June 2011
Child Safety and Planting Tips Around Transformers Electric padmount transformers, better known as “big green boxes” scattered through your neighborhood, deserve more attention than you might expect. Transformers can serve up to six houses, so in a large neighborhood, transformers can be abundant. The purpose of a transformer is to change high-voltage electricity to a lower voltage needed for supplying power to the lights and appliances in your home. Children, however, can view padmount transformers as playground equipment and not understand their dangers. Parents need to explain that transformers are not meant for playing, climbing or touching. Padmount transformers can be a potential danger if soil is eroded from around the base or if they become damaged. Warn your children not to put their fingers, sticks or other objects through cracks in a transformer and teach your child about the yellow or orange electrical hazard stickers located on the boxes. Children should never play in areas where they see these hazard stickers. And you should always report broken locks on transformer boxes to Blue Ridge Electric. Follow these tips to enhance padmount transformer safety in your neighborhood: •
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Make sure transformers have at least 10 feet of unobstructed access area around them and “Call 811” to locate underground equipment before you dig around transformers. Make sure transformers aren’t obstructed by fences, shrubs, trees, plants and storage sheds. Develop landscaping plans and take them to your local nursery for advice on plant selection and planting procedures. You don’t want to plant vegetation that will become a transformer obstruction when full grown. Make sure plant roots don’t interfere with wire and buried cables.
Keeping the area around the transformer in your yard or your neighbor’s yard unobstructed can speed up power restoration during outages and routine maintenance checks. Help your local cooperative keep the lights on and burning bright! Carolina Country JUNE 2011 21
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I hope you’ve been following information provided in this newsletter the past several months explaining the new process and that you opened your director election kit mailed to members in mid-May. Most importantly, I hope you reviewed your cooperative’s annual report, read the biographical information about each board candidate, and took a few moments to exercise your privilege of voting for your directors. Your director election kit contained the form and information necessary to cast your vote in all districts for the board nominees so that you could easily vote by mail. However, if you missed the opportunity to return your proxy by the June 1 deadline to our thirdparty professional election administrator, you can still vote at the annual meeting. This year, the annual meeting is being held in a new location and we hope you join us Saturday, June 11, at the new Watauga County High School (for more information, see the cover wrap of this issue of Carolina Country). We’ll be celebrating our 75th anniversary at the annual meeting and there’s always food, fellowship, entertainment, and many educational updates about the state of your cooperative.
ec However, the director elections, u ti ve which culminates this year at the Offi cer Doug Johnson annual meeting, is the most important business of the year. That’s because your board acts as your voice in setting policies, rates and strategic direction so that the best interests of the membership as a whole are served and that your cooperative is well positioned to meet your needs for reliable, affordable electricity, now and in future years.
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One of the strongest benefits of belonging to a cooperative like Blue Ridge Electric is the voice you have in this business. Voting for your board of directors is one of the most significant ways for you to participate in your cooperative. That’s why your board approved last year to make the voting process even easier and more convenient for many of our members by offering the option to cast your vote for directors by mail, starting with this year’s election.
f hie yC An Editorial b
Director Elections
Audited Financials Complete
Much diligence goes into ensuring strong leadership for your cooperative through the board of directors’ election process. This process begins with developing a slate of qualified candidates created through the Nominating Committee and nomination by petition processes. In addition to members being able to run for the board by petition according to guidelines in the bylaws, nominees are selected each year by a Nominating Committee appointed by the board. This committee evaluates potential candidates based on their business experience, leadership abilities, strategic planning skills, and prior board experience in addition to other qualities that help ensure good governance of your cooperative. Full details on these processes can be found in the cooperative’s bylaws available at any Blue Ridge office or online at BlueRidgeEMC.com.
Blue Ridge Electric’s financial records for fiscal year 2010 have been audited by the firm of Adams, Jenkins & Cheatham, pc. The audit indicates the cooperative and its subsidiary are in sound financial condition and reflects an unqualified (highest level given) opinion. The cooperative’s 2010 Consolidated Audit Report is now available in each district office for your review. The 2010 Blue Ridge Electric Members Foundation financial report is also available. The audit indicates the Foundation is in sound financial condition and reflects an unqualified (highest level given) opinion.
We hope the vote by mail option has helped you exercise your most important right as a cooperative member: voting for your board of directors. Whether you’ve voted or not, we hope you decide to join us for fun, fellowship and the most important meeting of the year on June 11: the Annual Membership Meeting at the new Watauga High School!
