Innovating a Brighter Future

October is National Cooperative Month, an annual recognition of the ways electric co-ops like Wake Electric are building a brighter future for our members and communities. Our electric grid is changing rapidly, as are the needs and expectations of members like you. Wake Electric and other cooperatives are committed to staying on the forefront of this evolution and co-op innovation is at the center of these efforts. We are constantly seeking new solutions and technologies to expand services, find efficiencies and strengthen the electric grid. For example, Wake Electric:

• Replaced all of our meters with Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI), which allows our members access to their hourly usage.
• Utilizes “Smart Grid” technology to pinpoint fault locations which means faster restoration.
• Automated switches provide fast isolation of outage areas and improved system resiliency.
• Replaced all of our area lights, parking lot lights and streetlights with new LED units at no additional cost to members.
• Provides battery back-up on all traffic lights in our territory. The batteries can power the traffic lights for four hours. This enhances public safety when there is a power outage in our area.
• Offers a voluntary PrePay option to pay electric bills. This allows members to pay no late fees, transaction fees or connection/disconnection charges. No deposits are required. More than 1,700 members are using this PrePay option.
• Purchased solar Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) equal to 65 million kilowatt hours. This is equivalent to 10,000 residential rooftop solar installations. We also installed a solar array at our Wake Forest facility.
• Offers an electric vehicle rate, and provides electric vehicle charging stations at our offices in Wake Forest and in Youngsville as well as various locations throughout our service territory.
• Utilized microgrid technology to partner with Winslow Homes to build Eagle Chase, the state’s first resilient energy neighborhood. The microgrid will be able to support the neighborhood for up to 36 hours during outages and will also remain connected to the main grid during normal operations to provide power diversity and increased reliability.

To learn more about how Wake Electric is committed to providing innovative energy solutions, click here.