We are a team of market research professionals and electric cooperative experts committed to advancing the cooperative purpose through market research services that lead to action.

Our business was formed by electric cooperatives in North Carolina nearly 25 years ago when the cooperative industry was facing the challenge of deregulated retail markets. Co-ops needed access to timely and trusted data to improve member satisfaction and engagement.

Today’s challenges are different but no less critical, and the need to hear from members is just as significant – if not more. We specialize in:

As a market research organization working exclusively with electric cooperatives, we are highly focused and specialized, allowing us to support and guide your research needs. Cooperative Insights is a business unit within the North Carolina Association of Electric Cooperatives.


Our Team

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Nelle Hotchkiss

Chief Operating Officer

Nelle serves as Chief Operating Officer of the N.C. Association of Electric Cooperatives, a role that capitalizes on her more than 20 years of experience and expertise in the utility industry to serve electric cooperatives throughout the state.

She is responsible for overseeing our association’s statewide activities, including Carolina Country magazine, Government Affairs, Member Services, Communications, Job Training & Safety, and Cooperative Insights, our market research organization.

Kristie Aldridge

Vice President of Strategic Communication & Marketing

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Kristie Aldridge

Vice President of Strategic Communication & Marketing

Kristie is the Vice President of Strategic Communications & Marketing for North Carolina’s Electric Cooperatives and Cooperative Insights. In her role, she is focused on leveraging her cooperative communications and marketing background to provide co-ops with actionable market research services through the Cooperative Insights team.

Kristie is a Certified Cooperative Communicator, represents North Carolina as part of the Touchstone Energy Regional Members group and is an active member of the G&T Communicators group.

Lindsey Davis

Director of Marketing and Market Research

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Lindsey Davis

Director of Marketing and Market Research

Lindsey is the Director of Marketing and Market Research for North Carolina’s Electric Cooperatives and Cooperative Insights. Drawing on more than a decade of experience in cooperative communications, Lindsey oversees Cooperative Insights market research services and marketing strategies for North Carolina’s Electric Cooperatives. She loves working collaboratively with co-op teams to develop actionable strategies for member engagement through strategic market intelligence. She is a Certified Cooperative Communicator.

Ying Chen

Member Insights Manager

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Ying Chen

Member Insights Manager

Ying joined the Cooperative Insights staff in 2021 and has worked with NC’s Electric Cooperatives since 2014.  In her role, Ying is responsible for supporting and managing quantitative and qualitative market research activities, including the Cooperative Difference Survey, several research projects for G&Ts, and online focus groups.

She previously supported data analytics and long-term forecasting activities of NC’s Electric Cooperatives through our information technologies department. 

Lorrie Kristof

Senior Analyst

Lorrie is the senior analyst for Cooperative Insights’ quantitative research initiative that currently is utilized by electric cooperatives across the country. In her role, Lorrie leads and manages the Member Satisfaction Tracking Survey and Broadband Study, as well as provides data analytics support for various market research services.

She has over 20 years’ experience in the fields of statistics and teaching math and statistics. Lorrie is skilled in forecasting, data mining, data analysis, text analytics and reporting using SAS and R.

Callaway King

Marketing & Research Coordinator

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Callaway King

Marketing & Research Coordinator

Callaway is the Marketing and Research Coordinator. In her role, she works cross-functionally with both the Cooperative Insights and Marketing teams and primarily works to develop, facilitate and report on online focus groups with Cooperative Insights.

Callaway graduated in December of 2021 from the University of North Carolina Wilmington with a Business Degree concentrated in Marketing Strategy.

Cooperative Difference Survey

Cooperative Insights also has the privilege of supporting Touchstone Energy® Cooperatives in its ongoing National Survey on the Cooperative Difference. This annual exploration into the cooperative value proposition provides critical market intelligence on the drivers of member satisfaction and engagement and has been central to Touchstone Energy’s brand strategy.