Washington Electric Co-op's 84th Annual Meeting

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VOTING

In 2023, voting will take place by mail and in person at the Annual Meeting. In April, you’ll receive a packet containing ballots for the Board of Directors election and any bylaw changes, plus the Annual Meeting issue of Co-op Currents. Check the deadline to post your votes by mail. WEC members may write in names of unofficial candidates. All candidates run at-large.

WEC will hold an in-person Annual Meeting on Thursday, May 4, 2023. Members are welcome to vote in person this year.

If your voting packet is missing any items, contact us immediately at 802-224-2322.

Thursday, May 4, 2023 at 230 Fassett Road, East Montpelier, VT 05651

Don Douglas of East Orange, Jean Hamilton of Plainfield, and Mary Just Skinner of Middlesex won re-election to Washington Electric Cooperative’s (WEC) member-led Board of Directors. All three elected Directors are incumbent members of the Board. Carl Etnier, of East Montpelier, received the fourth-highest number of votes and was a first-time candidate for WEC's Board of Directors.

Board President Stephen Knowlton thanked all candidates and highlighted Etnier for his commitment to community through serving on the East Montpelier selectboard and in other roles. Knowlton also expressed appreciation to WEC's Ballot Committee for their role in the democratic process.

The total vote counts were Douglas, 643; Hamilton, 629; Skinner, 576; Etnier, 473. Every year three Directors are elected to the nine-person Board.

The results were announced Thursday night by Knowlton at WEC’s Annual Meeting, held at WEC's Operations Center in East Montpelier. Each Board member serves a three-year term, effective immediately. All WEC Directors serve at-large.

At the Annual Meeting...

Director elections, Co-op business, Q&A with staff and Board members
Registration and ballot boxes open at 4:30 pm; Buffet opens at 5 pm
Business meeting begins at 6:00 pm (tentative) - Agenda here
Dinner at no charge by reservation only*
All are welcome, including kids!

Special Presenter: Erica Heilman, producer of the podcast Rumble Strip.

Questions? Please call Rosie Casciero at 802.224.2322.

*To help reduce waste, no-shows will incur a $3 charge on their May electric bill. If you find that you are unable to attend after registering, please call Rosie before April 26 to cancel the reservation and you will not be charged. Thank you!

Make your dinner reservationbefore Friday, April 21

Interested in serving on the WEC Board of Directors?

Thanks for your interest! Oversight of WEC by its member-owners represents one of the unique aspects of how electric cooperatives are governed. Directors serve at large, representing the nearly 10,000 members throughout WEC’s service territory. It is the Board’s responsibility to ensure the financial stability and well-being of the Co-op, equitable treatment of its members, safe operations and distribution of power, environmental stewardship in performing its core mission of providing power, and support of the communities it serves.

If you would like to participate in the democratic governance of your electric Co-op, download a Confirmation of Membership form, review the included information about the Co-op and Board of Directors, and return the completed form to rosie.casciero@wec.coop. Once your membership is confirmed, you will receive a copy of the informational packet for prospective candidates.

We encourage you to contact Board President Stephen Knowlton with any further questions on what it means to serve on the WEC Board of Directors. Steve can be reached at knowlsf@auburn.edu or 802-595-5825.

Download Confirmation of Membership form

Contact Administrative Assistant Rosie Casciero with any procedural questions at rosie.casciero@wec.coop or 802-224-2322

Listing of current WEC Board Members

Candidate Name (select name you are supporting from drop down) *

I, the undersigned member of Washington Electric Cooperative, Inc., do hereby support the candidacy of of the above named Candidate for the Board of Directors of Washington Electric Cooperative, Inc.

Member Name *

First

Last

By entering your name, you are signing this document and indicating your support of the Candidate listed above.

Address *

Address Line 1

Address Line 2

City

State

Zip Code

Map #

Phone *

Important Info

This year, voting may be done by mail and in person at the Annual Meeting on May 4. All mailed ballots must be received by the Barre Post Office by 1 p.m. on Wednesday, May 3, 2023 in order to be counted. Be sure to vote for only 3 candidates; sign the official ballot envelope; place the official ballot envelope in the business reply envelope, then drop it in the mail to the Barre P.O.! Please do not include any correspondence or payment in the envelope(s).

Important Information

2022 Annual Meeting Minutes, approved

WEC Bylaws, updated May 5, 2022

Co-op Currents, April/May 2023 - Annual Report & Annual Meeting Issue

View the Recording of WEC's 83rd Annual Meeting

Cooperatives are locally owned and controlled by their members. WEC’s one member household-one vote system opens up exciting opportunities for members to participate in the decision-making process of the Co-op. They do that by participating in and attending the Co-op’s Annual Membership Meeting which is held in May.