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More News An Appalachian Summer Festival Fireworks Concert featuring:
Dierks Bentley Ticket Order Form Tickets may be ordered from ASU by phone, FAX, mail, or at www.BlueRidgeEMC.com: 1. For mail orders, cut ( ) this form out and send it along with your check, money order, VISA® or MasterCard® number to: * Tickets will be held at the box office and can be picked Farthing Auditorium Box Office up at Farthing Auditorium on the day of the concert, or they Appalachian State University can be mailed back if a self-addresed envelope is included PO Box 32057 and received by July 13. Boone, NC 28608-2057 2. For phone orders using your VISA® or MasterCard®, call toll free: 1-800-841-2787 or (828) 262-4046 in the Boone area. Hours: 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., Monday - Friday. Blue Ridge members: to receive your discount, have your electric account number ready. 3. FAX this order form with your VISA® or MasterCard® number to: (828) 262-2848. 4. To order tickets over the Internet, go to www.BlueRidgeEMC.com and click on “ASU Concert Tickets.”
Name Address City State Zip Blue Ridge Electric account number (required for discount) Phone (day) (evening) Check: (payable to ASU) Adult tickets x $27 = $ Children’s tickets x $ 5= $ Charge to my: Visa® MasterCard® (12 years & younger) Credit Card # Subtotal $ Exp. Date Handling Charge $ $2.00 Grand Total $ Signature All tickets must be purchased through ASU.
An Appalachian Summer Festival
Fireworks Concert with Dierks Bentley Saturday, July 23 at 7:30 p.m. Kidd Brewer Stadium, Appalachian State University Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Adult tickets with Blue Ridge Electric member discount - $27 (regularly $32) Children’s tickets - $5 *All tickets must be purchased through ASU
Sponsored by: Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corporation Carolina Country JUNE 2011 23
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Members Only NEWS
~For Members of Blue Ridge Electric
Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corporation
CORPORATE OFFICE PO Box 112 • Lenoir, NC 28645
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Doug Johnson EDITOR Renée R. Whitener PRODUCTION SUPERVISOR Susan Simmons DISTRICT OFFICES Caldwell (828) 754-9071 Watauga (828) 264-8894 Ashe (336) 246-7138 Alleghany (336) 372-4646 Wilkes (800) 451-5474 (800) 448-2383 PowerLine® (PowerLine® is an automated account information and outage reporting system.) Toll Free 1 (800) 451-5474 (for members outside the service area) To report an outage at any time, call one of the numbers listed above. OFFICE HOURS 8:30 am - 5:00 pm, Monday - Friday Night deposit available. Visit us on the Web: www.BlueRidgeEMC.com
Making Membership Matter for 75 Years The official “birth” of Blue Ridge Electric was recorded on September 19, 1936. It was that day a small group of farmers met with G. F. Messick in the jury room of the Caldwell County Courthouse to organize what was then called Caldwell County Electric Membership Corporation and later incorporated under the name of Caldwell Mutual Corporation. This same year, the movement for cooperative rural electrification was in such high demand all across the country that Congress passed legislation making the Rural Electrification Administration permanent with provisions for cooperatives. By 1938, Blue Ridge Electric began serving its first members: 155 homes, six stores, four churches and a few schools in Caldwell County. Later that year, Watauga County was energized by the cooperative and by the following year, Alleghany County saw its first wondrous glow of lights — the arrival of electricity — to its farms, homes and churches and town. Two years later, the cooperative rechartered under the name some 74,000 members are now a part of: Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corporation. While the cooperative has progressed and continues to prepare for the future, Blue Ridge Electric remains committed today to the same principles upon which cooperatives were founded. Owned by the members we serve, we are a local business formed to provide affordable access to electricity. We return any margins in the form of capital credits to our members, and the cooperative is governed by a board of directors elected by the membership. Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corporation has come a long way since 1938 when the cooperative’s power lines were energized to light up the landscapes of beautiful rural northwest Caldwell County. And while the primary purpose of the cooperative is to provide affordable electricity, our greater guiding purpose is to contribute to the communities we serve. Blue Ridge Electric strives to be involved with the communities we serve to the extent that we help create a higher quality of life for all who live here. That’s the higher calling of an electric cooperative like Blue Ridge Electric and that’s why we’re proud to be a part of all the communities we serve.
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