Albemarle Soundsis published monthly by

Albemarle Electric Membership Corporation

P.O. Box 69Hertford, NC 27944 (252) 426-5735

Gary RayGeneral Manager

Chris PowellEditor

Visit our Web site at:www.aemc.coopFor outages, call1-800-274-2072

The Annual Meeting of Albemarle EMC members is set for Saturday, Sept. 21 at Perquimans High School, in Hertford.

Member registration will begin at 12:30 p.m. Lunch will be served from 12:30 to 1:30, and entertainment will be available in the auditorium. The meeting will begin promptly at 2 p.m.

For the past several years, your annual report has been attached to the September issue of Carolina Country magazine. We ask that you detach the annual report, which includes your registration and proxy card. Bring the registration card to the Annual Meeting. The barcode on the card will speed up registration.

In the event you will not be able to attend, we suggest that you execute your proxy card to allow another person to vote on your behalf at the meeting. Follow the instructions on the proxy card and mail the card in or bring it to our office. The co-op must receive the proxies on or before Sept. 18. This gives the co-op time to validate the proxies. No altered cards will be accepted.

Members must register before 2 p.m. Each member will receive a $2 bill and a gift prior to the meeting. If Albemarle EMC has a contested election, members may cast their votes prior to the beginning of the meeting or during the business meeting. A locked ballot box will be available.

During the business session, you will elect three directors. Incumbent directors up for re-election this year are: Garry Meiggs, Camden County; Tom Bateman, Chowan County; and Charles Mathews, Perquimans County.

Annual Meeting Approaching

Seconds Count in Rescue TrainingMatt Byrum broke his own record to establish the fastest pole-top rescue time ever

recorded at Albemarle EMC.Byrum turned in a time of 2 minutes, 7 seconds to claim the top

spot. Second place went to Aaron Pippen, who recorded a time of 3 minutes, 11 seconds. Kevin Bailey was able to claim third place with a time of 3 minutes, 25 seconds.

“This training is important to keep rescue skills sharp,” said Glenn Parks, operations manager. “All of our linemen must be proficient at performing this task.”

The pole-top-rescue competition involves a series of steps a lineman must perform. It begins with the lineman radioing in a Mayday call to the office, then putting on all climbing and safety gear. The lineman must then climb the pole and attach a rope to a training dummy, which is lowered to the ground. The event ends after the lineman has simulated performing CPR.

Linemen were also qualified in bucket rescue, which involves demonstrating the ability to retrieve an injured lineman from a bucket.

Dial Before DiggingYou never really know what’s below the surface when you dig. You may chop right into underground power lines. In addition to causing outages, this is very dangerous. Before digging in your yard, have the underground electric lines located. Please give us three days notice before you dig. Call us at (252) 426-5735.

August 2013 Proudly serving the members of Albemarle Electric Membership Corporation

Albemarle EMC Carolina Country AUGUST 2013 25

Bylaws Relevant to Annual MeetingSection 3.01 Annual Meeting

For the purposes of electing Directors, hearing and passing upon reports covering the previous fiscal year, and transacting such other business as may properly come before the Members, an annual meeting of the Members shall be held during September or October of each year, at such place in one of the North Carolina counties served by the Cooperative, and beginning at such hour, as the Board of Directors shall from year to year fix. Failure to hold the annual meeting at the designated time and place shall not work a forfeiture or dissolution of the Cooperative.

Section 3.03 Notice of Member Meetings (Excerpts)

Written or printed notice of the place, day, and hour of a Member meeting, and, in the case of a special Member meeting or of an annual Member meeting at which business requiring special notice is to be transacted, the purpose or purposes of the meeting, shall, except as provided otherwise by these Bylaws, be delivered by mail to each Member entitled to vote not less than fifteen (15) nor more than forty calendar days (40) before the date of the meeting.

If a written notice or report is part of a newsletter, magazine, or other publication regularly sent to Members and addressed or delivered to the addresses shown in the Cooperative’s Membership List, such notice or report constitutes written notice sufficient to fulfill the notice required hereby.

Any member who desires to ask

a question during the annual meeting must submit their inquiry in writing at the Cooperative’s main office located at 159 Creek Drive, Hertford, no later than 10 days prior to the published annual meeting date.

Section 3.06 Credentials and Election Committee

The Board of Directors shall, at least thirty (30) days before any meeting of the Members, appoint a Credentials and Election Committee consisting of an uneven number of Members, not less than four (4) nor more than eleven (11), who are not Directors, Cooperative employees, Close Relatives (as that term is defined in Section 11.01 of these Bylaws), Members of the same household of existing Directors, Cooperative employees, or known candidates for Directorships to be voted upon at such meeting. In appointing the Committee, the Board shall have regard for equitable representation of the five (5) Directorate Districts served by the Cooperative.

It shall be the responsibility of the Credentials and Election Committee to:

(a.) Elect its own Chairperson and Secretary prior to the Member meeting;

(b.) Decide issues arising hereunder with respect to Director qualifications;

(c.) Establish or approve the manner of conducting Member registration and any voting;

(d.) Pass upon all questions that may arise with respect to the registration of Members in person or by proxy;

(e.) Count, or supervise the counting of, all ballots cast in any election or in

any other ballot vote taken;(f.) Rule upon the effect of any

ballots or votes irregularly or indecisively marked; and

(g.) Pass upon any protest or objection filed with respect to any election or to conduct affecting the results of any election or voting.

