October is National Cooperative Month, an annual opportunity to celebrate how cooperative businesses make a difference for their communities. Because cooperatives are governed by those they serve and owned by their local community, they are focused on you – the co-op’s members. Join us this month in recognizing the powerful relationship between electric cooperatives and the communities they serve!

Like all cooperatives, North Carolina’s 26 electric co-ops are not-for-profit, community-owned and led by their members. Because they are local, living and working in the areas they serve, NC’s electric cooperatives are committed to their communities through:

• Investing in education. The Bright Ideas education grant program, a shared initiative of electric cooperatives across North Carolina, has awarded more than $14 million to North Carolina teachers and funded over 13,000 projects since 1994.
• Economic development. Since 2015, NC electric co-ops have contributed to over 100 economic development projects, resulting in over $1 billion in new capital investments, over $70 million in grants and loans and over 5,000 jobs created in rural North Carolina.
• Energy innovation. North Carolina’s electric cooperatives are on the leading edge of innovative distributed energy resources projects designed to improve reliability and affordability while advancing a more sustainable, brighter future. Current projects include four microgrid sites, 14 “solar + storage” energy resources and 10 battery energy storage systems.

To find out more about how North Carolina’s electric cooperatives are powering a Brighter Future and investing in their local communities, visit www.ncelectriccooperatives.com or contact your local electric co-op.