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Perspective Reliable Power f or Today – and Tomorrow Ringing in a new year sparks a sense of renewed hope and optimism about the future.

For me, it’s a time to reflect on where we are and where we’re going as your cooperative.

At the heart of this, I think about ways we can continue serving with your best interests at heart.

Our team at Blue Ridge Energy is always looking ahead, exploring ways to innovate and utilize new technologies to improve our services. As our nation increasingly relies on electricity to power the economy, keeping the lights on has never been more important.

We’re committed to powering—and empowering—our community at the most affordable cost possible even with the cost pressures facing our industry today.

So how are we working to ensure reliable and affordable power while adapting to a changing energy landscape and our community’s evolving needs?

From Blue Ridge Energy CEO Doug Johnson

Carolinas. Our energy mix is made up of natural gas at 19%, nuclear at 50%, a declining amount of coal at 26%, with the rest by solar and hydro. To help hold down expensive peak period power, we work extensively to negotiate the best agreements on purchasing the power supply that we deliver to your home while also looking at innovative resources to cut those power costs, such as purchasing power from the Brighter Future Solar Facility in southern Caldwell County.

While we’re increasingly using more electricity generated from renewable energy sources, we still depend on a diverse energy mix to ensure that power remains reliable and affordable for our members.

As we turn our focus to 2024, your cooperative will continue working to provide the most reliable, affordable electricity you expect and deserve—for today and tomorrow.

One critical component of delivering reliable power is the mix of energy resources used to generate the electricity that keeps the lights on. Having a mix of generation resources ensures that electricity demand is met whether it’s day or night, cold or hot weather, and when demand is at its highest. You may not realize it, but Blue Ridge Energy doesn’t generate electricity. Instead, we purchase it from our energy provider, Duke Energy

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e Energy hnson

First steps: Director elections Members have the opportunity to vote for their Board of Directors each year. To keep you informed of election governance processes that take place throughout the year, your cooperative updates you in this newsletter. Two of the first steps in the director election process include appointing a Credentials and Election (C&E) Committee and a Nominating Committee. The Board appointed these committees for one-year terms at their October meeting.

Nominating Committee: This committee of nine cooperative members reviews and nominates qualified candidates to run for all open seats on the Board of Directors in the upcoming election.

The Board appointed the following committee members: Caldwell district: Greg White and Carolyn Icard; alternates Wanda Prince and Felisha Steward.

Credentials & Election Committee: Made up of members from across the cooperative’s service area, this committee ensures director elections are conducted in compliance with Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corporation’s Bylaws. Responsibilities include selection of an independent election administration firm, review of petition candidate qualifications, validation of all proxies and ballots, and certification of election results.

The Board of Directors appointed the following committee members: Caldwell district: Glenda Wright; alternates Stephen Rauchfuss and Paul Duncan.

Watauga district: Billie Rogers and Meredith Jones; alternates Kelvin Gryder and Jimmy Friley.

Ashe district: Marty Norris; alternates Andy Sexton and Judy Bare.

Alleghany district: Dwayne Bright; alternates Steve Mason and Charles Rudy.

Watauga district: Jessica Hicks and Laramie Combs; alternates Pam Vines and Angie Gregg.

Ashe district: Melanie Miller, Shawn Horton and Wes Greene; alternates Patricia Calloway and Jim Parson.

Alleghany district: Heather Andrews and Susan Nilo; alternates Tommy Maines and Tom Smith.

Members of both committees may not be employees, agents, officers, directors, close relatives or known candidates to become directors. The makeup of the committee reflects an equal number of members from each district, plus one representative from any district.

Candidates nominated by this committee as well as candidates running by petition will be posted in each Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corporation district office and on the website in April. Information about all candidates will be included in director election information mailed or emailed to all members in May. Information will also be provided in Carolina Country magazine sent to all members.

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Shi elds Re t ir es, Sm it h A nnou nced as new V ice Pr esid ent

Service Rules and Regulations Updated: Brad Shields, Senior Vice President and Chief Communications Officer, is retiring after 26 years with Blue Ridge Energy. Shields also served as Vice Chairman and Chief Operating Officer for RidgeLink, LLC, the cooperative’s dark fiber telecommunications subsidiary, since its inception in 2009. Shields oversaw many areas of technological change during his tenure, including development of RidgeLink.

He and his wife, Kim, live in Boone.

Jason Smith, previously Director of Communications, has been promoted to fill Shield’s roles. He joined Blue Ridge Energy in 2015 as Senior Communications Analyst and was promoted in 2018. Smith has also served honorably in the US Military. He and his wife, Julie, and daughter, Molly, live in Lenoir.

The Cooperative’s Service Rules and Regulations have been updated and recently approved by the Board of Directors, primarily to state that upon death of a single member, the membership terminates and can be continued by transferring the service to a member meeting all membership qualifications. Additionally, a Cooperative Engineer Service Allowance Estimation for the cooperative’s Contribution in Aid to Construction was specified that it will be calculated at the Cooperative Engineers’ discretion based on input provided by the member, licensed electrician, design engineer and comparable electric services.

A complete set of Service Rules and Regulations can be obtained at any Blue Ridge Energy office or online at BlueRidgeEnergy.com.

Visit us on the web: BlueRidgeEnergy.com CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Doug Johnson EDITOR Renée R. Walker PRODUCTION SUPERVISOR Jacob Puckett

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DISTRICT OFFICES Caldwell Watauga Ashe Alleghany PowerLine*

TOLL FREE (828) 754-9071 (828) 264-8894 (336) 846-7138 (336) 372-4646 (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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