In the event of a protest or objection concerning any vote taken, such protest or objection must be filed in writing before 5:00 p.m. on the third (3rd) business day following the adjournment of the Member meeting at which the voting was conducted. The Committee shall thereupon be reconvened upon notice from its Chairperson not less than seven (7) days after such protest or objection is filed. The Committee shall hear such reasonable evidence as is presented by the protestor(s) or objector(s), who may be heard in person, by counsel, or both. The Committee, by a vote of a majority of those present and voting, shall, within a reasonable time but not later than thirty (30) days after such hearing, render its decision, which may be either to affirm or change the results of the voting or to set aside such voting or election. The Committee’s decision (as reflected by a majority of those actually present and voting) on all such matters shall be final. The failure of the Cooperative or Credentials and Elections Committee to act as required by this Section shall not, by itself, affect any vote, Director Election, or other action taken at a Member meeting.

Albemarle EMC Carolina Country AUGUST 2013 26

Prize Drawing to be Held

A survey will be included in members’ August bills, and those who respond will be entered into a prize drawing.

The survey, which can be completed in less than a minute, asks members to indicate their age group as well as their preference for how the co-op communicates information.

Members can fill out the survey and mail it back to P.O. Box 69, Hertford, NC 27944. Or, members can take the survey online by visiting www.aemc.coop. The survey deadline is Sept. 20.

Members who participate in the survey will be entered into two drawings for $50 credits to power bills. We need your input!

Members Receive RefundThe cost of electricity that Albemarle EMC must pay before selling

it to members is the main driver of retail rates. Fortunately, for the past several months, that cost has been lower than we had forecasted. Therefore, we’ve given a Wholesale Power Cost Adjustment credit (instead of a charge) to you each month. Listed below are the total credits refunded to co-op members recently:

December, 2012 $73,887January, 2013 $80,498February, 2013 $88,723March, 2013 $38,530April, 2013 $36,896May, 2013 $39,045June, 2013 $47,420

Total WPCA Credits $404,999

How Albemarle EMC works to provide its members with the highest-quality service possible.

The Albemarle EMC Annual Meeting will be held Sept. 21, marking the 65th time that members have gathered to conduct the business of their co-op. The meeting, which will be held at Perquimans High School, in Hertford, is important because it gives members an opportunity to participate in the governing of their co-op. Members will elect three directors to the board. Participants also receive a report from the general manager on the co-op’s business activities and financial health.

For those members who are new and maybe unfamiliar with a cooperative, a co-op is a not-for-profit business that offers significant advantages to its members. One of the main advantages of belonging to an electric co-op is that you are both a member and an owner. As such, you have control over the cooperative’s activities. That control is exercised directly through voting at annual meetings and indirectly through those members you elect to the board of directors. Members have one vote, regardless of the amount of electricity purchased. You have a responsibility to attend the Annual Meeting in order to stay abreast of the co-op’s business and to vote on the directors you believe will best oversee the electric cooperative.

Annual Meeting participants will each receive a $2 bill as well as gifts. Attendees will be able to interact with employees, receive energy efficiency tips and have a chance to win some nice prizes. A question and answer table will be staffed with co-op employees from each department to answer member questions. Food and entertainment will also be available.

This manner of participation stretches all the way back to the 1940s when this cooperative was first created. Because for-profit electric companies would not provide service to much of rural eastern North Carolina, a group of residents organized to establish an electric co-op. The cooperative was initially funded by low-interest loans available from the federal government through the Rural Electric Administration, which was part of Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal program “to electrify rural America.”

From those early beginnings, Albemarle EMC has grown and remained a viable means of providing low-cost electricity to members.

In many ways, cooperatives resemble other businesses. They have similar physical facilities, perform similar functions and must follow sound business practices. They are usually incorporated under state law by filing articles of incorporation granting them the right to do business. The organizers draw up bylaws and other necessary legal papers. Members elect a board of directors. The

board sets policy and hires a manager to run the day-to-day operations. But in other ways, cooperatives are distinctly different from other businesses. These differences are found in the cooperative’s purpose, its ownership and control and how benefits are distributed. They are reflected in cooperative principles that explain the unique aspects of doing business on a cooperative basis.

Another significant difference is the manner in which margins, or profits, are distributed. It’s not totally accurate to say

that cooperative’s operate at cost. Most cooperative’s do generate earnings (referred to as “margins”). However, co-ops differ from for-profit firms in how they allocate and distribute those margins. A for-profit business retains its earnings for its own account, or perhaps pays part of them out to shareholders as dividends, based on the amount of stock

each investor owns. In a cooperative business model, margins are typically allocated among the members based on the amount of business each member did with the cooperative. When margins are sufficient enough,

Albemarle EMC returns those margins to members in the form of capital credits, usually in December.

Albemarle EMC remains a strong cooperative because of its members. Your attendance at the Annual Meeting is vital to the future success of this co-op. An engaged and active membership has kept Albemarle EMC in business since 1945. Your participation on Sept. 21 is vital to ensuring that the co-op has many more Annual Meetings to come.

Annual Meeting Attendance is Important

Albemarle EMC members attend last year’s Annual Meeting to learn about the co-op’s accomplishments as well as issues affecting the power industry.

At Your Service

Albemarle EMC Carolina Country AUGUST 2013 27