Back to Blog

Meet the OPALCO Board Candidates March 9th. Ballots hit the mail March 10th.

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 2023 nominations process is complete and the slate of candidates is:

District 1 (one open position): Vince Dauciunas – Incumbent
District 2 (one open position): Rick Christmas – Incumbent, Chuks Onwuneme

OPALCO is hosting a Candidate Forum for members to hear from the candidates on March 9th at 5 pm. 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/events/

Ballots and voting materials will be sent to all co-op members on March 10th 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. 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 all open board positions every year regardless of where they live.

Candidate information is available on OPALCO’s elections hub: www.opalco.com/election.

The election closes on April 26th @ 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 29th starting at 9 am 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