Ballots hit the mail March 10
||| FROM SUZANNE OLSON for ORCAS POWER & LIGHT COOPERATIVE |||
As a member-owned cooperative, OPALCO members elect the Board of Directors who are responsible for
setting policies and rates, essentially guiding the course for our electric utility. The 2023 nominations process is
complete and the slate of candidates is:
- District 1 (one open position): Vince Dauciunas – Incumbent
- District 2 (one open position): Rick Christmas – Incumbent, Chuks Onwuneme
OPALCO is hosting a Candidate Forum for members to hear from the candidates on March 9 at 5 p.m. The
virtual event will be moderated by Steve Bowman, of the League of Women Voters, and members are encouraged to come with questions for the candidates. Register for the candidate forum online: www.opalco.com/events.
Ballots and voting materials will be sent to all co-op members on March 10 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. 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 for all open board positions every year regardless of where they live. Candidate information is available on OPALCO’s elections hub: www.opalco.com/election
The election closes on April 26 at 10:00 a.m PT. Ballots must be submitted online or by mail to SBS; no ballots
can be accepted at OPALCO offices. Election results will be announced at the virtual Annual Meeting via Zoom
on Saturday, April 29 starting at 9 a.m. and then posted online and published in local papers.
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.
