Dear Members,

Ecclesiastes 3, verses 1 and 2 state, “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted.” The chapter continues noting a “time” for numerous things relating to life’s journey.

As I pen this month’s letter, my “season” at Randolph EMC is coming to an end. This will be my last AWARE column. After almost 40 years at REMC with 24 as your CEO, I will be retiring on June 28, 2024.

My, my, where has time gone over these last 40 years? It seems like only yesterday, on Oct. 1, 1984, I was pulling into the small parking lot at the old Robbins office to start my career as an apprentice lineman.

James 4:14 says, “Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.”

It has been my distinct honor to serve you over these last 40 years.

This verse refers to the mist that appears just before sunrise, but when the sun rises and the air begins to warm, the mist quickly dissipates. It’s a reminder that, in relation to eternity, life is really, really short.

It has been my distinct honor to serve you over these last 40 years. From significant weather events that caused widespread outages, to proposed government regulations that would have resulted in dramatic increases in wholesale power generation, we’ve been through a lot together.

For a portion of my career at Randolph EMC, I was tasked with performing line staking for new services and system upgrades. At times, this required me to obtain permission from the landowner to locate or relocate poles on their property.

I fondly remember when those members of the previous generation told me that before we could get to the business at hand, they needed to tell me their story of how electricity was brought to their homes and farms. With pride, they conveyed how they and their family members helped cut the trees for the power line right-of-way. The family’s mules were used to “snake” power poles into where a hole would be dug, by hand, to set the pole. How their lives changed forever when the meter was finally set! And what an honor it was to be the first to pull the string on that single light bulb in the middle of the room!

The founders of Randolph EMC and those first member/owners were from what’s been called the “greatest generation.” This generation also overcame great obstacles and challenges to change central rural North Carolina and their communities—by bringing power to homes and businesses that were left behind. We continue to build upon the foundations they laid to this day.

I want to thank the membership for your support throughout my career. I appreciate the opportunity to have met many of you in person; the friendships we developed through the years, I cherish them.

I have always looked forward to our annual meeting and consider it our “annual co-op reunion.” With REMC spread over five counties, it’s the only time of year that I get to see some of our member/owners in person.

I remember attending Randolph EMC’s annual meetings as a kid. Never in my wildest dreams did I believe that one day, I would be that old guy giving the boring annual meeting speech and holding up the bicycle drawing. (We didn’t have children’s programs back then, so we had to endure the “boring speeches.”)

Speaking of the annual meeting, Randoph EMC’s 86th Annual Meeting will be held on Friday, June 21, 2024, with the business meeting starting at 6:30 p.m. Please refer to page C of this month’s Watts Working for more details. I hope to see you all there.

It has been an honor to work directly for your Board of Directors these past 24 years. The current Directors, and those from the past, were solely focused on making the best decisions for the overall membership and operating with integrity and accountability. Many times, difficult decisions had to be made, but through countless discussions, the focus was always centered on the members. They certainly made me a much better CEO and person because of their positive influence, and I appreciate the opportunity to have worked for them.

I am so appreciative of those I was blessed to work with during my career. Those “old timers,” who came up when much of power line construction was done by hand, taught me how to do linework and the multiple aspects of an electric utility’s operations. They also instilled in me an expectation of commitment to REMC, like few other jobs have.

And for our current employee team in the trenches—serving you 365 days per year (366 this year), 24 hours a day, 7 days a week—they are second to none. No matter how hard the tasks, no matter how terrible the weather, through ice, snow, tornado or hurricane, your employee team has consistently stepped up to do whatever was required to serve the members. Their focus is to operate efficiently, restore your power as safely and quickly as possible, and provide you with exceptional service in all aspects of our operations.

I want to thank my family, both close and extended, for all their support; I am so blessed. They have been a strong and consistent source of encouragement. My wife, Regena, had to manage our home countless times while I was working on storm restoration efforts. It was especially tough for her in those early years when we lived in an older single wide mobile home with electric resistance heating, water supplied by a well, and the power out for days. She never complained. Because of the tremendous support from our team’s spouses and family members, your employee team can focus solely on serving you when you need us most. These family members certainly play an important role for your cooperative.

I also want to publicly thank and honor the Lord. Countless times, in my personal and professional career, I have been at a loss on how to handle certain challenging situations and which steps to take to work through difficult issues. Many, many times, I’ve called out and said, “Lord, this is bigger than I am and bigger than we are. I’m asking you to intervene, we need your guidance, we need your help.” I’ve surely made a lot of blunders and failed the Lord many times through the years, but I offer praise to the one true and living God. He has never failed me.

Even though my career at Randolph EMC is coming to a close, I’m excited about the new chapter unfolding. Your cooperative is blessed to have a highly experienced and strong employee and leadership team.

Dennis Mabe to serve as your next CEO

The Randolph EMC Board of Directors has selected Dennis Mabe to serve as your next CEO. Dennis graduated from N.C. State University with a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering and a master’s degree in business administration. He is also a registered Professional Engineer in North Carolina.

With an electrical engineering degree, Dennis began his career at Randolph EMC in 1993 as a meter reader, just to get his foot in the door. In his 30-year career, he has held various leadership positions such as electrical engineer, system planning engineer, manager of operations and vice president of engineering and operations. Currently, he is the chief operating officer. Dennis knows electric utility operations from the ground up and has led many of our storm and crisis restoration efforts.

I congratulate Dennis on his promotion and look forward to his leadership of our cooperative. He has a great team around him who will serve the membership well. I ask you to support Dennis and his leadership team the way you have supported me.

Randolph EMC was formed for the single purpose of serving its member/owners. I’m proud to say that 86 years later, that mission and attitude of service has not changed. When the clock strikes 5 p.m. on June 28th and your new leadership team assumes their duties, that same mission and attitude will continue; I have full confidence in that. After all, I’m a member, too, and have a stake in the future success of Randolph EMC.

I have been blessed beyond measure to have been a small part of the journey with you for these last 40 years. It has been an honor that is beyond words.

Cooperatively Yours,

Dale F. Lambert
Chief Executive Officer