embership M
10 TWENTY TWENTY ONE
MATTERS
Hunting vampires
Find what ’s draining your savings Most homes these days never quite shut down for the night. Although lamps may be off, dark rooms are typically spotted with tiny red and green lights of appliances and the glow of digital clocks. All of those little lights, clocks, and seemingly “sleeping” appliances, however, are using more electricity than most would think. Sometimes called vampire electronics, these devices suck up 5 percent of all energy used in the United States and cost consumers more than $3 billion every year. For the average homeowner, vampire electronics can add 20 percent to monthly electric bills, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. To trim this excess energy use, you need to know where these vampires reside and keep them in check. Take a closer look at appliances around your home. Those that use remote controls such as TVs, DVD players, and stereos are suspect. Digital displays, such as microwave and coffee machine clocks, are working against your electric bill. And many of those chargers around the house that keep cell phones and power tools at the ready constantly draw power when plugged in. Unplugging these vampires effectively drives a stake into their energy-consuming hearts. Power strips provide another way to thwart them. Simply plug appliances into a power strip, and switch it off when those appliances aren’t being used. In addition, unplug any battery-operated electronic device once charged. You wouldn’t walk away from a flowing water hose, after all, and you certainly don’t want to keep feeding those vampires.
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THE
Perspective
T here is a Cooperative Dif f erence:
From Blue Ridge CEO, Doug Johnson
What do ACE Hardware, State Farm, REI, Land O’Lakes and Blue Ridge Energy have in common? We’re all cooperatives. We represent different industries, but we all share a passion for serving our members and communities. Cooperatives adhere to seven principles that reflect our core values of honesty, transparency, equality, inclusiveness and service. October is National Co-op Month — the perfect time to reflect on key cooperative principles that have stood the test of time and provide a framework for the future. Then: Cooperatives were created out of necessity, meeting a need that would have been otherwise unmet. In 1936, a group of neighbors banded together and organized our electric cooperative. For a modest membership fee, any farmer could get electricity. Neighbors tackled a problem they couldn’t solve alone. They worked together for the benefit of the whole community, and the newly established electric lines powered economic opportunity. While this history may be forgotten, key parts of that heritage remain: the focus on serving the greater good and making life better. Now: Improving our area remains a key responsibility for Blue Ridge Energy driven by maintaining a modern grid and meeting the energy needs of now and tomorrow. We also support our members and communities in many other ways. Last year our Members Foundation awarded over $300,000 in crisis energy assistance to
members in need. The Foundation, with your support through Operation Round Up®, helps members as well as local not-for-profit programs that also exist to improve local quality of life for our members. We support education by awarding over $25,000 in Bright Ideas grants to educators, providing innovative classroom experiences for students. Annually, we award $30,000 in college scholarships and offer our Leadership Track to high school students, providing leadership development and college preparation. Electric cooperatives were assigned as liaisons to help local qualifying entities secure government funding through the Rural Economic Development and Loan and Grant Program. Your cooperative helps each of our communities secure thousands of dollars for projects ranging from job expansion to healthcare and, in recent years, improving local fire and rescue resources. We improve local communities with access to high-speed internet. We’ve partnered with SkyBest Communications to secure grants for these projects. The first is underway thanks to a GREAT grant (Growing Rural Economies with Access to Technology) that will benefit 400 members in northeast Caldwell County. In another, Watauga County has awarded $7.7 million to Blue Ridge and SkyBest to bring fiber-optic internet to over 1,700 homes and businesses. We celebrate all seven cooperative principles but the heart of cooperatives remains the same. It’s been our commitment to show concern for our community since the 1930s and it’s how we plan to “Power a Brighter Future” for tomorrow.
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P
Changing:
Renewable energy charge The NC REPS charge on your bill is increasing beginning in October. This charge is for the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Portfolio Standard law passed by the 2007 North Carolina General Assembly. It requires all utilities to generate and distribute more electricity from renewable resources and to encourage energy efficiency by their consumers. Members will see the following changes: the residential fee will move from 84 cents to $1.05; the commercial fee will move from $4.70 to $5.78 and the industrial fee will move from:$30.45 to $37.14.
Your cooperative has coordinated with its wholesale power supplier to meet NC REPS in the most efficient manner possible. Currently, 10 percent of Blue Ridge Energy’s electricity consumed by its members is now produced from renewable resources. (This is in addition to the cooperative’s community solar production). Expenses to comply with the NC REPS law fluctuate annually based on the cost of renewable and energy efficiency projects determined by the wholesale power provider. As required by law, a portion of the renewable energy must be generated from swine and poultry waste.
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7
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Protec t your self f rom online tricks While we often associate October with spooky treats, it’s also National Cybersecurity Month, a time to focus on the very real tricks posed by online scammers. • Be a password pro. Create strong passwords that use a combination of letters, numbers and symbols, and change them regularly. Don’t use the same password for all your accounts or share your passwords. • Stay up to date. Keep the operating system, browser and security software on all your internet-connected devices updated to protect against known vulnerabilities.
Membership MAT TERS
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• Click with caution. Hold your cursor over links in an email to view its full address before clicking, even if the email was sent by someone you know. If the link looks suspicious, contact the sender to verify the link before clicking. • Share with care. Be careful how much personal information you share online, and enable privacy settings on social media networks to limit who can see what you share. Be aware that your posts may inadvertently be sharing personal details about yourself or others when posting photos or videos.
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Your Input Matters! Watch your inbox for member satisfaction surveys throughout the year... Blue Ridge Energy conducts regular surveys to learn more about how members feel about our service in all areas of the cooperative. Surveys are sent by email to a sampling of members each month. If you’re selected to be surveyed, we strongly encourage you to take time to let us know how we’re doing and if we can improve service to you in any way. Blue Ridge Energy partners with Cooperative Insights and Data Decisions Group to conduct the survey. So, watch for an email that comes from CooperativeSurveys@ddgvips.com. Through this partnership, cooperatives across the country are able to compare satisfaction scores and learn from each other on opportunities to improve and provide the best service to our members.
Over the years, Blue Ridge Energy has consistently ranked among the top for providing the best member service! We want to continue providing that excellent service as your needs change with with the times. Your survey response will help us do that! Because these are sent by email, it’s important for us to have your most current email address on file. See this month’s Carolina Country cover wrap for a contest currently underway. When you give us your email address before December 3rd, you’ll be entered for a chance to win a $500 gift card! A postage-paid card is enclosed to make it easy for you to submit your contact information. Or, you can provide/update your email address online under My Account on BlueRidgeEnergy. com, on the mobile app, at your local district office or by calling us at 1-800-451-5474.
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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