Co-op Leaders Discuss Reliability, Resiliency at Brighter Future Summit

More than 400 electric co-op leaders from across the state met in Raleigh in April for the 2024 Brighter Future Summit, the statewide annual meeting of North Carolina’s Electric Cooperatives.

Joe Brannan, executive vice president and CEO for North Carolina’s Electric Cooperatives, opened the meeting by discussing how co-ops are collaborating on projects to address issues like power reliability and grid security in innovative ways.

“We’ll need to continue to evolve, leveraging technology that supports grid infrastructure as well as our Brighter Future vision,” Brannan said. “Most importantly, perhaps, we’ll need to leverage our greatest strength: the strength of our cooperative network, reflected in this room. It’s you and your staffs that make this work.”

Sessions also included a CEO panel discussion about grid resilience and reliability, featuring Wake Electric Assistant General Manager and Vice President of Engineering & Operations Don Bowman; South River EMC CEO & Executive Vice President Chris Spears; Tideland EMC General Manager & CEO Paul Spruill; and moderator Amadou Fall, senior vice president and COO of power supply for North Carolina’s Electric Cooperatives.

Cape Hatteras Electric Cooperative Executive Vice President and General Manager Susan Flythe addressed the group as board president of the North Carolina Electric Membership Corporation, building on Brannan’s discussion of challenges facing electric utilities and co-ops’ accomplishments in overcoming them.

“Folks in this room are collectively making decisions that will affect people for generations to come,” she said. “I can’t think of a more talented group of people to lead us in developing and implementing reliable, affordable, and sustainable solutions. Our future is bright in North Carolina.”

Youth Leadership Scholarships

The North Carolina Association of Electric Cooperatives awards three scholarships each year to Youth Tour participants from the past year:

A’Mya Harmon representing Roanoke Cooperative, received the Katie Bunch Memorial Scholarship.

Aidan Stroud representing Blue Ridge Energy, received the Gwyn B. Price Memorial Scholarship.

Haley Dorsey, representing Blue Ridge Energy, received the Youth Leadership Council Scholarship.