Contact: Priscilla Knight, 703-392-1580, pknight@novec.com
NORTHERN VIRGINIA—Stan Feuerberg, president and CEO of the Northern Virginia Electric Cooperative, told Co-op customer-owners at their September 24, 2008, annual meeting that they will receive power from different suppliers starting January 1, 2009, in an effort to hold down electricity costs. He reassured customers that NOVEC’s finances are sound. Feuerberg spoke at Battlefield High School in Haymarket, Va.
Feuerberg told more than 1,000 meeting attendees that NOVEC has worked for 10 years with its supplier, the Old Dominion Electric Cooperative, to modify its power contract in order to hold the line on increasing wholesale power costs. He said that NOVEC and ODEC agreed in August 2008 that both parties would benefit from separating, and signed a formal separation agreement at that time. He said NOVEC will no longer be a member of ODEC or receive wholesale power from it after December 31, 2008.
“This is the single most fundamental change in the way NOVEC does business since the Cooperative’s inception,” Feuerberg told the overflow gathering. “We are working carefully to ensure all elements are accomplished with optimum results.” Feuerberg said NOVEC already has entered into contracts to provide base load electricity requirements through May 2029, and currently is working on agreements with other providers for anticipated intermediate and peaking power supply.
The Co-op president and CEO reassured customers that despite the “financial crisis” facing certain banks and lending institutions, NOVEC’s finances are sound. “NOVEC is in the best financial condition in its history,” Feuerberg said. “Our corporate balance sheet is the strongest of any electric cooperative in the three-state area and one of the strongest in the nation. Because of our financial performance, we have not had to raise retail distribution rates in 17 years, and we have returned to you, our members, more than $246 million dollars in CashBack since 1999.”
