Each Christmas season officially begins with the lighting of the majestic Deodar Cedar on the front lawn of the Blue Ridge Electric Cooperative office in Pickens, but, more than bringing to us the lights of the Christmas season, Blue Ridge Electric Cooperative brings light to us year-round.

For more than 80 years, Blue Ridge Electric Cooperative has provided dependable electricity to our homes and businesses in rural areas, today providing power to more than 73,000 customers in five counties (Pickens, Oconee, Anderson, Greenville, and Spartanburg) with more than 7,300 miles of power lines.

Our electric cooperative provides us light to see by, heat to warm us in the cold winter, air conditioning to cool us in the hot summer, electricity for our stoves, ovens, microwaves, refrigerators and freezers, washing machines and dryers, computers, televisions, and other appliances. In the 21^st Century, we cannot make it, on a daily basis, without electricity.

We realize how much we depend upon our electricity and miss it on an occasion that there is a power outage due to a storm, and, whenever there might be a power outage, our linemen are on the job, working hard to restore our power. We are grateful for our linemen and appreciate our electricity and our electric cooperative.

I’ve reported on Blue Ridge Electric Cooperative beginning in 1999, and have reported in-depth on the Blue Ridge Electric tree-lighting ceremony, the annual meeting, and Blue Ridge Fest through the years, and other Blue Ridge Electric news, and I know the good that Blue Ridge Electric has done in our communities for many years.

In recent years, Blue Ridge Electric has been seeking to provide dependable high-speed internet service to all of their customers, through a partnership with West Carolina Telephone Cooperative, forming Upcountry Fiber. More than 43,000 customers so far now have access to that fiber internet. I know the necessity of having dependable internet service in today’s world, and, from those I know of who have Upcountry Fiber, I have heard only good about their internet service.

We are thankful for Blue Ridge Electric Cooperative, during the holidays and also year-round.

December 2, 2024