In late June of 2025, as an oppressive “heat dome” baked the eastern United States, the editor of the Cardinal News online outlet focused on Virginia wrote, “We got through the week without any blackouts. That shouldn’t be news, but it is … The problem is we’re increasing demand for power faster than we’re increasing the generation of that power.”
The dual challenge of supplying electricity reliably and affordably is one that confronts electric utilities, large and small. As we explored in Part One of this series, the entity that supplies electricity to Community Electric Cooperative, Richmond-based Old Dominion Electric Cooperative, employs a multi-pronged strategy to serve CEC and its 10 other member co-ops in Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware. It generates roughly one-half of the electricity from the power plants that it owns, in whole or in part, and it provides the balance via a robust “hedging” program that purchases electricity from non-ODEC sources at wholesale prices months and even years in advance.
“One of the things that makes ODEC, or any nonprofit energy company, unique is that we don’t make money by selling power,” says Andrew Vehorn, ODEC’s Senior Vice President of Member Engagement. “We want to provide Community Electric all the energy it needs, and all the energy its members need, and not a kilowatt-hour more, because we don’t have a financial interest in doing that.”
Accordingly, to help members limit the amount of energy they need, ODEC has an array of programs designed to lower energy use. As outlined in ODEC’s 2024 Demand Response and Energy Efficiency Report, the Cooperative makes available to its members residential thermostats, a “managed charging” program for electric vehicles, weatherization assistance, online home energy calculators, and an online tool to better educate members on electric vehicle models and incentives. Some examples of the programs’ value include the following:
- Nearly 2,500 members have benefited from ODEC’s support of the weatherization program since 2018. One of the organizations that ODEC partners with to assist eligible households in CEC’s territory is project: HOMES, a Richmond-based housing nonprofit.
- Nearly 3,000 members have enrolled in the smart thermostat program, which allows the Cooperative to adjust the temperature for a short period during summer peak demand periods. This small temperature increase helps lower energy demand during ODEC’s system peaks. Homeowners receive an incentive for participating.
One year ago, ODEC hired a Vice President of Strategic Electrification and Member Services, a position focused on increasing the impact of demand response and energy efficiency programs, as well as identifying grants available to CEC and other cooperatives to enhance their respective energy saving programs.
“We are asking all of our members, if they help save any portion of a megawatt, that’s good for everyone,” says Kirby Jordan, ODEC’s Vice President of Communications and Public Relations. “You’d be surprised at how the demand response program, for example, can really save tons of energy and save a member owner’s monthly bill. Also, our power supply team is constantly looking at new technologies. We’re looking into battery backup, and we’re exploring small modular reactors and other options, too.”
Last but not least, ODEC is increasing the presence of renewable energy technologies in its generating portfolio. ODEC now has power purchase agreements for about 350 megawatts of wind and solar energy. While the power generation is intermittent, the additional power is low cost and adds to the diversity of ODEC’s supply mix with sustainable technologies.