In one of the largest ever attended at the Annual Meeting of Orcas Power and Light Cooperative (OPALCO), 100 ballots were cast for two board positions in District 1, which includes San Juan, Brown, Henry, Pearl and Spieden Islands.

George Mulligan was re-elected and Vince Dauciunas, nominated by petition, was elected with 62 votes more than his closest opponent. There were 1,165  absentee ballots submitted in advance.

Chris Thomerson was re-elected as the OPALCO Board President. Other board officers elected were Jim Lett as Vice President and  John Bogart as Secretary and Treasurer.

Three local students received the first annual Nourdine Jensen Cooperative Youth Scholarship Program awards, including a $500 scholarship check and a week at the Youth Rally leadership camp at the College of Idaho. The students awarded were Susanne Mietzner of Orcas High School, Connar Smith of Friday Harbor High School and Samantha Swanson of Spring Street International School.

General Manager Randy Cornelius spoke about OPALCO’s long-range energy plan including rates, energy efficiency and load management.

“The more each member practices energy efficiency and conservation, the more we can manage our load as a Co-op and forestall future higher market rates,” Cornelius said.

Cornelius encouraged members to help develop and support Member Owned Renewable Energy (MORE).

He applauded the group of seven members who worked over the past year to develop the new program, which is set up for members to participate by buying blocks of local member-produced green power on their monthly bills.

“It’s much like the green power program that’s been in place since 1998,” Cornelius said. “The difference is: now all of your donations are going to support local renewable energy generated by fellow co-op members right here at home.”

Also at the meeting, the Get Connected Small Home Improvement Loan Program through Islander’s Bank was unveiled to help with energy efficiency home improvements. The program offers low-interest loans of $2,000 to $10,000 to qualifying households in San Juan County for targeted home improvement projects.

For more information contact your local Islander’s Bank branch.

For info about OPALCO visit www.opalco.com.