Vote in OPALCO’s election!
Voters eligible to win prizes!
||| FROM KRISTA BOUCHEY for ORCAS POWER & LIGHT COOPERATIVE |||
The OPALCO election opens March 5 th and the Co-op will be hosting a Candidate Forum on that same day so co-
op members can meet the candidates. 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. It is part of the OPALCO Bylaws to hold an annual election and to get a quorum 10% percent of the
members need to vote!
As an electric cooperative, democracy is one of the principles that guide how the organization is run. Get
involved and vote. Voting also makes you eligible to win one of our great prizes (including electric home and
lawn tools)!
The 2025 nominations process is complete. There are three open positions and the candidates for the 2025
election are:
- District 1 (one open position): Mark Madsen
- District 3 (one open position): Brian Silverstein
- District 4 (one open position): Jerry Whitfield
Everyone votes for every open position, regardless of home island.
On March 5 th at 5 pm, OPALCO will be hosting a virtual Candidate Forum for members to hear from the
candidates. The virtual event will be moderated by Steve Bowman, of the League of Woman Voters and
members are encouraged to come with questions for the candidates. Register for the candidate forum online:
https://www.opalco.com/event/opalco-board-candidate-forum/.
Ballots and voting materials will be sent to all co-op members on March 5 th 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: https://www.opalco.com/election-hub/. The election closes on April 22 nd @ 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, April 25 th at the San Juan County Fairgrounds! OPALCO will
have the Annual Business Meeting (still virtual) on Thursday, April 24 at 8:30 am via Zoom. Our Annual Member
Festival is on Friday, April 26 th from 3-6pm. This event is for all members and will have information booths, give
aways, 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. Members who cast their ballot are eligible for prizes, as well as those who attend the meeting on April
25 th . If you have questions – 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.
**If you are reading theOrcasonian for free, thank your fellow islanders. If you would like to support theOrcasonian CLICK HERE to set your modestly-priced, voluntary subscription. Otherwise, no worries; we’re happy to share with you.**
I’d like to know how many people applied to be candidates. OPALCO, if you would answer this please…
OPALCO has a great board and every year certain positions are open for reelection (the election seats are staggered). This year we had three open positions and 4 applicants. One candidate did not meet our eligibility requirements as outlined in our Bylaws (available on our website). We did lots of outreach and the OPALCO Elections and Governance Committee spread the word wide and far to attract qualified candidates (we reviewed all the outreach we did in our February Board Materials also on our website). Even though our election is uncontested this year we still need to meet our Bylaw requirements of a 10% quorum of voters. So please vote and encourage your friends and neighbors to vote! It’s the co-op way! And please if you know someone who may be a good candidate to run for the OPALCO board encourage them to get involved by coming to Board Meetings and reaching out to us ahead of election season and we can point them in the right direction in how to apply and what is needed to qualify. Email me if you have more questions: communications@opalco.com