Tideland’s controllable expenses per account are lower than both the national and state average for electric cooperatives.

We have reduced bad debt write-offs by 83% in the past decade. We attribute that success to our member service team and programs like FlexPay as well as improved member portal options.

Thanks to wise investments in technology, we’re achieving more with fewer full-time employees. We’ve been able to do that while also experiencing significant account growth in recent years, thanks to new residential construction in Tideland territory.

To accommodate that growth, we have remarkably constructed 73 miles of new power lines since 2020. That in turn has improved our system density from 8.7 meters per mile of line to 9.2. which reduces our per meter distribution expense. Keep in mind that the average North Carolina municipal utility serves 45 meters per mile of line. Our neighboring investor-owned utilities average between 24 and 44 meters per mile of line.

We currently enjoy the incredibly good fortune of having the lowest blended interest rate on long-term debt of any electric co-op in North Carolina. In fact, we have one of the lowest among the nation’s electric co-ops (720 out of 810). While we do anticipate our blended interest-rate to increase going forward, our accounting and operations teams have done a phenomenal job coordinating the timing of capital projects and loan drawdowns.

In 2024, Tideland, through a competitive grant submission, successfully secured a $1.4 million match of federal and state funds to extend the submarine power cable at Ocracoke to address unexpected rates of erosion along Highway 12.

In the area of service reliability, Tideland is delivering more value for your energy dollars than ever before. Not only have we reduced outage frequency, we have reduced overall outage duration. For year-end 2024, we achieved 99.95% service availability. That comes as a result of wise capital investments to harden our infrastructure, smart grid deployments and increased tree trimming. And since we’re speaking about tree trimming, let’s take a look at a few things members can do to help us collectively reduce costs going forward.