2026 Annual Meeting

On a misty September morning, members of Powell Valley Electric Cooperative gathered in New Tazewell, Tenn., at Claiborne High School for our 2026 Annual Meeting. Held on Sept. 19, the event gave us a wonderful opportunity to come together, catch up with familiar faces and enjoy time with the members and families who make our cooperative community so special.

Our annual meeting has always been about more than conducting the business of the cooperative. It is a time to connect with the people we serve, reflect on the year behind us and celebrate the sense of community that has been at the heart of Powell Valley Electric Cooperative for generations. In the midst of our busy schedules, it is always a pleasure to spend a morning visiting with members from across our service area and enjoying the fellowship that comes with being together.

Throughout the morning, members and their families enjoyed breakfast, entertainment and activities for all ages. Informational booths offered an opportunity to learn more about the cooperative and the services we provide as well as local businesses. Activities for our younger guests made the day enjoyable for the whole family. Our employees also appreciated the chance to visit with members outside of their usual day-to-day interactions.

For me, that personal connection is one of the most meaningful parts of our annual meeting. Whether it is a quick conversation over breakfast, a question about the cooperative or simply a chance to say hello, those moments remind us that Powell Valley Electric Cooperative is about much more than providing electricity. We are a member-owned cooperative, and the relationships we share with the people and communities we serve are at the heart of what we do.

One of the most meaningful moments of this year’s meeting was the recognition of Powell Valley Electric Cooperative retiree Sandy Smith. Sandy was formally recognized for receiving the VMDAEC Distinguished Service Award in August. It was a privilege to celebrate this well-deserved honor with her in front of our members and recognize the lasting contributions she has made to the cooperative.

Of course, no annual meeting would be complete without one of our members’ favorite traditions — the door prize drawings. Thanks to the generosity of our vendors and local businesses, a variety of prizes were given away throughout the meeting. The anticipation of hearing each winning name called always adds a little extra excitement to the morning. Congratulations to all of this year’s winners, including Mae Brooks of Harrogate, Tenn., who took home the grand prize, a Vizio TV.

I also had the opportunity to update members on our operations and reflect on the work accomplished over the past year. As our communities and the electric industry continue to change, our responsibility to our members remains the same. We are committed to providing reliable service, maintaining and strengthening our electric system, planning responsibly for the future and making decisions with the best interests of our membership in mind.

None of what we accomplish would be possible without the dedication of our employees and board of directors. I am grateful for the work they do each day and for the pride they take in serving our members. Most of all, I am grateful to you, our members, for the trust you place in your cooperative and for your continued involvement in the organization you own.

Thank you to everyone who joined us at Claiborne High School and helped make the 2026 Annual Meeting a memorable occasion. Opportunities like this remind us of what makes the cooperative model so special: People coming together, staying connected and working toward a stronger future for the communities we all call home.

To read my update on the cooperative and see photos from this year’s Annual Meeting, please look below. I hope you enjoy looking back on the day, and I look forward to all that we will accomplish together in the year ahead.

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Powell Valley Electric Cooperative held its Annual Meeting at Claiborne High School in New Tazewell, Tenn. At 11 a.m., Board President Bill Surber III called the business meeting to order, followed by an invocation from cooperative employee Danny Sexton. John Hoyle, director of accounting and finance, then presented the financial report, sharing an overview of the cooperative’s financial position and continued strength. Then, General Manager Brad Coppock shared the following remarks.

Good morning! It’s great to see all of you, and we’re glad you could make it out to your Annual Meeting.

I’m grateful for the opportunity to share what your cooperative accomplished over the past year and where we’re headed.

Our team takes great pride in serving communities across eight counties in Tennessee and Virginia. Safety, reliability and affordability guide every decision we make. We work hard to provide reliable electric service and keep rates affordable. At the same time, we make thoughtful, long-term investments to strengthen our electric system and prepare it for the future. We do this in service to the members behind more than 35,000 active meters across our system.

That work begins with the core of our business: building new electric lines and maintaining the ones already in place. Since our last annual meeting, your Cooperative has installed 500 new transformers to serve 760 new services. Our construction crews have also built or reconductored nearly 55 miles of overhead and underground lines and installed or replaced nearly 1,300 poles.

Many of the replacement poles are taller and stronger, helping make our system more resilient to storm damage while also accommodating fiber lines. We’re also replacing aging equipment in our substations and throughout our distribution system. Let me share two examples.

First, we recently completed a major upgrade at our Tazewell Substation. We replaced the substation’s older relays with modern electronic relays and replaced all seven distribution circuit breakers. This improves reliability and replaces aging equipment that had become increasingly difficult to maintain and repair.

