87th Annual Meeting Held

September 21st, 2026

Headin’ Home headlined the musical entertainment at OREMC’s 87^th Annual Meeting of Members on Saturday, September 12. The family bluegrass band got rave reviews from the 445 members—and their families—in attendance at Brantley County High School in Nahunta.

Powering growth, community and education were key themes discussed by OREMC Board President Wayne Combs and OREMC General Manager John Middleton. Mr. Combs began his remarks with a reflection the HWY 82 fire in Brantley County that burned through 22,500 acres over a three week period beginning on April 20. He noted, “As the fire raged, the community locally, regionally and nationally mobilized to help those displaced and those working to keep the fire from spreading. Our OREMC office here in Nahunta became the official federal command center. Our linemen worked tirelessly alongside and behind first responders to both rebuild and help prevent he fire’s spread. All told they put in 2,168 labor hours—or 271 days—over the three week period. But this what we do and who we are—by the community, for the community.”

Mr. Combs then spoke about the impact the OREMC Foundation has had in meeting community needs over the past five years. Over $852,000 has been reinvested in the community through grant awards the address needs including: at risk youth, preserving history, community development, disaster recovery, education support, food insecurity, foster care, access to health care and supporting special needs individuals and our veterans. He rounded out his remarks by zeroing in on OREMC’s support of education by introducing 2026 Youth Tour Delegates Avery Crews, Jaiden Elmore and Jade Richardson who were in attendance, as will as Kimbree Gowen, Youth Leadership Delegate for the Georgia Cooperative Council.

Mr. Middleton focused on the financial health of OREMC, reviewing the audit report presented in the 2026 Annual Report. He focused on the investments being made on the distribution system to address system reliability as a standard of service. Specifically he referenced the system upgrades and new construction to support the growth in demand for power adding system redundancy and enhancing reliability:

Upgrading the line (pictured), from the HWY 99 substation to Route 341 in Brunswick from which the new Glyndale Elementary School—scheduled to open in 2027—will be served.
Construction of a tie line between the Waverly and Spring Bluff substations in Camden County.
Construction of the new Sparkman Creek substation at the Georgia Bend to increase capacity and reliability in Charlton and Baker Counties.
Installation of downline devices to sectionalize line and minimize outage impacts during power disruptions.

Following that, Congressman Buddy Carter shared a brief message and the results of the Board of Directors' election were announced: