As Nelle Hotchkiss tells it, she blew into North Carolina with Hurricane Fran in Fall 1996. The Raleigh area — and much of the state — was in shambles.
“I thought, ‘Oh my goodness, what have I gotten myself into?’” says Hotchkiss, a Richmond, Va., native who had come from working with electric cooperatives in Virginia to take a similar job in North Carolina.
It was the beginning of a string of hurricanes, along with other challenges, which particularly taxed the state’s rural communities. Rural leaders were grappling with shifting economics, including a decline in tobacco farming and furniture and textile manufacturing. What Hotchkiss had gotten herself into was a fast-moving landscape with plenty to do.
Now, nearly three decades later, Hotchkiss is retiring as senior vice president and chief operating officer of the North Carolina Association of Electric Cooperatives, a trade association that is owned by the state’s 26 electric co-ops.
She’s spent her career working to get tiny towns and rural counties what they need to survive and thrive, whether it’s electricity, educational opportunities, broadband access or new industries.
The NC Rural Center has played a key role in her work over the years, providing the research, data and support to back up co-ops’ requests and initiatives, she said. “All of us that serve the rural communities, the Rural Center became really a hub of advocacy.”
It’s been a collaborative partnership. Hotchkiss is an emeritus board member of the Rural Center, having served on the board from 2015 to 2023 and spending the last two years as chair. She’s particularly proud of the work, during her tenure, to create faith-based initiatives.
North Carolina Secretary of Commerce Lee Lilley called Hotchkiss a generous and highly respected leader. Co-ops, he said, are fixtures in their communities, not only supplying public power but also serving as hubs where leaders from diverse backgrounds come together. Hotchkiss has been instrumental in bridging different perspectives and needs.
“Threading all of that together to ultimately help rural communities be place makers, develop their economies in ways that can fit with their culture, that’s what Nelle really has helped accomplish,” Lilley said. “If you look at North Carolina’s most vibrant rural communities, I see a little bit of Nelle in all of them.”
Powering North Carolina with electricity and more
North Carolina’s electric cooperatives not only power rural communities but also play a vital role in stimulating economic development. Their members — local farmers, bankers, small business owners and more — are deeply attuned to the needs of these areas because they’ve built their lives there, Hotchkiss said. On the ground, they understand the obstacles firsthand and know which solutions will be most effective.
“Meet one cooperative — you meet one cooperative,” she said. “Their communities have different needs, different cultures and how they approach things. And so, you have to have a lot of tools in the toolbox and let them choose the ones that are going to work best for them.”
Across Hotchkiss’s tenure, those tools have been broad and varied — ranging from supporting the modernization and construction of new water and wastewater treatment facilities to expanding access to public education at historically under-resourced rural schools.
More recently, providing support to expand broadband access has been a focus for cooperatives. They have intentionally built more capacity than needed so that other providers could use their system as a backbone for broadband extension, she said.
“The cooperatives are all about the members at the end of the line,” Hotchkiss said. “That’s what we get up every day to do. We want to make a difference in their lives.”
Building for a ‘brighter future’
Of course, the “brighter future” that North Carolina’s electrical co-ops are striving towards also includes ensuring reliable and affordable electricity to their members. Today, the state’s co-ops power life for 2.8 million North Carolinians in 93 counties. Some 98 percent of its accounts are from residences and small businesses.
That work involves extending lines but also looking for innovative ways to deliver power to communities effectively, efficiently and affordably. A variety of challenges, however, are poised to strain the system into the future, Hotchkiss said. Cyberattacks are a growing threat. Rural communities on the edges of more urban counties are fast-growing. New industries, such as data centers and advanced manufacturing, demand significant electricity to operate.
The good news is that co-ops have a lot of potential tools to choose from as they look to expand access or make it more affordable. But, going forward, Hotchkiss counsels deliberate decision-making about what makes the best sense in each situation.
“Picking the right thing at the right time for the right reasons becomes even more important because technology lets us do lots of things,” she said. “Doing it at the right time, at the right cost, for the right benefit becomes a really important conversation.”
Unplugging — for now
In recent weeks, as she prepared to step away, Hotchkiss has been receiving well wishes and accolades for her service. In March, Lilley presented her with the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, the state’s highest civilian honor.
“She’s always been an authentic and trusted source on a whole host of policy matters, and it’s because she understands the co-ops in rural North Carolina so well,” Lilley said.
For now, Hotchkiss is ready to unplug for a bit. Utilities and advocating for rural communities are a “24/7 business,” she said. She’s looking forward to some time relaxing on the North Carolina coast.
But don’t count her out. Hotchkiss might just jump back in some way in 2026.
“Working for rural North Carolina, and with the electric cooperatives of North Carolina, has been the biggest blessing for me,” she said. “I have absolutely loved it and will miss it, no doubt.”