Here’s something I think about every time I open my own electric bill: Four County isn’t just the company that keeps my porch light on. It’s mine. It’s yours. We’re not customers here, we’re members, and owners, of the cooperative that serves us.

That’s not a slogan. It’s the whole reason Four County exists.

We’re a not-for-profit cooperative, which means we’re not in the business of generating returns for outside investors. We exist for one reason: to get you safe, reliable, affordable power. Every decision we make gets measured against that, not against a quarterly earnings report.

You Actually Have a Say

Here’s the part I love most about this job: our members elect the board. That’s not a technicality, it means the people making decisions about your cooperative live down the road from you. We shop at the same grocery stores, sit in the same church pews, send our kids to the same schools. When I vote on something at a board meeting, I’m voting as your neighbor, not as some distant executive.
We’re not serving this community from the outside looking in. We’re part of it.

Your Money Doesn’t Just Disappear

Let’s talk about what happens to the money left over after Four County pays its bills. We call it margin, and because we’re not-for-profit, that margin doesn’t go to shareholders, it comes back to you, through what we call Capital Credits. How much you get back depends on how much power you used during that period.

Before it comes back to you, that money does some work first, helping us upgrade the system, pay down debt, and keep the cooperative financially healthy. But when the numbers allow it, we return it.

In 2025, we retired the full amount of 2003 Capital Credits and 10 percent of 2009 Capital Credits, returning a total of $1,365,343 to the members who earned them.

Think about that: some of that money reflects electricity used more than two decades ago. I don’t know of another utility that does business that way.

We Show Up for More Than the Power Lines

Being a cooperative means our job doesn’t stop at the meter. We put real money back into the communities we serve, Operation Round Up, Bright Ideas grants, scholarships, economic development. Last year alone, our members’ spare change through Operation Round Up added up to more than $85,000 for local nonprofits, and we handed out more than $40,000 to teachers through Bright Ideas grants. Since 1994, Four County has donated more than $4 million cumulatively to our communities through Operation Round Up.

That’s the cooperative model at work: we do more together than any of us could do alone. And it doesn’t stop at our fence line, cooperatives across North Carolina and the country lean on each other, sharing ideas and resources to solve problems none of us could tackle solo.

We’re Playing the Long Game

Keeping your lights on today is only half the job. We also have to think about what you’ll need ten, twenty years from now. That means investing in the grid, chasing new technology, planning for growth, all without losing sight of what it costs you.

In 2025, we upgraded transmission and distribution lines, walked hundreds of miles of line on foot to inspect them, and kept investing in the kind of reliability work that doesn’t make headlines but keeps your power on during a storm. We’re not chasing next quarter’s numbers. We’re building something that should still be working well for your kids and grandkids.

Bottom Line: You Belong Here

If there’s one thing I want you to take from this, it’s that you’re not just paying a bill, you own a piece of this cooperative. You have a voice. Your participation matters. And when Four County does well, that value flows back to you and the community we all share.

So thank you, genuinely, for letting us serve you. You’re not just on our customer list. You’re family.