NC Co-ops Were Center Stage at the National Annual Meeting

Curtis Wynn addressed the crowd after being named NRECA board president. Photo by NRECA.

Leaders from North Carolina’s electric cooperatives joined thousands of peers from around the country in March for the annual meeting of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA). At this year’s meeting in Orlando, sessions focused on how electric co-ops can better serve their communities, leveraging new technology and finding new ways to connect with members.

Co-op leadership

Curtis Wynn, president and CEO of Roanoke Electric Cooperative in Aulander, was elected 39th president of the NRECA Board of Directors during the meeting. This is the first time in the organization’s 77-year history that an African American has been elected to serve in this top leadership post.

“Strong leadership is essential to helping NRECA and the entire cooperative family navigate the many opportunities and challenges facing our industry,” said NRECA CEO Jim Matheson. “Curtis is an extremely thoughtful and capable leader, and I’m looking forward to his continued leadership as president.”

During his first address as board president, Wynn discussed areas America’s electric cooperatives should rally around, including a focus on sustainability and efficiency, and creating new opportunities for consumers with greater grid flexibility.

“During my tenure as president, I will be challenging all of us to closely examine the way we view our future, examine our individual cooperative’s place in it, and examine how we can lead our co-ops and our communities into the next generation,” he said.

NC on the national stage

In addition to remarks from Wynn, North Carolina was represented in sessions by NC Youth Tour participant Caitlin Finley.

At the TechAdavntage Conference held in conjunction with the annual meeting, speakers from NC co-ops included: Don Bowman, COO at Wake Electric, who discussed storm recovery efforts as well as new safety trends; Kelly Fritz, manager of Information Systems at Wake Electric, who discussed technical aspects of operating drones for line inspections; and Chuck Richardson, vice president of Engineering for South River EMC, who discussed microgrids. Multiple sessions addressed cybersecurity, which included Robin Harrell, manager of Technical Services at Roanoke Electric; Tim Peede, IT manager at South River EMC; and Ajaz Sadiq, vice president of Technology Integration for North Carolina’s Electric Cooperatives.

A Bright Future

Learn more about North Carolina's Youth Tour participant Caitlin Finley and her participation in a panel of Youth Leadership Council at the National Annual Meeting.

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