Dear Members,

In early August, Tropical Storm Debby gained strength in the Gulf of Mexico. By the time the storm system hit the coast of Florida, Debby was a Category 1 hurricane. Downgraded back to a tropical storm, Debby crossed over to the Atlantic and posed a threat to the East Coast.

While the storm system was not a hurricane when it arrived in North Carolina, Debby brought torrential rains, flooding and even tornadoes to our service area. What could have easily been a multi-day event for our members turned into a testament to our team’s resilience, dedication, and unwavering commitment to service.

We had been monitoring weather reports closely, preparing for the worst while hoping for the best. On Tuesday, Aug. 6, Randolph Electric implemented our major storm plan. In the dark and extreme weather conditions, your REMC crews responded to restore power to members. High winds and heavy rain impeded their progress. New trees fell on previously repaired lines throughout their restoration efforts. Lineworkers encountered broken poles and spans of downed lines.

Meanwhile, our office staff and dispatchers were equally committed. They worked tirelessly to communicate with members, offering updates, managing expectations and coordinating the logistics necessary to keep the restoration efforts running smoothly. Every member of the team, from those in the field to those behind the scenes, played a critical role in overcoming the challenges Debby had created for us.

Over the course of slightly more than a 24-hour period, REMC restored power to more than 5,258 members-owners. The peak number of members out of power occurred just before 6 a.m. Thursday morning. By the early morning hours of Friday, Aug. 9, REMC restored power to our last remaining member/owner affected by the storm. The graph shows the impact of the storm on our system and our employees’ outstanding response to the restoration of service.

Over the past year, we’ve undergone many transitions, and employees have stepped into different roles, which naturally brings concerns about maintaining smooth operations. Yet, this early storm has clearly demonstrated the outstanding dedication and capability of our employees.

I am proud of how well our employees and contractors performed. They maintained a high level of efficiency through some some challenging conditions and quickly restored service. We faced several scattered outages across our system, but our team remained committed and worked diligently until power was restored for every member-owner. Our team exemplified what REMC is all about: dedicated service to our member-owners.

I want to take a moment to sincerely thank all our members for your patience and understanding during the challenges of Tropical Storm Debby. We know how difficult it can be to be without power, and your support has been invaluable as our crews worked tirelessly to restore service across our communities. Your cooperation and trust allowed us to focus on the task at hand, and we’re incredibly grateful to serve such a resilient group of members.

Come Visit Us During Member Appreciation Month

I want to remind you that October is Member Appreciation Month. It’s our opportunity to celebrate you—our member/owners. Throughout the month, we will provide snacks and prizes in our Asheboro and Robbins lobbies to show our gratitude for your participation in the life of your co-op. We look forward to celebrating together and showing our appreciation. Thank you again for your patience as we responded to the storm, and we are excited to honor you this October.

Cooperatively yours,
Dennis Mabe, Chief Executive Officer