embership M
09 TWENTY TWENTY ONE
MATTERS
Creating wildlif e habitats
Converting rights-of-way to wildlife habitats Enhancing the natural beauty of western North Carolina while ensuring reliable electricity for members is why Blue Ridge Energy has made funds available to help convert rights-of-way to wildlife habitats. Up to $500 per acre is available to members who have cooperative rights-of-way on their property in wooded or other qualifying areas. The funds are to help offset costs the member would incur to remove trees and plant certain types of grass, low-growing shrubs, wildflowers and other vegetation to attract wildlife such as rabbits, turkeys, birds, deer and honeybees and other pollinators. Members qualify for funds only if they contact Blue Ridge Energy’s vegetation management staff and receive approval prior to the start of their project. Programs like this not only benefit the environment and improve appearance, they also help ensure reliable electricity for members and give line technicians a safe pathway when working on power lines. Visit BlueRidgeEnergy.com and click on the “Resources” tab for more information.
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THE
Perspective How member s benefit f rom our subsidiaries When your cooperative first diversified in 1998 by adding a propane and heating fuels subsidiary,which we now operate under the shared market name of Blue Ridge Energy, it was to benefit members and keep your bills as low as possible. That was also the goal when we added a second subsidiary in 2009, RidgeLink, which provides fiber optic infrastructure to cellular broadband, education, health care, government and business sectors. Our subsidiaries are benefitting members and the customers they serve in several important ways. In addition to providing local jobs to strengthen the economy in our service area, profits earned by the subsidiaries are used to keep your electric bills lower by offsetting operating cost at the cooperative. In 2020, our subsidiary companies produced a combined net benefit of $3.2 million to the cooperative, helping keep member rates stable and as low as possible! Our subsidiaries also benefit local communities through their contributions. Last year, Propane and Fuels and RidgeLink donated $50,000 to the Members Foundation to be used for crisis heating assistance and community grants to improve healthcare, education, elder and youth services, and more.
From Blue Ridge CEO Doug Johnson
receive expert advice and purchase products such as fireplaces and gas logs, space heaters, backup power generators, water heaters, outdoor fire tables, patio heaters, custom grills, outdoor furniture and more! Additionally, our RidgeLink subsidiary is now helping bring broadband to unserved and underserved areas in our cooperative’s service area, thanks to the help of a grant from the state of North Carolina called the NC GREAT grant. As members, it’s important for you to know about your subsidiary companies. We hope you join us in our excitement to pursue continued growth in order to increase subsidiary benefits to you and all members to help keep rates as low as possible and contribute to the local quality of life.
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Our Propane and Fuels subsidiary also leases space to provide showrooms in each of the cooperative’s district offices where you can
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Membership MAT TERS
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T
capital credit retirements ...
D o you have money waiting?
Ridge hnson
To help our former members receive refunds due to them through the cooperative’s capital credit retirements, all unclaimed capital credits are listed on our website. To check the list,visit BlueRidgeEnergy.com and click the “Residential” tab. Click the “Money Back to You! Capital Credits” area and scroll to the bottom of the page to find the “Unclaimed Capital Credits” link.
If you are on the list, please contact us Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Proof of identity will be necessary to receive the refunds.
Unclaimed capital credits are funds waiting for our former members for whom we don’t have a valid address. This is an important reason to always contact us any time your address changes.
Telephone Town Hall coming soon! Join us for our Telephone Town Hall on Thursday, October 14, at 6:30 pm. To participate, simply answer the phone when we call at this time.
number on member’s accounts will be used, so please contact us today to be sure we have the number you prefer listed on your account.
You’ll hear Chief Executive Officer Doug Johnson discuss timely updates about your cooperative. You’ll also have the opportunity to ask questions. We will call members a few days prior to the event as a reminder of the date, time and how to participate. The primary phone
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For the best service ... Please contact us any time you change your telephone number, e-mail or mailing address. This helps us provide you with the best member service experience, especially during outages or when you need us. It also ensures timely delivery of important items such as your capital credits refund! w
Visit us on the web: BlueRidgeEnergy.com CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Doug Johnson EDITOR Renée R. Whitener PRODUCTION SUPERVISOR Jacob Puckett
Membership MAT TERS
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DISTRICT OFFICES Caldwell Watauga Ashe Alleghany Wilkes PowerLine*
TOLL FREE (828) 754-9071 (828) 264-8894 (336) 846-7138 (336) 372-4646 (800) 451-5474 (800) 448-2383
(800) 451-5474
OFFICE HOURS: 8:30 AM - 5:00 PM Monday - Friday Kiosks available
(PowerLine* is an automated account information and outage reporting system.)
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