2012-04-MM

APRIL 2012

More director voting options, changes to annual meeting Last year’s positive member response to a new convenient “vote by mail” option for director elections has led Blue Ridge Electric to announce an additional voting choice as well as providing an opportunity for cost savings in conducting the annual meeting.

Historically, the primary reason for the annual meeting was to give members the opportunity to elect their board of directors and learn about important cooperative matters. Last year, to encourage more member participation in director elections, the cooperative added an option to vote by mail, which resulted in an overwhelming response by 9,000 members! Typically only about 1,000 members attend the annual meeting and vote for directors.

This year, members will have a choice of voting by the new option of Internet, by mail or during the annual meeting.

The success of offering more convenient, modern ways for members to participate in their cooperative also led Blue Ridge Electric staff to realize an opportunity to meet another very important goal: saving members money with a new annual meeting format.

This year’s annual meeting will take on a strictly business meeting format and will be held Thursday, June 14, beginning at 7 p.m., at the J.E. Broyhill Civic Center in Caldwell County. Key board and staff members will deliver business reports and results from the director elections will be announced. Cost savings will be realized by eliminating costs associated with past annual meeting formats for: food, facility rentals including chairs, tables, sound, and other items, registration prizes, entertainment; and employee labor.

Be on the lookout for your director election kit being mailed in mid-May.

Not all prizes will be eliminated as part of this change, however. Since voting by mail or Internet helps hold down costs even further, members who vote by either of these methods will be eligible to win one of four HDTVs being awarded per district.

Members are encouraged to look for their director election kit being mailed in May. Carolina Country APRIL 2012 29

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Your most important cooperative benefit

One of the most important benefits you have as a cooperative member is your right to vote for and elect other members to represent you — and all our members’ best interests — on Blue Ridge Electric’s Board of Directors.

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Members sent a clear signal last year when more than 9,000 of you voted for your directors by mail: you want to take part in this important responsibility if given easier ways to vote!

By adding yet another convenient option this year with the ability to cast your vote by Internet, members will have the easiest access ever to participate in director elections.

Giving members the opportunity to vote in director elections and providing updates were the primary reason for an annual meeting in the past. Time, distance and cost of driving across our 7-county service area has deterred most members from attending the annual meeting in past years. A small segment of members regularly attended and enjoyed the annual meeting, but the country fair style of past annual meetings came with a cost.

Funds needed to conduct large annual meetings were worth the investment when there weren’t as many ways to communicate or attract enough voting members to officially put directors in office, as required by our Bylaws.

But as times have changed and technology has evolved, there are now more ways to keep members informed — and easier ways for members to participate in director elections other than attending an annual meeting. While we’re committed to keeping a personal touch with our members through avenues such as community involvement, Member Advisory Committees and local offices, we have also been using technology to communicate with members — and we’re modernizing our voting system as well.

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Cooperative Principle #2:

Democratic Member Control Members have an active role in setting policies and making decisions because in a cooperative, the members elect a board of directors who live in the cooperative’s service area and who answer directly to the membership. Each member has equal voting rights - every member gets one vote.

Membership matters.

While you can still attend and vote during the annual meeting, the event itself will be strictly a business meeting, including reports on financials and announcement of director elections.

This information will also be available to members in other ways, including our website, newsletter, and annual report.

As we work to find every possible way to hold down costs for members, we hope you understand our efforts to reduce costs without sacrificing service, reliability or our involvement in local communities. Most of all, we hope you take time to vote for your directors as you exercise a key member benefit and participate in the most important business of your cooperative!

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More News N.C. ENERGY STAR Appliance Rebate Program reopens Consumers have another chance to save on the purchase of energy efficient major home appliances with the reopening of the N.C. ENERGY STAR® Appliance Replacement and Rebate Program. The program aims to reduce consumer’s long-term energy usage and costs by giving a rebate when they replace older appliances with new, more energy efficient models that are ENERGY STAR qualified.

Appliances must be purchased January 1, 2012, or after to qualify for rebates, which will be based on funding to become available through the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Consumers may go online or call 1-855-2086242 to start the application process to receive their rebate. The link to the N.C. ENERGY STAR Appliance Replacement and Rebate Program can be found at www.energync.net.

Rebates will be available on a first-come, firstserve basis and issued as funds become available. To be eligible for the rebate, consumers must be replacing older appliances with a new ENERGY STAR appliance and must provide information required by the U.S. Department of Energy. That information

will include name, address, telephone number and electricity provider. In addition, people seeking rebates will need to provide the date the appliance was purchased, product price, name and location of the retailer, the type of product, the manufacturer and the model number.

Those applying online will receive a confirmation page, which should be printed out, signed and mailed to the listed address, along with a copy of the sales receipt. That information must be sent within 15 days of applying for the rebate.

Consumers applying for rebates by telephone will be mailed the confirmation sheet and must return it by the listed date. Rebates will be sent in the form of a prepaid debit card that can be used toward purchases at stores that accept debit cards.

North Carolina’s appliance replacement and rebate program has been one of the nation’s most effective – distributing more than $10 million in rebates on the purchase of over 75,000 energy efficient appliances.

Source: the NC Energy Office

Too good to be true?

Consumers should be cautious when it comes to energy-saving devices claiming to dramatically slash electric bills.

“When it comes to saving energy, there are no magic solutions,” says Brian Sloboda, senior program manager for energy efficiency at the Cooperative Research Network, the research arm of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA). “Buying ENERGY STAR-rated appliances, unplugging battery chargers and other ‘vampire’ electronics, and sealing air leaks around windows and doors are some of the best ways to save money and energy.”

And before making a significant investment in an energy saving device, do some “homework” and read the fine print. Check to see if a reputable third party (that doesn’t stand to gain anything by the sale) has verified the savings claim.

Members wanting to learn more about how to save through energy efficiency measures should visit BlueRidgeEMC.com to take a personalized online home energy assesment and check out the cooperative’s videos, tips and other resources.

The following websites are also reliable sources for information: Energysavers.gov, Energystar.gov, and Aceee.org.

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Members Only NEWS

~For Members of Blue Ridge Electric

Self-help telephone service is growing!

CORPORATE OFFICE PO Box 112 • Lenoir, NC 28645

Our member “self-help” telephone services are so friendly, fast and easy to use, members are choosing this option at record high levels!

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Doug Johnson

While Blue Ridge Electric is committed to always having a person available to serve you when you call if you prefer, we also work to make your life easier by offering fast, efficient automated telephone service options. Approximately 30 percent of members are taking advantage of telephone self-help options each month.

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

What are your self-help options? At any hour of the day or night, every day of the year, you can do the following by telephone: • Pay your bill by check, debit or credit card (Press 7). Even FlexPay members can pay on their account with this option! Just have your account or phone number handy.

• Extend your payment due date (Press 8) • Account Information (Press 8) • General Blue Ridge Electric information such as office locations and website address (Press 9) • Report an outage (Press 6) And never fear! If needed, you can always reach a member service representative if you prefer by staying on the line! Finally, to ensure you receive the best member service by phone, please let us know if your telephone number or address changes so that our automated system can identify and assist you quickly.

Save big with your Co-op Connections Card Interested in saving 10 to 85 percent on most of your prescriptions? We thought so!

Present your Co-op Connections® Card at over 60,000 participating pharmacies including CVS, Walgreens, Walmart, and thousands of independent pharmacies.

There’s even a mail order option!

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