RICHMOND HILL — Chris Fettes didn’t suppress his excitement Monday about Coastal Electric Cooperative’s new facility.
During the cooperative’s membership-appreciation day event at its new customer-service and solar-energy resource center at 3700 Highway 17, Fettes — Coastal Electric’s vice president of engineering and operations — smiled while telling the audience how the facility is between two Interstate 95 interchanges and right along a well-used highway.
“We always talk about why Coastal Electric came to Richmond Hill. If I could’ve picked a better location, I don’t know if I could’ve found one,” he said.
Monday’s event also featured a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the facility. According to the cooperative’s website, Coastal Electric serves Bryan, Liberty, Long and McIntosh counties — a geographical footprint that made the new Richmond Hill location vital.
“What a better way to support not just the northern part our system, but for all our customers who travel this corridor, you almost have to come by here if you’re going anywhere in this coastal region,” Fettes said.
Fettes added that the new facility is considered an investment in the future.
“We build power lines that last 50, 80 years, and that’s the way we look at this office in terms of investing in the future,” he said.
Coastal Electric board President Stephen Mullice said the facility will advance the cooperative’s solar projects as well as accommodate the growing number of members in Bryan County alone.
“This is a great facility for what we were able to acquire it for. It’s really outstanding,” Mullice said. “Our leadership and our board did an excellent job of securing this facility.”
Members can use the new center to make payments, create accounts and discuss matters with a customer-service representative, according to the cooperative’s February 2016 newsletter. They also can get information about the cooperative’s renewable-energy program and solar power.
The facility will host an open house from 5-7 p.m. Feb. 8.