The Annual Membership Meeting is where members have the opportunity to vote for candidates for director and proposed bylaw amendments and to give direct input to the Board of Directors, General Manager and staff. Members who choose not to attend the Annual Membership Meeting in person may participate in the election process by mailed ballot.

All voting members are mailed the Official Notice and Annual Report which includes the annual membership meeting agenda; information about the candidates running for the Board of Directors, any Bylaw amendments being proposed, and any special vote to come before the membership. Members may make reservations for the annual meeting dinner by using the reservation form in the newsletter or printing the reservation form from our website homepage and eeither mailing the form to WEC, PO Box 8, East Montpelier, VT 05651 or completing the form electronically.

Once dinner is complete, members participate in the annual business meeting of the Cooperative. Copies of the Annual Membership Meeting Minutes which will be voted on during the business meeting are available at the meeting for any members interested in reading them prior to voting. Also available at the meeting are the Cooperative’s financial statements and independent auditor’s reports.

May 5, 2022: Farnham, Alexander, & Allen Elected to WEC Board of Directors

Steven Farnham of Plainfield, Susan Alexander of Cabot, and Betsy Allen of Plainfield won election to Washington Electric Cooperative’s (WEC) member-led Board of Directors. Farnham was the sole incumbent running for re-election; Alexander and Allen were newly elected to the Board.

The results were announced Thursday night by Board President Stephen Knowlton at WEC’s annual meeting, which was held virtually. Each board member serves a three-year term, effective immediately. All WEC directors serve at-large.

2022 brought a historic number of candidates interested in serving on the electric cooperative’s Board, as seven candidates vied for three seats. The remaining candidates were Olivia Campbell Andersen of East Montpelier, Pat Barnes of Vershire, Rachel Onuf of Washington, and JJ Vandette of Middlesex.

Knowlton thanked the candidates for their time and consideration. He was gratified by how many members chose to run, he said, and hoped to see them run again in coming years. “Your willingness to learn how a cooperative utility works and how we can serve our fellow members, to have power owned by the people, for the people, is something we don’t find every day,” he added.

“A sincere thank you to each candidate for their interest and their commitment, and congratulations to Steve, Susan and Betsy,” said WEC General Manager Louis Porter. “I look forward to working with our new Board members and our full Board on the many challenges and opportunities our co-op faces, including climate change resilience and supporting members as they implement energy efficiency and beneficial electrical technologies, and to work together to fulfill our mission of bringing reliable, affordable power to our members in an equitable way.”

Read newly elected directors’ and candidates’ policy statements below.

Bylaw amendment passes

WEC members voted to approve a bylaw amendment to allow for electronic (online) voting. Previously, members could vote only in person or by mailed ballot.

The bylaw amendment also allows notice of member meetings to be delivered electronically, at a future time when the Board of Directors determines available technology can reach members reliably, efficiently, and equitably.

Finally, the amendment updates language to use gender-neutral terms and clarifies omissions and ambiguities in the text of Article II. Members may request a copy of the bylaws anytime or click here to read them online.

ZOOM MEETING INFO & LINK

2022 - Background

Every year, WEC’s membership elects three fellow members to serve on the Co-op’s nine-seat Board of Directors. The members who serve in these critical roles oversee management and staff and make policy and leadership decisions for the member-owned electric utility.

In 2022, seven candidates vied for three seats. Two of these seats were vacant, as Directors Barry Bernstein and Annie Reed did not run for re-election. Steven Farnham of Plainfield was the sole incumbent running for re-election.

In alphabetical order, the remaining six candidates were Susan Alexander of Cabot, Betsy Allen of Plainfield, Olivia Campbell Andersen of East Montpelier, Pat Barnes of Vershire, Rachel Onuf of Washington, and JJ Vandette of Middlesex.

In the March issue of Co-op Currents, candidates were invited to make a brief statement to the membership introducing themselves. In the April issue, candidates responded to the following questions:

What is your name, in what town is your Co-op membership, and how should members contact you?
What skills, expertise, and/or perspectives would you bring to the Board?
What are the most important issues the cooperative will face in the next few years? How would you guide the Co-op in regard to these issues?
Is there anything else you would like to tell the members?

Read 2022's elected directors' responses below.

Meet the 2023 Candidates for the Board of Directors

Click the link below each candidate's biographical statement to read their answers to policy-related questions.

