Residential Members

Are you a new member? Check out our new member information.

Residential consumers make up the largest portion of South River EMC's electric cooperative membership. As a cooperative, we strive to provide answers for all our consumers regarding their electric service as well as questions regarding the business of their cooperative. Many members phone the cooperative each month with questions about their current electric bill or seeking advice on how to reduce their electric bill. This page is intended to provide you with some answers to these questions.

Renewable and Energy Efficiency Charge

You may have noticed the Renewable and Energy Efficiency Charge on your bills starting in May. This is a monthly charge, which is adjusted annually, to recover the costs incurred during the year to comply with the Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard law, North Carolina General Statue 62-133.8 and North Carolina Utilities Commission Rule R8-67.

Products, Programs and Rewards

Our Cooperative has several products and services to offer you:

We also offer many programs designed to simplify your life:

Don't overlook the ways we reward you for being energy conscious.

There are also tax credits available for installing renewable energy applications, as well as performing energy efficiency measures. More information can be found on the tax information page.

South River EMC has trained Energy Marketing Specialists and Customer Service Representatives who can answer any of your questions regarding energy efficiency and energy use. Contact our Customer Service Department for a free energy audit! Feel free to call your cooperative at 892-8071 to get your questions answered.

If you are interested in weatherizing your home, but don't think you can afford the costs, see if a Community Action Program can help you by looking over information about weatherization.

Manufactured Housing

Manufactured housing is one of the fastest growing residential markets in the the United States. Many members embrace these homes because of their affordability. Although the manufactured housing industry is working diligently to improve the overall quality of their homes, the fact remains that manufactured homes have problems unique to their homes. South River EMC has gathered several resources to address your questions, view them here.

Interconnection of Distributed Generation

South River EMC is happy to work with residential members who have chosen to install a renewable energy generator, with the intent of selling excess power back to the Cooperative. The member must ensure that the installation complies with the National Electric Code (NEC) and all applicable local codes (latest editions) and that the system has been inspected and approved by the electric inspector that has legal jurisdiction. Feel free to call the Cooperative at (910)892-8071 for more information or send e-mail inquiries to sremc@sremc.com.

Guidelines for Interconnection
Requirements for Interconnection
List of Applicable Standards
Interconnection Application

Although there are many sources of renewable energy available, not all are ideal for our location, for example, wind energy is not recommended for central North Carolina, but solar energy is feasible. Solar energy can also earn you tax credits from the government. Read more here.

Automated Meter Reading (AMR)

South River EMC is in the process of installing an automated meter reading, or AMR, program. However, progress will be slow and full installation of the program will take a couple of years.

Using wireless radio transmitters, AMR remotely reads member meters and then transfers the data into our billing system. AMR will reduce the need for meter readers to manually gather meter readings each month. We will begin to install new metering at several substations this month. These substations serve primarily the areas closest to the Dunn office so that our employees working on this project can respond quickly in the event there is an issue. Contractors will begin to replace the meters on homes this month to correspond with the remote reading equipment in the substations.

Benefits of AMR

Reduces operational costs such as meter reading and transportation costs.
Reduces the need to access your property to read your meters.
Improves call resolution – the AMR system will give employees the ability to provide members with more detailed information such as power consumption patterns, outage and blink count history and voltage information, reducing high
bill inquiries.
Allows for better outage management.
Reduces employee injuries, especially in areas with fenced yards, dogs and landscaping.

For more information call 800-338-5530 or (910)892-8071 or e-mail sremc@sremc.com.

Frequently Asked Questions

Typical Energy Use Chart

Energy Use Chart
(pdf file requiring Adobe Acrobat Reader)

This chart will help you determine how much energy is typically consumed by the appliances in your home. Granted there are certain variables that affect the performance of many appliances, but this chart, which appeared the South River EMC's February 2005 newsletter is a good guide.