ASHEBORO — The emphasis for Randolph Electric Membership Corporation is “Focus Forward.”
That was theme for this month’s 87th annual meeting, which included nearly 800 attendees either in-person at Southwestern Randolph High School or registered online.
“This year’s theme, “Focus Forward,” reflects both our commitment to innovation and our responsibility to the communities we serve,” CEO Dennis Mabe said.
It was Mabe’s 32nd annual meeting, but his first as CEO.
He explained the $2.50 increase for Residential Grid Access that began with May billing cycle. With other factors involved, he said that marked a 2.43% increase from the April bills.
On what was described as a positive note, REMC was awarded two grants.
One of those came by receiving one of 49 grants awarded out of 1,398 applications. This comes from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations. That will lead to rebuilding a transmission line in the Dover, Ether, Snow Camp and Staley areas during a four-year period. That will include replacing 177 wooden transmission poles with galvanized steel poles covering 21 miles.
“As you can imagine, the purpose of this pole upgrade is to improve our infrastructure’s durability, longevity and performance,” Mabe said. “These upgrades will also provide increased energy resilience to combat power outages and damage from extreme weather events.
The other grant approved comes from the Grid Resilience Infrastructure Program. The project will include nearly a $5 million investment from REMC.
The timeline for these projects is unknown, Mabe said, because of the Trump administration’s pause on pending federal funding.
“We understand the need for the new administration’s review and look forward to the start of these projects,” Mabe said.
Secretary-treasurer Lee Isley’s report showed more than $80 million in revenue and approximately $75 million in expenses.
Members elected three directors: Isley to represent District 1, Larry Routh in District 3, and Jeff Sugg in District 6.
“When we survey our members, we consistently find that reliability is your top priority for the cooperative,” board president Tammie Phillips said. “We understand that you expect the lights to stay on, and if the power goes out, you want it restored quickly.”
The report from Phillips indicated that two energy advisors on staff were instrumental in helping 91 members save more than $28,000.
Peak energy demand for the cooperative came in January.
