Annual Member Festival a Big Success!

Madsen, Silverstein, Whitfield Win Seats in OPALCO 2025 Board Election

On Thursday April 24, at the OPALCO Business Annual Meeting, Rick Fant of the OPALCO Election and Governance Committee announced the results of the 2025 Board Election. In District 1 (San Juan et al), Mark Madsen was elected with 1,664 votes. In District 3 (Lopez et al), Brian Silverstein was elected with 1,674 votes. In District 4 (Shaw et al), Jerry Whitfield was elected with 1610 votes. A total of 1801 ballots were cast, which equates to 15.4% of the membership.

Fant encouraged OPALCO members to step up and serve on the volunteer Elections and Governance Committee (EGC). The EGC is responsible for cultivating qualified candidates for each board election. There are currently open positions on the EGC. The time commitment is reasonable: committee members work year-round on a casual basis to identify potential candidates; meetings are concentrated November through January during the election season. OPALCO is required by the Rural Utilities Services (RUS) to hold an annual meeting each year.  During the meeting, OPALCO Board President Vince Dauciunas, talked about the uncertain future of the co-op’s power supply and the need to build local, renewable energy projects. Twenty-four members participated in the Annual Business Meeting.

The next day the Annual Member Festival was held at the San Juan County Fairgrounds. The festival was a huge success with over 350 Co-op members in attendance! The fairgrounds turned into a family friendly educational activity center. The whole OPALCO team was on hand to welcome attendees, give out SWAG, and help keep the event flowing.

Participants got the chance to hang out with the linecrew by going up in the bucket truck, getting a lesson in electrical safety, or trying out a hotstick – which is a tool a lineworker uses to work on energized equipment so they keep their distance and stay safe. Members could also check out the inner workings of a transformer with our engineering team or learn about how to save money and electricity with OPALCO’s on-bill financing program, Switch It Up. The Board and Leadership team were in attendance to answer questions and take comments.

There were nine all electric vehicles from mainland including: Blade Chevrolet that brought the Silverado, the Blazer, and the Eqinox, Karmart Volkswagen with the ID.Buzz and ID.4, Karmart Nissan with the Aria, Bellevue Cadillac with the Lyriq and the Optiq and Swickward Porsche with the Macan. The Friday Harbor STEM class brought the all electric vehicle they built and let attendees take a ride around the fairgrounds. Island Rides, a local non-profit that uses electric vehicles to give community members free transportation, brought their new all electric Chevy Blazer.

There was plenty for the kids to do during the festival including snacking on hot dogs and hamburgers, tossing an earthball, riding in the bucket truck, learning about electric safety with the lincrew and jumping in the giant bouncy house. Parents could swing by the educational booths to get tips on maximizing energy savings in their house, learn about OPALCO’s on-bill financing, check out some local contractors who provide rooftop solar, efficient windows and heating systems. One co-op member after winning an all electric leaf blower in the raffle portion of the event said, “I never win anything!! It was so exciting to get my number called.”

OPALCO is grateful to all the community partners who came to the event and shared information including Rock Island Communications, Sustainable Connections, Comfort Ready Homes, Island Rides, West Mechanical, Orbis World Globes, Western Solar, EcoView Windows & Doors NW and the Friday Harbor High School STEM program.

Thanks to donations from OPALCO’s generous vendors and partners, there was a raffle for members who attended the event and members who voted in our annual election.  Prizes included electric string trimmers, cordless vacuums, electric lawn tools, wet/dry vacuums, insulated coolers, and more. Sponsors included: Olympic Electric, General Pacific, Rainshadow Solar, Streamside Renewables, NWPPA, CRC, Pacific Steel Structures, Steinbrueck Family Excavation, Rain Shadow Consulting, Northsound Communications, West Mechanical, MSF Data Services, West Sound Construction, Swiftwater Electric and Solar, and PNGC Power.

Members who missed the meeting can read the 2024 Annual Report on the OPALCO website. The Annual Member Festival will rotate between the islands – next year it will be on Lopez Island!