CRSR
Cooperative Responsibility & Sustainability Report
As a member-focused cooperative, we’re always looking for ways to improve the communities we serve. Read on to learn about our cooperative & sustainability efforts of 2023.
Environment
Community
Governance
Environment
EnergyUnited at a glance
Spanning 19 counties, 140,000 member connections and 260 employees, EnergyUnited is proud to be North Carolina’s largest electric cooperative. With roots reaching back over 80 years, EnergyUnited has become a community pillar to support its members and a 99.9% reliable energy utility to help keep Every Day Empowered. The cooperative is headquartered in Statesville, NC but has employees working across the communities it serves. In 2023, EnergyUnited was named a Top Workplace by the Charlotte Observer.
19Counties
140,160Member Connections
260Employees
99.9%Reliability Rating
Investing in
a Sustainable Future
High Performance Vehicles
EnergyUnited maintains a fleet of 236 vehicles, including four electric vehicles, to deliver safe, affordable, reliable and sustainable power to cooperative members. The cooperative leverages all available assets in its fleet to achieve this goal and notably invests in cost-effective repairs to restore vehicles.
Electric Vehicles and Charging Stations
As a not-for-profit electric cooperative, EnergyUnited is committed to educating and serving members as interest in EVs continues to grow. EnergyUnited has added four electric vehicles to its fleet as of April 1, 2024, including three Teslas and one Ford Lightning.
The cooperative maintains publicly accessible Level 2 charging stations to support these EVs at its operations centers in Statesville, Cornelius, Lexington and Madison.
Plus, EnergyUnited also has two fast charging stations available in Mocksville and Statesville.
Protecting the Environment
& Your Electricity
Our vegetation management team works hard to ensure that cooperative members can enjoy scenic horizons without worrying about their service reliability.
Tree Removal Program
In 2023 EnergyUnited removed 3,329 "trouble" trees near the cooperative's primary overhead lines. The goal of our tree removal program is to identify and remove trees that cause repetitive maintenance issues due to their growth rate and size at maturity. This program has helped the cooperative manage right-of-way maintenance costs by avoiding multiple trips to the same location, while also mitigating the risk of future power outages.
Enhanced Reliability
Thanks to the cooperative's strategic investments in vegetation management and high-impact electricity delivery system upgrades, EnergyUnited achieved a reliability rating of 99.9% in 2023. Additionally, the cooperative's CAIDI score (Customer Average Interruption Duration Index) improved to 1.58 in 2023. CAIDI measures the average duration (hours) of any given outage during a 12-month period.
Solar Power Increases
at EnergyUnited
In 2023, EnergyUnited took several steps to support the increased adoption of locally produced solar energy on its system for members.
New Solar Farm
In April 2023, EnergyUnited held a groundbreaking ceremony to mark the beginning of construction of the Perendale Solar Farm located in Davie County. The 8.7 MW facility is expected to be in operation later this year and will provide enough clean energy to power 1,400 homes annually.
The Perendale Solar Farm is being developed in partnership with hep solar, a global leader in developing solar energy systems. Since 2008, hep solar has been developing, building, operating and financing solar projects with responsibility and sustainability as the foundation.
More Solar Projects Ahead
As EnergyUnited continues to explore opportunities to develop more locally produced solar energy with solar developers, the cooperative uses its Solar Work Plan to assess the best locations where multiple 5-10 MW projects could be added.
The decision to move forward with any specific project is based on many different factors, including costs and reliability standards. By locating these projects near existing EnergyUnited substations where generating capacity can be optimized, the cooperative is effectively managing costs while ensuring reliability is not jeopardized.
Interested in Solar Panels?
In July 2023, EnergyUnited launched a new digital interconnection application to support members who are working with local installers to connect solar panels to their homes. This new application process has empowered members and local installers with an easy-to-use tool that speeds up the interconnection process supporting increased solar energy on EnergyUnited's distribution system.
Cooperative Responsibility & Sustainability Commitment
Moving forward, our cooperative will continue to navigate the changing energy landscape and dispatch new solar projects The EnergyUnited Way, all the while with a laser sharp member focus.
Energy Supply and Demand
Energy Supply Mix
59.8%Natural Gas
29.7%Nuclear
8%Coal
2.5%Renewables
*Does not include off-system sales
Natural Gas
59.8%
Natural gas is an economical generation resource that emits less carbon dioxide in comparison to coal. Additionally, natural gas is available on demand, 24/7, making it a reliable energy source for members.
Nuclear
29.7%
Nuclear power reactors do not produce any carbon emissions, which offers a huge advantage over more traditional energy sources. Plus, nuclear energy is incredibly reliable and has the ability to produce energy nonstop.
Coal
8%
Coal is a highly abundant and affordable energy resource but also carries a greater environmental impact. Coal accounts for roughly a quarter of all energy-related carbon-emissions which is why we plan to phase out our use of coal within the next few years.
Renewables
2.5%
There are many environmental and economic benefits of using renewable energy. Like generating energy that produces no greenhouse gas emissions, reduces air pollution, diversifies energy supply and minimizes dependence on imported fuels.
