— from Islands Energy Coalition —
Dear OPALCO members,
We, the undersigned, are members of the Islands Energy Coalition (IEC), a coalition of individuals from throughout the San Juan’s. Our primary goal is to bring awareness to energy issues ranging from the global to the local.
On April 14th we hosted the only OPALCO candidates forum in the San Juans. The candidates running are all impressive in their own right. That said, this election cycle we have chosen to support Vince Dauciunas and Steve Hudson for the OPALCO Board. Additionally we are in support of both proposed bylaw changes #1 and #2.
Four of the six candidates were able to attend the forum. Candidates Vince Dauciunas, Glenna Hall, Brian Hoyer and Steve Hudson, gave introductory comments and answered questions from the audience for over 90 minutes. We are fortunate to have many qualified people running for OPALCO Board. Our support for Dauciunas and Hudson is based on both oral and written statements. Looking at the current board composition, we feel Dauciunas and Hudson will bring a balance of technical competency and responsive engagement with members.
We support both proposed bylaw changes on the ballot because we believe the membership will benefit from greater transparency and accountability in decision making. Although we disagree with the projected costs for implementation as published in the OPALCO ballot, even when using these high figures the cost of less than $1.50 per member per year for the Information Meetings (Bylaw #1) and $3 per member for acquiring streamed audio-visual capability for board meetings (Bylaw #2) are well worth the costs considering that OPALCO is making multi-million dollar decisions that will affect members for years to come.
These next few years are particularly crucial as our coop makes decisions to leave the ‘electric only’ coop business and venture deeper into broadband. The annual electricity bill for a household with average consumption went up $77 this year, with an expected cumulative increase of $246 by 2016.
To read candidates’ answers to questions and listen to the recorded forum discussion, visit: islandsenergy.wordpress.com. Please vote by May 3 either by email or in the paper copy you received in the mail.
Sincerely:
Chom Greacen, Jeff Dyer, Sandy Bishop, Chris Greacen and John Bogert
