North Carolina retailer, electric cooperative change names

Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corp. and its propane and heating fuels subsidiary, Blue Ridge Energies, plan to combine businesses and rename to Blue Ridge Energy in April 2017.

According to an article on GoBlueRidge.net’s High Country Radio News, Blue Ridge Electric Membership CEO Doug Johnson announced this change during an employee meeting, which included a discussion on the company’s strategic goals for 2017.

“While our mission, values and commitment to cooperative principles and our valuable employees will remain the same, we are bringing together our two energy businesses – Blue Ridge Electric and Blue Ridge Energies – into a single brand,” Johnson says. “Our new identity will be easier for the consumers we serve. Having a corporate presence that is unified enhances our ability to provide the latest in electric, propane, heating fuels and solar energy solutions.”

Blue Ridge Electric’s second subsidiary, RidgeLink LLC, a provider of high-capacity broadband fiber, will retain its original name and receive an updated logo, according to GoBlueRidge.net’s High Country Radio News.

Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corp., based in Lenoir, North Carolina, serves as an electric cooperative with a propane and heating fuels subsidiary. The company serves 74,000 consumer accounts in North Carolina.