Blue Ridge Energy members: solar, batteries and backup on your terms

Who runs Blue Ridge Energy and who sets the rates

Blue Ridge Energy is a not-for-profit electric cooperative based in Lenoir. It serves members in Alexander, Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Caldwell, Watauga and Wilkes counties. Like every North Carolina co-op, it is governed by a board of directors elected by its members, and that board approves the rate schedules.

In October 2024 the co-op raised rates about 1.5 percent after a cost-of-service study, pointing to higher wholesale power and materials costs. That is a modest change, but grid power rarely gets cheaper over time. Making part of your own power is one way to take some of that number into your own hands.

How Blue Ridge Energy treats rooftop solar

Residential members who own their home can use Schedule R-NM, a net metering rate for solar, wind or micro-hydro systems up to 25 kW. The basics:

• Excess energy is credited to your account each month, and unused credits carry forward.
• Credits cannot be used against the monthly Grid Service Charge, and the schedule has a minimum bill.
• Once a year, with the May bill, leftover credits are paid out at the co-op's net billing credit rate and the balance resets.
• The co-op keeps the renewable energy credits tied to the energy you send back.

There is also a Sell All Solar rider for systems up to 100 kW. You sell the full output to the co-op at a set credit rate and keep buying what you use at your normal rate, with a small supplemental monthly grid service charge added.

Interconnection steps

Blue Ridge Energy's interconnection policy requires an application before anything connects. For small inverter systems the co-op screens the application and must approve it in writing before the system runs in parallel with the grid. After installation you return a Certificate of Completion, and the co-op may do a witness test. Inverter systems need a lockable manual disconnect within ten feet of the meter base. A good installer handles this paperwork, but ask them to confirm the current forms and fees.

Batteries, backup and Helene

When Helene arrived in late September 2024, about 63,000 Blue Ridge Energy members lost power. Watauga County was fully restored two weeks and two days later. Crews worked hard in rough terrain, and no utility can promise faster in the next big storm. A battery sized for your well pump, refrigerator, furnace blower and a few lights keeps the basics running while lines are rebuilt.

The co-op also runs Beat The Peak, a voluntary program that sends alerts before high-demand hours so members can cut usage and help hold down power costs for everyone. A battery can carry part of your load through those windows without you changing your routine.

The fastest way to a real answer

Getting a solar contractor to drive up a gravel road in Ashe or Avery County and return a quote can take weeks. On HomeBackupPros you can book a home energy evaluation for $349. It covers an electric audit, a review of your actual usage and a written quote for a system. If you buy the system from that same contractor, the $349 is credited toward the price. Contractors can also offer a free site visit or send an estimate instead, and you choose.

Every contractor is reviewed and approved by our team before they can respond, and we check their NC electrical contractor license number. They are independent businesses. HomeBackupPros does not install anything and is not affiliated with Blue Ridge Energy.