All OPALCO offices county-wide are closed 2-11-16
— from Suzanne Olson for OPALCO —
OPALCO offices are closed today [Thursday, Feb. 11, 2016] after an act of vandalism, including threats of violence, occurred at the headquarters in Eastsound. The San Juan County Sheriff’s office is investigating. No further details are available at this time.
OPALCO’s chief concern is for the safety of its staff and crew.
OPALCO asks its membership for understanding during this brief closure and encourages members to come forward with any information about suspicious activity around OPALCO’s facilities or staff. Please call the Sheriff’s office at 378-4151 if you have any information to share.
Thank you for your cooperation.
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.
My husband and I read about these threats and cannot believe that this sort of extremist behavior is occurring on Orcas. Civil discourse, even over very sensitive issues, is the only way that good decisions about our island community can be achieved. We hope that the Sheriff’s Office will track down these spineless individuals who threatened OPALCO and/or its employees and that this sort of behavior will be punished in the strongest fashion.
Remember this fellow a few years back?
https://www.seattlepi.com/local/article/Man-accused-of-cutting-power-line-pleads-not-1271909.php
Eleanor: Thanks for your clear assessment and support. The Sheriff’s office has received valuable information from the community and I’m hopeful this will be resolved quickly. Meanwhile, we at OPALCO are standing tall and working hard buoyed by the outpouring of support from our membership and the sunny day. Thank you!
My heart goes out to everyone at OPALCO regarding the information posted yesterday. I was very happy to see that the offices were re-opened today. I hope, as I’m sure our whole community does, that this situation is resolved soon.
The individuals responsible for these evil acts must be brought to justice. They deserve nothing less than going to prison. Who has the right to terrorize innocent people. These vigilantes are the worse kinds of cowards and should be punished to the full extent of the law.
I hope this community will step up and demand action and not simply ignore the situation and hope it goes away.
The whole community is threatened by this lawlessness.
It would be nice if the Sheriff’s office could provide additional news on these crimes. As in: who? why? Is this a personal attack on one person who happens to work at OPALCO or a political attack on OPALCO itself. Is it one crazy person or some group? While I am horrified by the idea that anyone would attack and intimidate one person, it is also very troubling that anyone would choose violence in dealing with a decision made by a co-operative of our citizens formed to provide all islanders with essential services. I do not want to live in a place where vigilantes and the fear of them form public policy.
Yes, Barbara, and why are the FBI working on this? We have perfectly capable Detectives here in SJC.
Jurisdiction?
Spirit Eagle
A far more effective way to deal with OPALCO board and CEO mismanagement, gag-ordering, and greed, would be a class action suit by member-owners. A lot of people are angry, and rightly so. This is the extreme of where that anger can be taken but the anger IS justifiable.
I need to clarify my last post – to be clear I don’t condone violence, vandalism, or threats on anyone’s person or possessions.
I also don’t condone lying or misleading stakeholders, gag-ordering or criminalizing whistleblowers, and telling poorer people who can’t afford OPALCO electric or hidden broadband infrastructure charges to “just move if you can’t afford to live here.”
OPALCO used to be great. The board members stood for the people -for its member/stakeholders.
What I mean about the anger being “justifiable” is that it is an appropriate response to be outraged about OPALCO’s disaster of a plan, its steamrolling of the majority of its owner/members’ wishes, its threatening people who don’t agree or who know too much with lawsuits. OPALCO’s rate increases have raised rates of the most vulnerable population – lower income and poor working class people – far higher than the projected numbers tell. Their “plan” will bring us all down. For this, outrage and action to stop further disaster are appropriate.
And while we’re talking about OPALCO WASTE – would OPALCO P.R. or whoever, please STOP mailing us glossy color snake-oil flyers promoting the greedy and hare-brained broadband plan and trying to convince us how great it’s all gonna be and how great it is now? It isn’t. It won’t be. Stop spending member/stakeholders’ money irresponsibly and charging obscene increases in our electric bills if you’re just gonna spend it all on glossy flyers that all go into the trash. Talk about hypocrisy. Just send us our bill from now on, please.