships for students seeking a four-year degree. Awards are based on leadership performance, resume development and a personal interview.
Additionally, for students in Caldwell County, Blue Ridge Energy helps administer the Charles and Lucille Suddreth scholarship, which awards $800 for a student seeking a vocational degree including the Electrical Lineworker Institute. Financial need and academic performance are the primary criteria and the deadline for applications is April 15. Apply at: BlueRidgeEnergy.com/ scholarships. Leadership camp opportunities as well as college bound workshops are also available to high school sophomores and juniors in the Blue Ridge Energy Leadership Track. Learn more at: BlueRidgeEnergy.com/LeadershipTrack.
Visit us on the web: BlueRidgeEnergy.com CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Doug Johnson EDITOR Renée R. Whitener PRODUCTION SUPERVISOR Jacob Puckett
Membership
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MAT TERS
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