Northern Neck Electric Cooperative members elected three of their peers to serve on NNEC’s Board of Directors. This year’s election occurred at NNEC’s 85th Annual Meeting on April 5. More than 1,000 members participated virtually and voted by returning their proxy designation card.

Russell G. “Rusty” Brown was reelected to represent Richmond County, Mary Catherine T. Jones was reelected to represent Northumberland County and Ralph E. Sutton was reelected to represent King George County.

Hunter Greenlaw, chairman of NNEC’s board, emphasized the important role of the NNEC directors. “Every month, we spend countless hours studying reports, listening to feedback, and understanding the impact of the co-op on our community and our members,” Greenlaw said. “We use all of that information to make sound decisions to improve the co-op and to better serve the membership.”

Also at the annual meeting, Brad Hicks, president and CEO, provided an update on the co-op’s challenges and successes from 2021, which included maintaining the safety and health of employees and members throughout the COVID-19 pandemic; enacting a capital retirement to its members totaling more than $600,000; and increasing the co-op’s reliability rate to 99.97%. “Over the last year, our team has continued to deliver incredible member service and exceptional reliability despite the ongoing pandemic,“ he said.

Looking ahead, he also shared updates on the co-op’s strategic plan, which is a 4-year plan that began in 2021. Hicks said, “Last year, the board of directors adopted a new strategic plan for our organization to carry Northern Neck Electric Cooperative into the second half of this decade as a forward-learning organization while improving, enhancing and optimizing our internal and external processes, programs, and services. As part of that strategic plan, we will be laser-focused on our mission to improve the quality of life in our communities.”

He noted that the co-op employees are making progress on that mission by:
• supporting the Northern Neck Broadband Project to deliver fiber to unserved areas throughout the Northern Neck;
• reducing costs to ease financial burdens, such as buying energy at wholesale costs and diversifying power purchase agreements;
• investing nearly $3.9 million to support growth and reliability needs, including improvements to substations and upgrading equipment;
• launching a new website, web app and mobile app to make account management easier than ever for members;
• NNEC employees donating more than 400 hours to local nonprofits.

“In each of these cases, we are making significant progress on our mission to improve the quality of life in our communities, but we are not done yet,” said Hicks, “We will continue on this mission well into the future.”

—Report by Kyle Allwine, Manager, Public Relations, Northern Neck Electric Cooperative