Brunswick Electric’s dedication to its members is as strong today as it was when we were founded 80 years ago. Our focus to energize and serve our local communities has stayed true through decades of change to our region and our industry. As a leader in the energy industry, our shared vision is for all members to see value in their cooperative. We are dedicated to serving you, the members of BEMC, and being your trusted energy resource.

Managing our members’ needs during periods of significant growth is a unique challenge. An accurate planning and forecasting process is required; this helps to ensure we spend only the dollars necessary to extend power and maintain system reliability. Maintaining sound fiscal policies helps protect our members’ capital, and facilitates competitive rates to finance future growth in our members’ assets. The financials of your cooperative helped achieve an A+ rating with Fitch, which allowed us to take full advantage of favorable market conditions and refinance our debt at significant savings to the membership. Investments in renewable energy have helped BEMC members save money, and hedge against future price uncertainty in costs from fossil fuel based generation sources. And as always, BEMC’s superior safety record keeps our insurance rates among the lowest in the industry.

Last year, Hurricane Florence caused an unprecedented amount of damage and expense, and we were able to mitigate those costs as much as possible to make repairs to our system. We streamlined the process of documenting and reporting the hurricane damage to FEMA, and as a result, we were able to leverage that government funding to make repairs to our distribution system, avoiding the expense of taking out a loan to cover the costs.

When you flip the switch at home, plug in a device, or call in for services from BEMC, I sincerely hope you are seeing value from your cooperative membership. We think about our members and the trust you put in us, as we work to design the right programs, rates, tools, and resources to help you manage your usage, and save money.