2025 Annual Meeting!

On a crisp September morning in Ewing, Va., members of Powell Valley Electric Cooperative gathered for the cooperative’s 2025 annual meeting. The event offered a morning of fellowship, entertainment and opportunities for members to connect.

Guests were welcomed with a hearty breakfast and enjoyed a variety of activities, including informational booths, bucket truck rides and live music from the bluegrass band Tennessee 90. Children had plenty to keep them engaged as well — games, painting, temporary tattoos and treats at the kids’ table added to the festive atmosphere.

At 11 a.m., Board President Bill Surber III officially called the meeting to order, which was followed by an invocation led by cooperative employee Danny Sexton. John Hoyle, director of accounting and finance, delivered the financial report, affirming the cooperative’s continued financial strength and stability.

I shared an update on the cooperative’s operations over the past year. The report covered several key developments and accomplishments that reflect the progress and priorities of Powell Valley Electric Cooperative.

Highlights from this report are as follows:

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 our growing communities across eight counties in Southwest Virginia and Tennessee. For the members we serve, safety, reliability and affordability are at the forefront of every decision we make.

At the core of our business is building new electric lines and maintaining existing ones. Since our last annual meeting, your cooperative has added over 500 new transformers to serve nearly 800 new electric services. To improve reliability, construction crews have built or re-conductored nearly 60 miles of overhead and underground lines and installed or replaced nearly 1,300 poles. These poles are being replaced with taller, stronger ones to enhance resilience against storm damage and accommodate fiber lines, and we are replacing aging equipment in our substations and distribution lines as well.

To reduce wildlife-related interruptions, we’re adding animal guards and using insulated conductors on new installations. Squirrels, snakes and birds are our most frequent sources of contact. At the same time, we’ve committed more resources to right-of-way clearing to keep lines accessible and resilient. We’re also investing in advanced cybersecurity tools and monitoring to safeguard operations and member data. Taken together, these system upgrades and stronger ROW maintenance underscore our commitment to safe, reliable service.

Broadband availability has also played a vital role in our cooperative’s growth. Through our PVEC Fiber partnership with Scott County Telephone Cooperative, we have built a high-speed, reliable broadband network that now serves more than 11,000 homes and businesses across our service area. We’re grateful for this partnership and its significant positive impact — and we’re excited about what’s ahead.

Your cooperative remains actively involved in the communities it serves. Over the past year, cooperative employees have visited schools to educate students about electrical safety and to speak about career opportunities at the cooperative.

Each year, the cooperative sends four high school students on the Washington Youth Tour to our nation’s capital. This trip empowers these young students, equipping them with the skills and knowledge to become future leaders in their communities. In that same spirit of service, we partnered with TVA to contribute $18,000 to help families struggling to pay their electric bills.

Last September, Hurricane Helene brought high winds and heavy rainfall across our service area, causing damage unlike anything we had experienced. The storm left us with over 100 broken poles, numerous damaged transformers, and extensive line repairs. At the peak, we recorded 371 simultaneous outages; over the course of the event, 598 separate outages affected approximately 12,000 of our 35,000 meters.

Our employees mobilized immediately — and, recognizing the scope, we called in mutual aid. More than 180 additional lineworkers and tree trimmers from fellow cooperatives and contractors joined our crews. Thanks to their skill and dedication, power was restored to all members in just under seven days.

On behalf of Powell Valley Electric Cooperative and our Board of Directors, I want to extend heartfelt thanks to our employees and to every cooperative and contractor that answered the call. Your hard work, sacrifice and teamwork made rapid recovery possible. To our community — thank you for the prayers, donated food, handmade cards from local students and your patience. Helene reminded us what the cooperative spirit looks like in action.

Events like Helene also underscore why we invest in capacity and reliability as demand grows — let me share where we are on use and rates.

In 2024, our wholesale provider TVA helped us deliver more than 672 million kilowatt-hours to our members. In 2025, energy use is climbing — members’ consumption from January through August was 5.5% higher than the same period in 2024, reflecting both expanding membership and extreme temperatures across our service area. Those temperatures also tested the grid.\

This past January, we set an all-time demand peak of 209 MW, and TVA reached a new system peak of 35,430 MW. Like your cooperative, TVA’s service area is experiencing significant growth. To meet the valley’s rising energy needs, TVA is building new generating plants and replacing aging plants with natural gas generation, solar and battery storage. These investments are costly, but they’re necessary to sustain the reliability we all expect.

On a larger scale, our industry and the cooperative itself continue to face significant inflation in the cost of the goods, materials and services necessary to support operations. For example, the cost of items such as transformers, conductors and breakers have essentially doubled, and, in some cases, even tripled, in the last few years. Due to continued rising operational costs, we must increase overall rates by 1.25% beginning Oct. 1. This necessary step is crucial to maintaining the cooperative’s financial health and ensuring reliable service.

How does this affect residential members? Residential members will see a $2 increase to their customer charge each month. So, last year the average residential member had a monthly bill of $126. This adjustment will increase their bill to $128. It is important to put these changes into context. Even with the increase, Powell Valley Electric Cooperative’s residential rates remain far below the national average. In fact, our residential rates are 28% below the national average.

While rates may change from time to time, one thing remains the same: We are committed to improving the lives of our members by providing reliable service at the lowest possible price.

In closing, I would like to thank Thomas Walker High School for allowing us to hold the annual meeting here, and a special thanks to Tennessee 90 for the great music. I’d also like to thank the fantastic cooks who prepared today’s delicious breakfast, as well as everyone who set up informational tables and provided health services for us.

We are pleased to have a winner of the Washington Youth Tour with us today. Please stand and be recognized: Leah Dalton from Washburn High School. Congratulations on your successful essay!

Additionally, we are honored to have Brian Mosier, President & CEO of the Virginia, Maryland & Delaware Association of Electric Cooperatives in Glen Allen, Va., and Mike Knotts, CEO of the Tennessee Electric Cooperative Association, both of which represent cooperatives like ours. Please stand to be recognized.

Thank you for your attendance today and for your continued support of our cooperative. On behalf of the employees and myself, I’d like to express our appreciation to the board for their leadership, support and guidance as well as to thank all employees for their outstanding dedication to serving our members. Whether they are restoring power or behind the scenes providing exceptional service to our members, they are the true power behind our electric cooperative. And finally, THANK YOU for joining us for the 2025 annual meeting and for the privilege of serving as your energy provider.

The highlight of the 2025 annual meeting was the formal recognition of Gary Russell, a retiring board director of Powell Valley Electric Cooperative. The cooperative honored Russell for his remarkable 36 years of dedicated service on the board. PVEC extends its sincere gratitude for Russell’s many contributions to both its employees and members.

A favorite tradition at each annual meeting is the drawing of door prizes, and this year was no exception. Excitement filled the room as attendees eagerly awaited the announcement of winners. Prizes, generously donated by vendors and local businesses, brought smiles all around. The grand prize — a Kindle Fire tablet — was awarded to Phillis Brown of Ewing, Va.

In board election news, John Carter was elected to represent District 9. Incumbent directors Russell Essary of District 4 and Lena Short of District 5 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.

– Brad Coppock