2025 System Reliability Actions and Investments

All figures are year-end projections.

Animal Guards

8,100+
Animal Guards
Installed/Upgraded

Animal guards enhance reliability by lowering the chance of wildlife-related faults. This significantly reduces outage risks, especially at locations prone to wildlife interference.

1,200+
Miles of Right-of-Way
Cleared

Clearing vegetation from rights-of-way prevents trees, limbs and branches from contacting power lines and causing outages.

ROW
Hazard Trees

~7,500
Hazard Trees Removed

Removing trees that pose a hazard improves reliability by preventing them from contacting poles, lines and other infrastructure.

40,000
Drone Inspections

Through drone inspections, REC teams can spot issues early instead of waiting for something to break. Drone inspections have identified 12,000 improvements in 2025.

Drone
Poles

5,550
Poles Replaced

Regularly replacing poles helps to address increased loading and evolving infrastructure. It also contributes significantly to system-wide reliability and resiliency.

27,400
Ground and
Underground Inspections

These inspections catch issues that drones cannot, including loose hardware or signs of equipment wear.

Underground

REC STORIES

The REC Community Scholarship program is part of our continued commitment to advancing education and investing in the communities we serve.

Five Quick Ways to Save This Summer

Monday | June 1, 2026
As summer temperatures rise, so can your energy use. The good news is that a few simple adjustments around the house can help you stay comfortable whi...

Ninety Years of Cooperative Power

Monday | June 1, 2026
Before there was a cooperative serving the area, two determined Virginians carried a message from community to community: