Back to Blog

OPALCO Board Election Opens March 11th: 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.  The 2022 nominations process is complete and the slate of candidates is:

  • District 1 (one open position): Mark Madsen – incumbent, Steven Carleton, Jessa Madosky
  • District 3 (one open position): Brian Silverstein – incumbent
  • District 4 (one open position): Jerry Whitfield – incumbent

Ballots and voting materials will be sent to all co-op members on March 11th 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 for one open position in each district (three districts with open positions in this election) regardless of where they live.

Candidate information is available now on OPALCO’s elections hub: https://www.opalco.com/election-hub/ and a virtual candidate forum is scheduled for March 15th at 5:00pm via Zoom. Register for the candidate forum online: https://www.opalco.com/event/board-candidate-forum/.

The election closes on April 27th @ 10:00am 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 30th (9-11a) and then posted online and published in local papers.

You may also like...

lightbulbs

EGC Announces OPALCO Board Candidates

Nominations by Petition Due March 2 The volunteer member Elections & Governance Committee (EGC) has completed their nominations process and selected a slate of candidates for the 2026 OPALCO Board … Read more
Brian Silverstein, Orcas Power & Light Cooperative board member and former Bonneville Power Administration senior vice president of transmission, holds a copy of a newly signed BPA contract.

Securing Power for the Islands

OPALCO signs a new contract with Bonneville Power Administration Orcas Power & Light Cooperative recently joined 130 other Northwest public utilities in signing new 16-year electric power contracts with Bonneville … Read more
OPALCO crew holding a tailgater safety meeting on site before a job.

OPALCO Takes Safety Seriously

Commitment to employee-driven safety program protects lineworkers Since 2014, Orcas Power & Light Cooperative has participated in the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association’s rural electrical safety achievement program. OPALCO’s safety … Read more