Members and guests gathered at BARC Electric Cooperative’s Highland Belle office in Lexington, Va., on July 17 for the co-op’s annual meeting.

BARC CEO Bill Buchanan spoke about the importance of effective right-of-way maintenance, with more than 2,200 miles of overhead line to maintain. He celebrated the co-op’s milestone achievement of 750,000 hours worked with no lost-time incidents. An update was also provided regarding the upgrade to and implementation of NISC operating software, including the iVue management system and SmartHub app.

Buchanan discussed the difficulty and lengthy process of grant writing and applications.

Directors John Quantz, Tommy Ford and Jason Black were reelected to serve on the board of directors.

“We are focused on maintaining safe, reliable and affordable electricity, as well as expanding broadband and renewable energy services,” says BARC Board President Keith Swisher. “We are proud of our employees and their accomplishments throughout 2023 and the efforts to continue to improve quality of life of our communities.”

In addition to a limited number of BARC members, also in attendance were Virginia, Maryland & Delaware Association of Electric Cooperatives President and CEO Brian Mosier, Old Dominion Electric Cooperative Manager of Member Services & Energy Innovation Planning Erin Puryear and Senior Vice President & Chief Legal Officer Jack Robb.