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ConnectJanuary 2025
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Connect January‘25
In this issue:
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year! I hope you had a joyous holiday season and are feeling hopeful about the year ahead. January offers a chance to reflect on the past 12 months and strive to make the next 12 even better.
One of the highlights of the past year was the success of our Bright Ideas program, which supports local educators with funding for innovative classroom projects. We are incredibly proud of the winners selected for 2024 and extend our congratulations to them for their inspiring ideas and dedication to enriching the educational experience for our students. Through initiatives like Bright Ideas, EnergyUnited is helping foster a brighter future for the communities we serve. We are proud to be part of that journey.
In keeping with our commitment to enhancing the member experience, we are excited to announce the launch of our redesigned website. This new site was built with you in mind, aiming to streamline the way you interact with EnergyUnited. Whether it’s paying your bill, reporting an outage or learning more about our programs and services, the new website is designed to be a one-stop resource. Our goal is to make your experience as easy, convenient and empowered as possible. We encourage you to explore the site and take full advantage of the tools available to you, all with the goal of better serving your needs.
As we look to the future, I want to address the rate adjustment that takes effect on January 1. There will be a $2 increase in the average residential electric bill. We understand that any increase can raise concerns, and I want to assure you that this adjustment is an essential step in maintaining the long-term sustainability of the cooperative. We know that many are feeling financial pressures, and our priority remains balancing the cost of power to our members while addressing rising expenses for the critical materials that keep our service dependable.
We remain committed to providing safe, affordable and reliable electricity, and this rate adjustment will help us continue to make necessary investments in infrastructure, technology and the maintenance of our electric grid. Thank you for your understanding and support as we take these necessary steps to position EnergyUnited for long-term success.
2025 holds many opportunities for growth and innovation, and we are excited to continue working to improve the well-being of our communities. Your involvement in our cooperative is what makes EnergyUnited special, and we are grateful to have you as a member. Thank you again for your trust in us.
I look forward to another year of serving you and our shared community. Wishing you all the best for a happy, healthy and prosperous new year!
Sincerely,
Thomas Golden, CEO
One key part of the EnergyUnited website redesign was ensuring members had easy access to resources to help them stay safe, prepared and informed. Meet EU4U. This page is your one-stop shop for relevant information, tips and community programs.
This month you will find some tips on how you can prepare and how EnergyUnited stays ready for storms.
Take a look:
Have you made a resolution to be more energy conscious in the new year? We can help. My EnergyHub gives up-to-date insights on your energy usage and peak times. Understanding your habits and power trends can help you shift behaviors to save more energy and be more cost-efficient. Now that’s powerful!
the upgrades that keep our grid running at 99.9% reliability
At EnergyUnited, our members’ needs come first. That’s why we’re proud to invest in projects that ensure your energy is safe, reliable, affordable and sustainable. Our 2025-2028 Construction Work Plan is designed to make strategic enhancements to the grid while meeting the growing energy demands of our communities.
Over the next four years, we’re investing more than $216 million in several projects that will help us deliver reliable power to our members. This includes a nearly $30 million investment to build six new substations and upgrade eight others. These projects will address the rapid growth in energy demand across our entire service territory. We’re also adding approximately 14 miles of new transmission lines and upgrading 37 miles of existing lines to improve resiliency and reduce outages.
We’re committed to staying ahead of demand, with plans to add more than 200 miles of underground lines and 60 miles of overhead lines to serve new members. These updates help prepare for the future while maintaining the affordability of your service.
…we’re ensuring the grid is ready to handle severe weather and other challenges.
Grid reliability is also a key focus in our plan. By replacing aging poles and copper lines, installing modern equipment and upgrading transformers, we’re ensuring the grid is ready to handle severe weather and other challenges.
We are also investing in advanced grid technologies like SCADA systems and data analytics to reinforce our commitment to reliability, while supporting the continued growth of solar energy throughout our service area.
EnergyUnited is proud to be your trusted energy provider, and we’re excited about the improvements coming your way. We’re building a stronger, more sustainable future for our members and communities.
Three times a year EnergyUnited hosts Member Advisory Committee (MAC) meetings. Members of our MAC meet to share feedback and hear about changes and investments firsthand.
We are proud to award nearly $48,000 in Bright Ideas education grants to 44 teachers. These engaging classroom projects will benefit 15,000 students across our service area.
The winning projects leverage creative problem-solving at its finest; from examining local agriculture to building a solar car, these grants truly afford students a way to apply classroom knowledge to more real-life settings. Since the Bright Ideas grant program began in 1994, EnergyUnited has contributed over $1 million to local teachers. Now, in its 30th year, we’re excited to be able to offer this opportunity once more.
The application process will reopen for interested teachers in April 2025.
For more information:
At EnergyUnited, we deeply care about our members and are committed to keeping you informed. As communicated in December, there will be a $2 increase in our Basic Facilities Charge, beginning January 1, 2025. The increase is due to the rising costs of equipment and materials needed to deliver reliable electric service. This adjustment affects residential, commercial and industrial members proportionally.
As your not-for-profit cooperative, we are focused on balancing the cost of power while keeping energy safe, reliable and affordable. Any funds that exceed our operating costs are returned to you, our members, through capital credits. Thank you for being a valued EnergyUnited member.
2024 Winners Emma Regan (left) & Jacob Eroh (right)
EnergyUnited is offering two $5,000 scholarships to qualified students who are currently enrolled in their senior year of high school and who plan to attend a college, university or technical school. The scholarship is designed to recognize students who have exemplified academic success and demonstrated a commitment to bettering their community.
Applications will be accepted from January 1, 2025, through March 31, 2025.
We look forward to hearing your responses!
For more information on eligibility or to apply:
2024 Winners Jackson Ward (left) & Ella Taylor (right)
EnergyUnited is proud to sponsor two students to participate in our Touchstone Energy Sports Camp Scholarship program. Each year, one girl and one boy are selected to attend basketball camp at two prestigious North Carolina college campuses.
Students must be enrolled in fifth through seventh grade at a qualifying school within EnergyUnited’s service area.
To learn more and apply:
The election is now over, and many changes are underway in Washington and Raleigh. We’re ready for these changes. Our team is already engaged and working to ensure that our issues and policies are well understood by incoming and returning legislators who shape decisions that impact our members.
As a not-for-profit and member-owned electric cooperative, EnergyUnited is focused on advocating for policies that support the people at the end of our lines, our members. Legislators know that when we speak, we speak on behalf of our members, who are also their constituents. As an electric cooperative, we are owned by the communities we serve, which affords EnergyUnited a trusted reputation among lawmakers and has allowed us to effectively advocate for our members’ needs, from fair energy policies to reliable infrastructure investments.
Voices for Cooperative Power is a grassroots network that gives members the opportunity to advocate for policies that matter most to our communities. Together, we can ensure the cooperative model is elevated in Raleigh and Washington to support effective, member-focused policies.
Cyber threats like phishing and malware are ever present, but simple precautions can reduce your risk. Here are key tips to help protect your personal information in 2025:
- Avoid Suspicious Links: Be cautious with links in emails, texts or social media messages, especially from unknown sources. When in doubt, don’t click.
- Keep Software Updated: Regular updates ensure your devices have the latest security patches to protect against vulnerabilities.
- Stay Alert to Scams: If an offer seems too good to be true, it probably is. Don’t share sensitive information through unsecured channels.
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