Special to Iredell Free News

EnergyUnited has awarded approximately $48,000 to 33 North Carolina teachers through the NC Bright Ideas Education Grant program.

“We are thrilled to announce our 2023 NC Bright Ideas grant winners,” said Debra Citta, program coordinator for EnergyUnited. “As we strive to advance our vision of a brighter energy future, we understand that the realization of this vision will require several bright ideas from teachers, community leaders and cooperative team members. Thanks to the hard work and amazing ideas of these winners, I am confident we are on the right track.”

Since 1994 EnergyUnited has awarded more than $1 million to local teachers through the Bright Ideas Education Grant program, while North Carolina’s electric cooperatives collectively have awarded $15 million since the program’s inception.

Over this period, more than 14,200 projects have been funded and winning projects have impacted over 3.5 million North Carolina students.

Bright Ideas applications are collected each year from April through mid-September, and winning proposals are selected in a competitive evaluation process by a panel of volunteer judges. EnergyUnited will begin accepting applications for the next funding season on April 1, 2024.

About EnergyUnited

EnergyUnited Electric Membership Corporation (EMC) is the largest electric cooperative in North Carolina with 139,736 member connections. Headquartered in Statesville, EnergyUnited provides electric service in portions of nineteen counties in west central North Carolina which include Alexander, Cabarrus, Caldwell, Catawba, Davidson, Davie, Forsyth, Gaston, Guilford, Iredell, Lincoln, Mecklenburg, Montgomery, Randolph, Rockingham, Rowan, Stokes, Wilkes and Yadkin. Visit energyunited.com to learn more about the cooperative’s energy services and community programs.