Mississippi Receives Assistance from Blue Ridge Electric/Blue Ridge Energies

For Immediate Release 

Contact: Renee R. Whitener, Director of Public Relations, Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corporation, Phone: (828) 758-2383, Pager 800-471-1323, or E-mail:  Renee Whitener

Lenoir, North Carolina (September 1, 2005 )— With mass destruction at perhaps the most severe level the United States has experienced from a hurricane in many years, Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corporation and its subsidiary, Blue Ridge Energies, is sending crews to assist with power restoration to Laurel, Mississippi, which was 100 miles inland from the eye of the level four Hurricane Katrina when it made landfall.

Seventeen line technicians in 10 trucks left this morning to assist Dixie Electric Cooperative in re-building its electric system which provides power to 32,000 residents and businesses. Blue Ridge Electric’s heating fuels subsidiary, Blue Ridge Energies, is also sending an employee and a diesel fuel truck to assist in the effort.

With nearly total destruction of their electric system—and electricity needed for basic life necessitates—power restoration is one of the most critical and immediate needs of the affected areas.

Hurricane Katrina has caused widespread power outages, deaths, and mass destruction in Mississippi and other Gulf states.

The deployment of Blue Ridge Electric line crews and other sister cooperatives is part of a mutual aid agreement shared between the nation’s nearly 1000 electric cooperatives to help one another in times of emergency, such as natural disasters.

Blue Ridge Electric employees are also assisting by donating blood to the American Red Cross and through donations to the statewide cooperative’s Human Connections fund set up to assist sister cooperatives with financial aid in times of emergency. The fund was originally set up after the 9/11 tragedy.

“Our heart is with the people of the Gulf states during this difficult time,” said Renee Whitener, director of public relations for Blue Ridge Electric. “Sending employees, trucks, and materials to assist with power restoration is one of the best ways we can help our neighbors in their time of need.”

Blue Ridge Electric is a member-owned electric cooperative serving some 68,000 residents and businesses in northwest North Carolina including the counties of Caldwell, Watauga, Ashe and Alleghany and parts of Wilkes and Alexander. Blue Ridge Energies is its wholly owned heating fuels subsidiary serving customers in Caldwell, Watauga, Ashe, Alleghany, Avery and Catawba counties.




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