Don Douglas

East Orange, VT
dondougla@gmail.com
802.439.5364

I live in East Orange at 21 Douglas Road. I have lived here since 1980. I have been a co-op member since 1978. I retired a few years ago after working for the Postal Service as a rural letter carrier for 37 years. I delivered mail in parts of Topsham, Corinth, Orange, Washington, Newbury, and Bradford. I can be reached at home at 439-5364 or by email at dondougla@gmail.com. I am always happy to talk about WEC and energy issues in general.

I was recently appointed the Vermont representative to the national board of the NRECA which represents all electric utilities in the US. It is an honor to represent Vermont on the national level and it’s quite an education hearing about the issues and solutions from all across the country. I have served on the WEC board since 1999 and have served as Board Treasurer since 2000.

I have been involved in coops nearly my entire life. My hometown in East Tennessee was served by the TVA and got its electricity from Hydroelectric, Coal, Wind, Nuclear and Solar. In college, I joined and helped start food coops and even a garbage coop that was making compost in Austin, Texas. Here in Vermont, we started the Sugar Maple Cooperative Nursery school in 1984. Coops exist to serve a need. More than 50% of the United States did not have electricity before the creation of the REA in 1937. WEC serves the most rural, the most difficult terrain in Vermont because there is less money to be made serving us. Despite the challenges of weather and geography WEC supplies reliable renewable energy to our more than 11,000 members.

My name is Don Douglas and I have lived in East Orange since 1980. I am always happy to talk with members about WEC and energy issues in general. My home phone is 802-439-5364. I can also be contacted by email at dondougla@gmail.com. I am retired now but served as a rural letter carrier in West Topsham and East Corinth which included parts of Orange, Washington, Corinth, Newbury, and Bradford. Serving a rural mail route for more than 30 years gave me the opportunity to get to know a wide variety of WEC members. I have maintained contact with many members who I served when I drove my 94-mile route because I have continued to serve as board treasurer since 1999 when I first joined the WEC board.

Because I am the board Treasurer my attention is towards the complicated finances of an electric cooperative. WEC is somewhat unique among cooperatives and most electric utilities because we own both a small hydro generating facility and a landfill gas to energy facility which together produce about 70% of our power needs. Because the amount of rainfall varies from year to year and because the landfill in Coventry produces methane by anaerobic microbial activity, which can be affected by a variety of factors, the output from Wrightsville and Coventry are never completely known or measurable. We make forecasts based on educated guesses. WEC borrowed some $17,000,000 to build the Coventry plant with the approval of the large majority of our members. Repayment of that debt is mostly built into our electric rates. We do see a problem as the current net metering arrangement allows some members to be free of the burden of repaying a loan, we all agreed to repay. This is a political problem and I believe it can be resolved.

I am an optimist in the future of WEC and in all electric utilities because of new technologies that are coming. Last year I was appointed to serve as the Vermont representative to the national board that represents more than 900 electric cooperatives across the USA. I have been learning about new battery technologies and ways utilities can connect to those batteries when the grid gets stressed. WEC does not have the meter technology today, but we will be able to connect directly to an electric car or truck or a battery connected to a solar net-metered household in the future. This is already being tested in cooperatives and utilities around the country to the benefit of both the homeowner and the utility.

Washington Electric has been leading the way towards sustainably producing electric service to our members. We have always tried to encourage the best use of electricity. WEC was an early advocate of solar net metering and delivers 100% green power to everyone. We are one of the only utilities in the country that does not use herbicides to maintain our right of ways because of the fear of contaminating surface wells. It does cost more but we feel it is our responsibility to be good stewards of the natural world.

Carl Etnier

East Montpelier, VT
carletnier+wec@gmail.com
802-441-3337

I have been with WEC since I moved to my home in East Montpelier in 2001. I am running for my first term on the board; my experience on boards is that they benefit from a mixture of senior members with institutional knowledge and newer members with fresh perspectives. You can reach me by phone at 802-441-3337 or by email at carletnier+wec@gmail.com.

I have focused on some aspect of sustainability my entire career. I studied sustainable agriculture at Cornell before there was a formal program by that name. During a 10-year stint in Sweden and Norway, I moved into sustainable wastewater treatment, working with ways to reuse the nutrients in human waste as fertilizer, helping establish the field of ecological engineering for wastewater treatment, and educating young scientists and activists from around the Baltic Sea region when the collapse of the Soviet Bloc first made that possible. Back in the US, I continued with sustainable wastewater work, until concerns about energy supply led me to grapple with energy questions through radio, print, and online journalism and on a local energy and resilience committees. I have been exploring and promoting community resilience in that way since 2006.

