OPALCO Announces New Member Survey

— Help Leadership Set Rates and Funding Priorities

— from Suzanne Olson for OPALCO —

As OPALCO leadership prepare for the 2016 budget and rate discussions, members are encouraged to give their feedback on rates and funding priorities through an online survey at www.opalco.com/survey. The survey is open until September 15th.

In addition to soliciting member feedback on rate structure options, the survey addresses how OPALCO should fund incentives for energy efficiency, conservation and renewable power over the next two years. Historically, our funding for these rebate programs has come through Bonneville Power Administration (BPA). Our rebate programs have been so successful that, as of the end of 2015, we will have spent our BPA allocation for rebates through October 2017. OPALCO will have to consider self-funding for any rebate programs during this two-year interim. The survey describes some possible ways forward and invites member feedback.

Survey results will be published online in November. Member input will inform the direction of the 2016 budget and rate structure decisions.

Members will receive a $5 credit on their OPALCO bills when they complete the survey and include their account number. Survey data is anonymous; the account number is used to avoid duplicates and is then extracted from the data to use in crediting member bills.

Members are encouraged to attend board meetings to join in the conversation – about rates and finance or any of the policy and direction issues that our Board discusses. These meetings are a forum for member commentary and participation.

For the latest information about OPALCO, go to: www.opalco.com; sign up for our email newsletter (https://www.opalco.com/about/email-signup/); and follow us on Facebook (Orcas Power & Light Cooperative) and Twitter (@orcaspower). OPALCO is our member-owned cooperative, powering more than 11,000 members on 20 islands in San Juan County since 1937.