March 2012
This is the third of a series of articles discussing our right-of-way and vegetation management program.
Right-of-way practices aid reliability and enhance scenic beauty Keeping the path of power lines free of large trees and brush helps our members enjoy reliable electricity flowing to their homes and businesses. It also provides a safe working environment for our line technicians whether they’re doing routine work on the system or trying to quickly get power restored for members when an outage does occur. Vegetation must be continually managed in rights of ways in order to meet reliability and safety goals.That’s why our comprehensive, innovative right-of-way program includes selective herbicide. As you know, your cooperative utilizes a combination approach to right-of-way maintenance. In the first part of the process, trees and large growth that threaten reliability are either cut with mechanical trimmers or trimmed by hand. The following summer, an environmentally safe herbicide treatment that allows low-growing vegetation to thrive is applied by hand to the sprouts of the large trees cut the preceding year. Crews using backpack applicators apply the herbicide directly to the vegetation that could grow back into the lines. This low-volume, manual method of vegetation management also helps ensure the beauty and natural habitat of the many plants and animals in our area is enhanced. In fact, these practices are endorsed by several important animal and plant experts and organizations such as the North Carolina Department of Natural Resources, The National Wild Turkey Federation, Quail Unlimited, Buckmasters and the National Butterfly Association. A certified arborist on our staff manages our right-of-way program. Under his supervision, Blue Ridge Electric has been awarded the prestigious “Lines of Distinction” award for “safety, environmental stewardship, innovation and integrity in maintaining reliable service for its members and balancing the beauty of the area and natural habitats for many living plants and animals.” Finally, you can be assured that member satisfaction with our right-of-way program is a priority for us. Because we respect your property, member notification is part of our plan. Planned maintenance that requires us to be on a member’s property is preceded by an automated phone call so that our members are notified well in advance of any work. If we cannot reach a member by phone after several attempts, a postcard will be mailed. This multiple notification process was developed to make members aware of the need to be on their property.
Carolina Country MARCH 2012 25
BlueRidge-0312.indd 25
2/9/12 2:55 PM
Certainly that means keeping the power on — or getting it back on quickly if an outage occurs — so that you can enjoy your homes, have jobs, and enjoy life without having to worry. Reliable electricity is the heart of our business. But making life easier for our members also means being easy to do business with when you need us. Think about what you want from the ideal business. Whether it’s a problem, routine business or a simple question, you want it handled quickly and professionally by someone who cares about you. We work to achieve this by having “real people,” who are well trained and live in our local communities, available to meet your needs whether you’re calling or visiting our offices or website. We’re committed to keeping local offices across our system instead of closing local offices like so many other utilities have done. This helps us respond quicker to outages and technical service needs. But it also means we have member service representatives you can sit down with to conduct business like setting up service, discussing a special need or paying your bill. The majority of members call us when they have a need so we’re making it easier than ever to do business with us by phone. That means making sure your need is met right away — on the first phone call whenever possible — so that you’re not bothered or delayed with multiple calls. Your time is important and we respect that! That leads me to our next goal in providing excellent telephone service: many of our service options are now “automated,” meaning you can take care of your needs with the press of a few buttons, whether it’s paying your bill, arranging a time extension on the due date, reporting an outage,
or checking account informaec u ti tion. Many members love these ve Offi convenient “self help” options. But cer Doug Johnson there are times we all have an issue that can only be resolved by talking to an employee. That’s why we make it easy to press a button to reach a person at any point during a call. Even at night, you’ll always find someone to speak to personally should you need us.
Ex
Making life easier for our members is one of our top goals!
f hie yC An Editorial b
Making it easy
Top 10 is our goal!
For the convenience of members who prefer technology, we offer a comprehensive, easy-touse website complete with online member service options and a wide variety of information. Many members also connect with us on our social media tools: Facebook and Twitter. Whether you’re looking to simply pay your bill, apply for a program, take our free online energy audit to reduce your costs, or read the latest newsletter, we’re as close as your laptop, tablet or smart phone. Being easy to do business with definitely means finding ways to help you pay and manage your bill, especially in this economy. Our new automated metering system has enabled us to recently add a popular new payment option called FlexPay. This prepay plan lets you “pay as you go,” in whatever amount is convenient for you. Our new automated metering system also now allows us to give members on our traditional payment plans the ability to choose your payment due date to better coordinate with your schedule. Why do we care so much about making life easier for you? As a cooperative, we’re owned by our members and we exist solely to benefit the membership. There’s many advantages to receiving your electric service from a cooperative and we work hard to make sure you experience that difference any time — in any way — you have a need to interact with us. That’s part of the cooperative difference!
