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By RHONDA F. RUTAN
Rappahannock Electric Cooperative
Rappahannock Electric Cooperative ranks in the top 100 of the nation’s 1,000 consumer-owned utilities in growth statistics, cooperative chairman Lee Estes told 441 customers at the utility’s annual meeting last Saturday.
With 8,754 miles of line, the utility also ranks as the fifth largest in electric cooperatives in the nation in miles of power lines. The cooperative serves more than 59,000 customers in parts of 16 counties, Estes said.
During the month of July, the cooperative connected 185 new member, and 46 of them were in fastgrowing Spotsylvania County.
Despite that growth, the cooperative has taken a conservative stance in rate adjustments, Estes continued.
The cooperative received regulatory approval last year for its first retail rate increase in eight years. In other financial area, co-op treasurer, Wickham Coleman, reported that sales of electricity experienced a 6.7 percent growth in active services.
As a cooperative, Rappahannock operates as a non-profit business and returns to its customers any amount left after expenses are paid, or margins, in the form of capital credits.
94.7%