Settled lawsuit means checks on the way

Retail customers of the Blue Ridge Electric Cooperative can look forward to checks in the mail to cover their pro-rata share of the settlement of a lawsuit which named Blue Ridge’s wholesale supplier a co-defendant. According to a court-authorized notice that has gone out in the form of letters to Blue Ridge customers, customers who are due checks don’t have to take any action. Blue Ridge spokesman Terry Ballenger estimates the first check should be sent this fall. Ballenger says Blue Ridge itself is not a party to the lawsuit, but its wholesale supplier, Central Electric Power Cooperative is. Ballenger’s guesstimate is that the average customer will receive a check for $200 dollars. Power customers across the state whose bills were calculated to pay part of the construction costs of a failed nuclear reactor project are included in the settlement.