REMC celebrates 85th birthday

ASHEBORO — Randolph Electric Membership Corporation celebrated its 85th annual meeting on Friday, June 16, at Southwestern Randolph High School in Asheboro. The theme of the meeting was “Past and Future, Always Present.”

Randolph Electric recorded 361 registered members who attended the in-person business meeting and 618 who registered online. An estimated crowd of 720 people attended the event. During the business meeting, the membership elected three directors: Scott Cole to repre-sent District 2, Jerry Bowman in District 4 and Tammie Phillips in District 7. 

REMC Board of Directors President Jerry Bowman presented a report on events and investments over the past year. Secretary-Treasurer Billy Maness presented a 2022 financial report with over $73 million in revenue and $68 million in expenses. CEO Dale Lambert spoke on the theme of reliability.  

Many members won drawings for door prizes includ-ing cash and bill credits, gift cards, bicycles of all sizes, small appliances and local pottery. 

“Tonight, we celebrate our 85th anniversary with a focus on member value and reliability,” said Lambert. “Since 1938 when community leaders met to discuss the need for power in rural areas and all through the years, Randolph EMC has provided safe, reliable and afford-able energy for our rural member-owners. … 

“Back in the late ‘30’s, some naysayers predicted the co-op would never survive. They pointed out the finan-cial challenges of installing power lines to serve rural communities because of the cost.That’s the very reason for-profit power companies refused to serve rural areas. But these naysayers were proven wrong, and Randolph EMC is stronger than ever. ... 

“The original founding directors of Randolph EMC were Zell Brown (Asheboro), Grady Cranford (Farmer), A.B. Ellis (Millboro), D.R. Graves (Seagrove), Cecil Macon (Ramseur), Walter Parks (Pisgah), Tommy Pow-ers (Bennett), Fletcher P. Stout (Ramseur) and T.L. York (Staley). 

“We owe a great debt of gratitude to these past leaders, and many others who had the vision, will and fortitude to put their names on the line and form a member-owned electric cooperative. I’m sure they would be impressed to see what the organization has grown into today. They would also be impressed to see that the cooperative spirit and the desire to provide our member-owners with reliable and affordable energy, coupled with exceptional service, is still alive and well at Randolph EMC, 85 years later.” 

Bowman summarized how REMC supports local communities through grants and low-interest loans. Those include loans for the future Farm, Food and Fam-ily Education Center in Asheboro and new tanker trucks for the Town of Robbins and Ulah Fire Department.  

The People Helping People program distributed $11,230 for 43 members in need. The PHP program also distributed $20,000 to 16 community organizations to invest in the health, education and financial strength of local communities. 

“In 2022, we awarded $14,000 in Bright Ideas grants to 12 teachers, benefiting 2,183 students,” Bowman said. “Over the past 29 years, Randolph Electric has invested just over $300,000 in teacher-focused grants within our five-county service area.” 

– Nicole Arnold, REMC Communications & Public Affairs Manager