Second, we recently completed a major line upgrade in Sneedville. We replaced an aging copper line with larger aluminum conductor capable of carrying more electricity, and we replaced aging poles with taller, heavier-duty poles. These improvements increase the line’s capacity, strengthen it against storm damage, and improve reliability for members in the area.

Projects like these support one of our most important goals: providing reliable electric service to our members. That means preventing outages whenever possible and restoring power as quickly and safely as we can when outages do occur.

Trees and falling limbs are a major cause of outages, especially during storms. That’s why we continue to dedicate significant resources to clearing and maintaining our rights-of-way. Keeping trees and other vegetation away from power lines helps prevent outages and gives our crews quicker access when repairs are needed.

Together, these efforts make our electric system stronger, safer and more dependable.

Our efforts to strengthen the communities we serve extend beyond the electric system. Through our PVEC Fiber partnership with Scott County Telephone Cooperative, we have built a fast, reliable broadband network that now serves nearly 13,000 homes and businesses across our service area. We’re grateful for this partnership and proud of the positive impact it has made in our communities.

We also give back in other ways. Over the past year, Cooperative employees visited local schools to teach students about electrical safety and share information about career opportunities at the Cooperative. Each year, we also send four high school students to Washington, D.C., as part of the Washington Youth Tour. This experience helps prepare these students to become future leaders in their communities. We also partnered with TVA to provide $17,000 in assistance to families struggling to pay their electric bills. Growth across our service area is also increasing the demand for electricity.

In 2025, your Cooperative delivered more than 700 million kilowatt-hours of electricity to our members — up from 672 million the previous year. TVA, our wholesale power provider, is seeing similar growth across the Tennessee Valley. To meet the region’s increasing energy needs, TVA is investing in new power generation and improvements to its existing system. These investments are costly, but they are necessary to maintain the reliable supply of electricity that we all depend on.

Rising costs are not limited to power generation. Like the rest of the electric utility industry, your cooperative continues to face significant increases in the cost of the materials and equipment needed to operate and maintain our system. In recent years, the cost of items such as transformers, conductor and circuit breakers has doubled and, in some cases, even tripled.

I also want to take a moment to explain a change your cooperative is making to its retail rates beginning Oct. 1. TVA charges your cooperative not only for the electricity our members use, but also for the highest 60-minute demand recorded on our system each month. To better align our retail rates with these monthly demand costs, we will begin using a Demand Cost Recovery Adjustment. This adjustment will affect members’ monthly bills and will change from month to month. In some months it may result in a charge, while in other months it may provide a credit. We’ll provide a more detailed explanation of the adjustment in the October issues of The Tennessee Magazine and Cooperative Living.

Even as power costs change, affordability remains a priority for your Cooperative. Powell Valley Electric Cooperative’s residential rates remain well below the national average. In fact, if you picked up a “By the Numbers” flyer when you registered today, you’ll see that our residential rates are 31% below the national average.

Through all these changes, one thing remains constant: our commitment to improving the lives of our members by providing safe, reliable electric service at the lowest possible cost.

Before I close, I’d like to thank Claiborne High School for allowing us to hold our annual meeting here today, and Tennessee 90 for providing the great music. I’d also like to thank the wonderful cooks who prepared today’s breakfast, along with everyone who set up informational tables and provided health services for our members.

We’re also pleased to have two of this year’s Washington Youth Tour winners with us today: Annie Barnett from Lee County High School and Andrew McCampbell from Hancock County High School. Annie and Andrew, would you please stand and be recognized? Congratulations on your successful essays.

We’re also honored to have Brian Mosier, president and CEO of the Virginia, Maryland & Delaware Association of Electric Cooperatives, as well as Todd Van Horn, Board Chair of the VMDAEC, with us today. Brian and Todd, would you please stand and be recognized?

And to all of you, thank you for being here today and for your continued support of your Cooperative.

I’d also like to thank our board for its leadership, support and guidance, and all our employees for their dedication to serving our members. They make many sacrifices throughout the year, especially when responding to storms and other emergencies. Whether they’re in the field restoring power or working behind the scenes to provide exceptional service, they always put safety and our members first. They truly are the power behind our electric cooperative.

And finally, thank you for joining us for the 2026 Annual Meeting and for giving us the privilege of serving as your energy provider.

Following the general manager’s speech, PVEC retiree Sandra Smith was recognized before the membership for the Distinguished Service Award she was awarded by the VMDAEC. Incumbent directors Tracey Sharp of District 1, Judith Robertson of District 3 and Bill J. Surber III of District 6 were reelected to continue their service.

During the reorganizational meeting of the board, officers elected were Bill J. Surber III, president; Tracey Sharp, vice president; and Judith Robertson, secretary-treasurer.