I serve as vice-chair of the East Montpelier Selectboard, which I've been on since 2011. (I served as the board champion for the town vote in favor of joining CV Fiber, and I'm pleased that WEC is cooperating with the organization to help bring high-speed internet to all of us.) I learned a lot about the co-operative model, and running a successful business that embraces values beyond the bottom line, as a board member of Hunger Mountain Co-op. There, I chaired the bylaws committee that overhauled the co-op's bylaws and led to a member vote to pass the changes in 2022. I also served for years on the board of the Vermont chapter of the American Friends Service Committee.

Can a rural utility like WEC avoid mass defection of our members in the face of the twin threats from climate change and plummeting prices on solar electricity and battery storage? Vermont's electric rates are high in the US, and WEC's rates are high in Vermont. At the same time, disconnecting from the grid is getting cheaper--and more attractive for non-economic reasons, too. The multi-day Christmas outages (six days in my neighborhood, and longer in some places) were the result of a powerful storm that's becoming more common with climate change. I know people living off the grid in WEC's service territory who said they "laughed" at the outages while they carried on as usual.

At what point do a significant number of (especially wealthier) members disconnect, leaving the rest of us to pay for maintaining the same number of miles of lines in the wooded hills of rural Vermont? On the brighter side, as more members shift to heat pumps and electric cars, WEC has the potential to significantly boost revenues per mile of electric lines. The choices WEC makes in coming years will be critical to its ability to serve all its members with reliable, affordable, renewable electricity.

Mr. Etnier elected to submit only one statement.

Jean Hamilton

Plainfield, VT
jean.myung.hamilton@gmail.com
802-777-6546

I have been a WEC member from Plainfield since 2014 and a member of the WEC Board since 2017. Members are welcome to contact me by phone 802-777-6546 or by email jean.myung.hamilton@gmail.com.

Since moving to Vermont in 2000, I have worked in sustainable agriculture and the local food system. My career in farming and food systems has helped me hone the skills and perspectives that I bring to the WEC Board. Food and energy are similar in that they are essential resources with large environmental impacts moving through highly complex market systems. I am a nuanced and strategic thinker and am committed to designing community solutions that prioritize healthy communities. Within the energy sector, my vision is 100% aligned with WEC’s values: Provide energy from clean reliable sources, help members meet their energy needs as efficiently as possible, operate safely and reliably, and cultivate community in all that we do.

I am running for the board because I love this organization, I love this community, and I want to use my skills to make it easier for you to affordably and renewably meet your energy needs. Climate and market instability is pushing and pulling our co-operative in different conflicting directions. Now is time for all of us members to lean in, engage in honest dialogue, and courageously imagine the energy future we want to build together.

I hope I have a chance to keep working with the Board, Staff and Member Owners to advance weatherization initiatives, innovative distributed energy programs, and a community culture of care.

Go WEC!

I have been a WEC member since 2014 and a member of the WEC Board since 2017. In 2014, I moved to Plainfield from Starksboro, VT where I was a member of the Vermont Electric Co-op. Members are welcome to contact me by phone at 802-777-6546 or by email at jean.myung.hamilton@gmail.com.

Since moving to Vermont in 2000, I have worked in sustainable agriculture and the local food system. I graduated from Middlebury College in 2004 with a degree in Environmental Studies and Religion. In 2012, I earned a master’s degree in business management from SDA Bocconi in Milan, Italy. Over the last 20+ years I have had the pleasure of working with farmers, food producers, food markets, non-profit organizations, and eaters to help build Vermont’s delicious and resilient local food system. During the pandemic, I had a front row seat to see our food system in action as a founder and coordinator of Vermont Everyone Eats. Now, I work with The Skinny Pancake as Director of Mission and Impact.

My career in farming and food systems has helped me hone the skills and perspectives that I bring to the WEC Board. Food and energy are similar in that they are essential resources with large environmental impacts moving through highly complex market systems. I am a nuanced and strategic thinker and am committed to designing community solutions that prioritize healthy communities. Within the energy sector, my vision is 100% aligned with WEC’s values: Provide energy from clean reliable sources, help members meet their energy needs as efficiently as possible, operate safely and reliably, and cultivate community in all that we do.

I specialize in community organizing, sustainability, systems design, good governance, and socially responsible business strategy. I bring my engaged and ambitious attention to board discussions and strategy-making particularly to issues around public policy, sustainable business management, resilience in the era of climate change, and community development. I love living in Vermont and appreciate the broadly shared values of land stewardship, resiliency, and neighborliness.