Our employees are working to earn a top “10” rating from you on member satisfaction. As a member-owned electric cooperative, it’s our goal to give you exceptional service — whether it’s keeping the power on, maintaining the right-of-way, setting up your service or any other member services you need. We want to know how we’re doing in all the ways we serve you. That’s why your input on our member satisfaction surveys is so important — it helps us continually improve to meet your expectations. A professional research firm administers our survey so that the results are accurate and fair.They call members between 5 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. , Monday through Friday. The survey lasts 10 to 15 minutes. If you get a call, please take a few minutes to rate us. It helps us deliver the best service possible!
26 MARCH 2012 Carolina Country
BlueRidge-0312.indd 26
2/9/12 2:55 PM
More News Director Proxy Committee to be appointed As part of the director election governance process, a Director Proxy Committee will be elected by the Board of Directors at their regular March board meeting. This committee will be made up of three directors and one alternate director whose terms are not expired and who are not running for re-election this year to the Board of Directors. The Proxy Committee serves multiple roles for the membership. First, the Committee will cast votes for all members designating their preferences selected on the voting proxy forms. Secondly, the Committee will serve as a proxy for any member wishing to assign his vote for director elections to the Committee. Lastly, the Committee will cast votes for members who do not make a choice on any of the voting options. The director election kits will be mailed to all members, with information about this year’s board candidates, in May. Members are no longer required to attend the annual meeting in order to vote for directors. Members now have the option to vote by mail or Internet or attend the annual meeting to cast their vote. Additionally, members who vote by mail or Internet but wish to change their vote may attend the Annual Membership Meeting to recast their vote. The names of the Director Proxy Committee will appear on the proxy forms contained in the director election kits mailed to members and on our website at BlueRidgeEMC.com.
Beware of scam artists Blue Ridge Electric wants to make its members aware of scam artists who appear to be targeting utility customers across the country.
1.
A commonly reported scenario is for a scam artist who is looking to steal credit card information to make contact posing as a utility representative and demand immediate payment by credit card to avoid disconnection of service.
2.
To help our members protect themselves from fraud, Blue Ridge Electric urges members to use extra caution if asked for personal information or access to their home. If approached or contacted by someone claiming to be a Blue Ridge Electric employee, we recommend the following safety tips:
3.
Always ask for company identification. All Blue Ridge Electric employees are issued photo identification cards and are more than willing to provide this information. Take note of the vehicle the person is driving. All Blue Ridge line technicians, staking engineers, field service technicians and other operations employees drive Blue Ridge fleet vehicles that are clearly marked with the cooperative’s logo. Cooperative contractors are issued Blue Ridge Electric identification for their vehicles as well. If you are not certain a telephone call is coming from Blue Ridge Electric, DO NOT provide any personal or banking information. Blue Ridge Electric recommends that you ask the caller to provide
4.
their employee number and contact information. Again, if you’re uncertain about the validity of the call, simply hang up and call Blue Ridge Electric at any local district office (listed on the back of this newsletter). Blue Ridge Electric employees may, on occasion, be dispatched to a member’s home for unscheduled routine maintenance. If a visitor or caller claims to be associated with Blue Ridge Electric and is unable or unwilling to provide their name and employee identification card, please call Blue Ridge Electric at any of our local district office numbers or toll free at 1-800-451-5474. You should also report it to local law enforcement authorities.
Carolina Country MARCH 2012 27
BlueRidge-0312.indd 27
2/9/12 2:55 PM
Members Only NEWS
~For Members of Blue Ridge Electric
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
New FREE benefits with your Co-op Connections Card Blue Ridge Electric is excited to inform you about the latest update to the Co-op Connections® Card program that you get FREE as a member of Blue Ridge Electric! Recently, the fee-based Cooperative Healthy Savings and Healthy Savings PLUS programs have merged into one Healthy Savings Program! All fees have been waived and the discount benefits have been enhanced. In addition to more than $950,000 already saved by Blue Ridge members on their prescription retail costs, members can now enjoy discounts on hearing, vision, dental, lab and imaging, and chiropractic services! To begin receiving these new free benefits, you will need a NEW Co-op Connections card with the participating logos on the back. Simply print out a new temporary card at www.nbdrugcard.com/touchstone and you can start taking advantage of the latest benefits immediately. This temporary card will allow you all of the same benefits that came with your old card in addition to the new health benefits. (Your old card will still work as before, just without the Healthy Savings Program benefits.) New cards along with stickers for existing card holders have been ordered and will be available in your local district office by May 2012. In the meantime, go online and print out your temporary card to start taking advantage of these new benefits offered by Blue Ridge Electric, your Touchstone Energy cooperative. We’re looking out for you!
Daily energy tips Be sure to place the faucet lever on your kitchen sink in the cold water position when using small amounts of water. Placing the lever in the hot position uses energy to heat the water even though it may never reach the faucet. Also, use a covered kettle or pan to boil water; it’s faster and uses less energy.
28 MARCH 2012 Carolina Country
BlueRidge-0312.indd 28
- Energy Savers, U.S. Department of Energy
2/13/12 9:22 AM