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Community
Celebrating a year of giving back
The EnergyUnited Foundation celebrated a record year of giving in 2023 with more than $900,000 in grants to individuals, families and nonprofit organizations.
$900,000 + EnergyUnited Foundation Donations
As a cooperative, community-focused organization of “Neighbors Helping Neighbors,” the EnergyUnited Foundation understands the meaningful impact of every dollar awarded for individuals, families and nonprofit organizations. The Foundation was established more than two decades ago to serve as a critical resource for its members. Cooperative employees live and work in the same communities that receive assistance from the EnergyUnited Foundation. This past year, the EnergyUnited Foundation was proud to assist 30 nonprofits, awarding over $300,000 to nonprofits in 2023. The Foundation also awarded $100,000 to Habitat for Humanity.
Learn More
Community Impact
In 2023 EnergyUnited continued to support the community with several programs. The Bright Ideas grant program offered funding to more than 30 educators across our service area to support innovative, classroom-based projects. We were proud to grant nearly $50,000 to local K-12 teachers.
The cooperative was also honored to support Elleigh Williams and Yajat Govardhan as Empowering the Future scholarship recipients. Each received $5,000 toward their education at NC State and the University of Detroit Mercy, respectively.
In addition to our Bright Ideas and Empowering the Future programs, we also selected two students to send to Washington, DC as part of the Electric Cooperative Youth Tour. Additionally, the cooperative was thrilled to send two middle school students to Sports Camp at Wolfpack Women’s Basketball Camp at NC State and Carolina Basketball Camp at UNC-Chapel Hill.
Driving Change
EnergyUnited hosted its second annual ride-and-drive electric vehicle (EV) event, Driving Change, on Saturday, September 23, 2023 at the Career Academy and Technical School in Troutman, NC. Driving Change was organized in conjunction with National Drive Electric Week to share educational resources for prospective EV owners and to increase awareness of the unique experiences associated with EV ownership. EV owners registered for the event and were on-site to share their thoughts and experiences. In addition to these EV owners, many industry stakeholders and vendors also attended the event.
Centralina Clean Fuels
Coalition Partner Feature
The Centralina Clean Fuels Coalition (CCFC) works with vehicle fleets, fuel providers, community leaders, and other stakeholders to identify community-driven choices that save energy and promote the use of alternative fuels and advanced vehicle technologies in transportation. In EnergyUnited’s partnership with the CCFC, the cooperative has been able to expand education and outreach opportunities within the 19-county service area and tap into a larger network of people interested in making the switch to electric vehicles (EVs). Over the past year, CCFC has seen larger adoption of EVs within rural areas – not just with automobiles but also with agricultural equipment. Together, EnergyUnited and the Centralina Clean Fuels Coalition have helped connect key players within North Carolina to broaden infrastructure, encourage funding, and educate members on all aspects of electric vehicles. We are proud to partner with the coalition and look forward to our continued collaboration.
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Governance
2023 District Map
EnergyUnited is a member-owned and democratically governed cooperative that is directed by a nine-member Board of Directors. These board members are elected by you, our members, and oversee the management of the cooperative. Get to know the board below.
DistrictOne
Jerry
Anderson
Ann
Eller
Edgar
Cartner
DistrictTwo
Zolee
Riggs
Dr. Max
WalserPresident
Ronnie
HarrisonTreasurer
DistrictThree
Craig
Black
Cheryl
WrightSecretary
Brian
SissonVice President
The EnergyUnited way
Our core mission and values help guide us in all that we do and are at the foundation of what we call “The EnergyUnited Way.”
They are:
Be Safe
Be Secure
Be Present
Be Member Focused
Safety First
Safety is at the heart of EnergyUnited and stands as the number one item on the list for both the Cooperative Core Values as well as The EnergyUnited Way. In 2023, the EnergyUnited line crew drove 1,768,649 miles, worked 476,598 hours and boasted a 97% completion rate for over 40 safety training topics! The EnergyUnited team also implemented a convenient and user-friendly platform to make safety training a one-stop shop for all employees.
These trainings pay off in real time for employees and members alike. The “Good Catch Program” is an internal initiative that encourages the EnergyUnited team to watch for potentially hazardous situations in the communities we serve. Last year, we reported 160 “good catches” within our service areas that could have otherwise resulted in an injury, equipment damage, or a vehicle event. These shared learnings help spread awareness of potential dangers that exist along with the methods to avoid them.
Data Center Optimization
& Energy Efficiency
In 2023, the cooperative upgraded its data centers with newer, more power-efficient hardware to reduce power consumption by improving and monitoring notifications of temperature-sensing hardware.
EnergyUnited also consolidated and optimized data center infrastructure to minimize space, power, and cooling requirements. Virtual servers helped decrease the strain on physical servers, while also reducing our power consumption and carbon emissions.
The past year also offered an opportunity to follow the CIS Top 18: which is a prioritized set of best security practices created to stop the most pervasive and dangerous cybersecurity threats. Last year, the cooperative focused on Inventory and Control of Enterprise assets and will continue with the more advanced phases in 2024. Additionally, EnergyUnited matured its Cybersecurity Board Report while educating and improving incidents, risk, and cybersecurity training and phishing simulation scores.
