OPALCO candidates announced

Vote in OPALCO’s election! Voters eligible to win prizes.

||| FROM KRISTA BOUCHEY for ORCAS POWER  & LIGHT COOPERATIVE |||

The 2026 OPALCO election opens March 18th! To allow members to meet each candidate and hear about their vision for the co-op, OPALCO will be hosting two virtual candidate forums (one for each district) on March 18th and March 19th from 5-6 pm on Zoom.

As a not-for-profit member-owned cooperative, OPALCO members elect the Board of Directors who are responsible for setting policies and rates and guiding the course for our electric utility. It is part of the OPALCO Bylaws to hold an annual election and every vote counts; 10% of the membership is required to vote in order to reach a quorum. As a cooperative utility, democratic member control is one of the
seven guiding principles of the organization. Get involved and cast your vote! Plus – members who vote  will be automatically entered to win some great raffle prizes, including electric appliances and tools!

The 2026 nominations process is complete. There are two open positions and the candidates for the 2026 election are:

District 1 (one open position):

• Laura Derevensky
• Drew Gislason
• Richard Goodhart
• Adrian Kilpatrick

District 2 (one open position):

• Chuks Onwuneme (Incumbent)
• Conor Anderson
• Rick Fant
• Michael Readey
• Laura Stern

Everyone votes for every open position, regardless of home island.

Due to the large number of candidates for this year’s election, the candidate forum will be split into two sessions, separated by district. This way, there will be enough time to hear from each candidate and ask questions without running over time. Join the OPALCO team and moderator Steve Bowman, of the League of Women Voters, for the virtual candidate forums on March 18 th and 19th at 5 pm.

Members are encouraged to come with questions for the candidates. Register for the candidate forum online: www.opalco.com/event/opalco-board-candidate-forum/.

Ballots and voting materials will be sent to all co-op members on March 18th via regular mail and e-mail (if there is an email address on file). OPALCO is required to get a quorum of at least 10% of the membership and will be encouraging voter participation by sending paper ballots to every member this year. Our third-party election vendor, Survey & Ballot Systems (SBS), has measures in place to make sure
each voter gets only one vote. All members vote in each district for all open positions regardless of where they live.

Candidate information is available now on OPALCO’s elections hub: www.opalco.com/election-hub/.

The election closes on May 4th @ 10:00am PT. Ballots must be submitted online or by mail to SBS; no ballots can be accepted at OPALCO offices.

The Annual Meeting is coming right up on Friday, May 8th at the Lopez Center for Community and the Arts! OPALCO will have the Annual Business Meeting (still virtual) on Thursday, May 7th at 8:30 am via Zoom. Our Annual Member Festival is on Friday, May 8th from 3-6pm. This event is for all members and will have information booths, giveaways, electric vehicle showcase, kids activities, a BBQ, bucket trucks, and safety demonstrations. The traditional annual meeting prizes will be back: great electric tools and useful items to make your electric life better. If you have any questions about voting, candidate forum, or the annual festival, contact communications@opalco.com.

Orcas Power & Light Cooperative (OPALCO) is our member-owned cooperative electric utility, serving more than 11,400 members on 20 islands in San Juan County. OPALCO provides electricity that is 97% greenhouse-gas free and is generated predominantly by hydroelectric plants. OPALCO was founded in 1937.