October is National Co-op Month and South River EMC is joining cooperatives across the U.S. to celebrate. Cooperatives come in all shapes and sizes, but they each have a common goal: to provide goods or services for the members of the co-op.

Electric co-ops, including South River EMC, exist to serve their members. It is our goal to provide safe, affordable, reliable and sustainable energy to our local communities. Because we are led by you, the members-owners that we serve, we continue to evolve to exceed your needs and expectations. Each year, you have an opportunity to vote for the members who will represent your interests on the cooperative board of directors. Your local electric cooperative also returns excess margins to you each year. In 2023 a total of $4.24 million was returned to our membership in the form of Capital Credit retirements.

This October, as we celebrate Co-op Month, we’re focusing on the ways “Co-ops Grow” for their members.

1Co-ops Grow Communities: Co-ops help communities grow by promoting economic empowerment, fostering community engagement and supporting the unique needs of co-op members. “Concern for Community” is one of our core principles––and being community-focused is essential to everything we do. How is South River EMC growing our community? Through your participation in the Operation Round Up program since 2007, we have funded over $3.1 million in community grants to local emergency services, non-profit organizations and schools. Additionally, we have provided over $1.4 million in educator grants through the Bright Ideas Grant program to provide enhanced classroom experiences. Not only are we strengthening our community, we are also working closely with local economic development professionals to entice new businesses to locate in our area to bring better job opportunities.

2Co-ops Grow Together: Co-ops are all about cooperation, not competition. That’s why electric co-ops work together to share lessons learned, successful strategies and better ways to serve our members more efficiently. We’re better when we grow together! A great example of this is that several cooperatives across the state, in partnership with our power supplier, North Carolina Electric Membership Corporation (NCEMC), are hosting micro grid and pilot programs and substation battery programs. In addition to improving upon reliability, the lessons learned through these projects will benefit cooperative members statewide. South River EMC along with NCEMC are fortunate to have partnered with Butler Farms in Lillington on a microgrid project. Furthermore, a 2.5-megawatt (mw) battery at our Collier Substation has been installed and a 10 mw battery is being installed at our Butler Substation.

3Co-ops Grow Tomorrow’s Leaders: Electric co-ops serve as fertile ground for growing tomorrow’s leaders through a variety of youth-engagement programs. Whether through school demonstrations, community events or the Electric Cooperative Youth Tour program, we’re committed to providing opportunities for local youth to learn and thrive in our community and beyond. South River EMC sponsors three local students to attend the weeklong Youth Tour annually and offers a $1,000 scholarship to each of these ambassadors. Additionally, we offer scholarships to students headed to universities, community colleges and the line worker academy.

4Co-ops Grow for You: Your satisfaction is why we were formed many years ago in order to fulfill a uniquely local purpose. Consequently, we prioritize your satisfaction above all else, as highlighted in our Mission Statement. South River EMC uses the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) to gauge member satisfaction. I’m pleased to report that in Q2 of 2024, we achieved an ACSI score of 89, which far exceeds the top-rated investor-owned utility (IOU) along with municipal and cooperative utility national averages. I commend our exceptional team of employees for providing excellent service to you. Strong member satisfaction performance is a result of our efforts to grow and evolve for you, our member-owner.

We’ve come a long way since we were formed in 1940 but our commitment to you is as strong as ever.