Tideland did not have to activate its emergency response plan until August 30, when the remnants of Hurricane Idalia entered our territory impacting fewer than 400 members.

Minor scrapes with Idalia and Ophelia

Less than a month later, Tropical Storm Ophelia made landfall at Emerald Isle with outages impacting 8,228 members. Tree removal was our greatest challenge during that event. Unexpected storm surge left Washington at 3 feet above flood stage. and several subdivisions saw padmount transformers underwater. Fortunately, Tideland crews were able to provide same day restoration to all residential members.

WPCA charge implemented

Tideland has not implemented a base rate increase since March 2020 and we do not anticipate another increase before March 2025. However, in response to widespread severe weather events in early 2023 that disrupted power markets along with updated wholesale power contracts, we implemented a wholesale power cost adjustment (WPCA) charge for 10 of the 12 billing months in 2023. From March 2020 through January 2023, the WPCA had been a monthly credit per kilowatt hour.

Rose Acre microgrid fully operational

Tideland now hosts two microgrids owned by North Carolina Electric Membership Corporation. The first was sited at Ocracoke in 2017. The second project at Rose Acre Farms in Ponzer became fully operational in March of 2023. Tideland routinely welcomes guests from across the state interested in the cutting edge energy solutions we are facilitating for our membership.