OPALCO 2026 Annual Meeting and Member Festival Another Success!
Derevensky and Stern Win Seats in OPALCO 2026 Board Election
On Thursday, May 7, OPALCO held their virtual Annual Business Meeting, where the meeting minutes from the 2025 Annual Meeting were approved and the election results were announced. Ray Glaze of the OPALCO Election and Governance Committee announced the results of the 2026 Board Election. In District 1 (San Juan et al), Laura Derevensky was elected with 764 votes. In District 2 (Orcas et al), Laura Stern was elected with 701 votes. A total of 1,997 ballots were cast, which equates to 16.98% of the membership.
OPALCO also bid farewell to outgoing Board President Vince Dauciunas, who is stepping down from the Board after more than a decade of service. He joined the OPALCO Board in 2011 and has since dedicated himself towards director training and gaining an in-depth understanding of the electric industry. OPALCO is grateful to Vince for his many years of service on the Board, and wishes him well in his next chapter.
OPALCO is required by the Rural Utilities Services (RUS) to hold an annual meeting each year. This year’s meeting had 55 community members in attendance.
The following day, Friday May 8, members joined the OPALCO team on Lopez Island for the Annual Member Festival held at the Lopez Center for Community and the Arts. The festival was a huge success, with around 200 co-op members in attendance! The community center transformed into a family friendly educational activity center for the day, featuring the entire OPALCO team and lots of great swag giveaways and information.
Members had the chance to meet the OPALCO team and learn about the inner workings of a meter with our engineering team, or learn about how to save money and electricity with OPALCO’s Switch It Up program with the energy savings team. Attendees could also meet the linecrew and go up in a bucket truck ride, or get a lesson in electrical safety at the safety board demo – where members can see an example of what happens when electrical safety practices are not used properly. The OPALCO Board and Leadership team were also in attendance to answer questions and take comments.
There were 7 electric vehicles as part of the EV showcase, which included the ID.4 from Karmart VolksWagen, the Leaf from Nissan of Everett, the C-HR from Foothills Toyota, and the Silverado, Blazer, and Equinox from Blade Chevy. Members had the opportunity to tour each vehicle and speak with representatives about features and functions. Island Rides, a local non-profit that provides environmentally responsible transportation services to San Juan County residents in need, brought their all electric Chevy Blazer.
The festival had kids activities galore! There was plenty to do, including enjoying the beauty of bubbles from the bubble machine, taking a ride in the bucket truck, jumping in the bouncy house, and learning about basic electricity with a paper circuits activity. While kids were playing, parents could stop by the educational booths to get tips on maximizing energy savings, get connected with local businesses and services, and learn more about the ins and outs of their local electric cooperative.
To cap everything off, members gathered around for the grand prize raffle drawing, which featured 15 unique prizes. Prizes ranged in size and function and included electric tools like saws, vacuums, pressure washers, shrub shears, and more! Thanks to generous donations from OPALCO’s partners and local vendors for making the raffle possible. Sponsors included Pacific Steel Structures, General Pacific, Streamside Renewables, Island Excavating, NWPPA, Cooperative Response Center, Olympic Electric, PNGC Power, Pacific Energy Ventures, NISC, West Mechanical, MSF Data Services, Steinbrueck Family Excavation, Ascent Law Firm, West Sound Utility Construction, and Environmental Science Associates.
OPALCO is grateful to all the community partners who came to the event and shared information or provided resources including Rock Island Communications, Comfort Ready Homes, Island Rides, West Mechanical, Western Solar, Swiftwater Electric & Solar, EcoView Windows & Doors NW, Sunset Builders, and Cascadia Home Services.
Members who missed the Annual Meeting or Member Festival can watch the video recording and read the 2025 Annual Report on the OPALCO document library. The Annual Member Festival rotates each year between the big 3 islands, so if you missed out this year, don’t fret! We’ll be coming to an island close to you soon. We’ll see everyone next year for a great event on Orcas Island!