The past 6 years of serving on the WEC Board has been an extraordinary learning experience. Previously, I never could have imagined how tirelessly each member of our small but mighty staff work to keep our homes, farms, schools, and businesses powered up! 90 years ago, our founding members knew how challenging and important electrification was to our rural communities; in the face of those challenges, the community worked together towards self-em’power’ment. Today we are facing complex challenges of our own. Over the next three years, our WEC must strike a balance between pursuing innovative new energy solutions, streamlining operations, and cultivating a widespread understanding of the power of cooperative ownership. Climate and market instability is pushing and pulling our co-operative in different conflicting directions. Now is time for all of us members to lean in, engage in honest dialogue, and courageously imagine the energy future we want to build together.

I look forward to working with the Board, Staff and Member Owners to advance weatherization initiatives, innovative distributed energy programs, and a community culture of care.

Being a member of WEC is awesome. I know sometimes it can be confusing what it means to be a cooperative. To me, what it means is that all of our voices count. Unlike other businesses who primarily serve investors, WEC serves us, the people who are most impacted. I have constantly impressed by the care and work ethic of all of the WEC member owners, the Board of Directors, and the staff. Go WEC!

Mary Just Skinner

Plainfield, VT
maryjustskinner@gmail.com
802.223.7123

I have lived in Middlesex since 1977. I have been a WEC member for 46 years, and before then I was a Vermont Electric Coop member for 7 years. I was married for 49 years when my husband Scott passed away in 2018. We have two sons and daughter in laws with three grandchildren. I can be reached at 802-223-7123, 802-636-7592 (cell), and by email at maryjustskinner@gmail.com.

I graduated from Barnard College and earned my law degree at Columbia University. I was a practicing attorney in Montpelier from 1972 until recently. I worked for Vermont Legal Aid for four years and then opened my own law practice in 1978. My practice primarily involved family law, real estate, and probate, but earlier I was involved in a number of utility cases. I represented a group of low-income Vermonters in what was known as the “purchased power” case in 1974 which went to the Vermont Supreme Court. We won. That meant utilities could not automatically increase rates without the then Public Service Board’s approval.

I have been a member of the WEC board for 11 years. I’m a WEC officer, Secretary. I serve on three committees: Chair of Power and Operations, Finance, and Policy. I served on the Community Fund committee until recently. I was a member of the Middlesex Select Board for 24 years until March 2022, the last thirteen as Vice Chair. I also served seven terms in the Vermont State Senate, including a period as Chair of the Senate Finance Committee, which handles utility legislation. I am a member of the Vermont Human Services Board, having been appointed by two governors. The Board hears appeals from Agency of Human Services decisions.

I have lived in Middlesex since 1977. I have been a WEC member for 46 years, and before then I was a Vermont Electric Coop member for 7 years. I was married for 49 years when my husband Scott passed away in 2018. We have two sons and daughters-in-law with three grandchildren. I can be reached at 802-223-7123, 802-636-7592 (cell), and by email at maryjustskinner@gmail.com.

I’ve enjoyed serving on the WEC board. I would be honored to serve another term. If re-elected, I will bring the expertise I have acquired to the important decisions WEC faces in this rapidly changing world. The biggest challenge facing the Coop is the rapidly changing weather conditions caused by global warming, as evidenced by the consecutive, significant wet-heavy snow storm and the major FEMA storm Elliot during the Christmas holidays. These two weather events, one coming on the heels of the other, caused 12,000 member outage hours. Some members were without power for a few hours and some were out for up to 6 days.

As Chair of the Power and Operations Committee, this reality has been, and is, the focus of our discussions and will continue to be in the future. WEC needs to prepare better resiliency of its system to reduce its response time to emergencies. We need a new automatic meter infrastructure, replacing all 12,000 existing meters with new advanced meters and downstream devices on our distribution system. Coupled with the build out of high-speed internet throughout our territory, these steps will allow us to gather more accurate information about weather events and their effect on our system before our work crews head out during storms.

Fortunately, the Coop has made wise decisions about the sources of our power supply, all renewable, with the Coventry landfill gas-to-electric generation plant, Sheffield wind, Wrightsville hydro, long term hydro power contracts with New York State, and WEC’s Net Metering projects. It should be noted that WEC is a winter peaking utility so power from the Net Metering projects provides far less KWHs, and is less beneficial to the Coop, during the winter months when it is needed most.

WEC is still the most rural utility in Vermont. We serve miles of rural utility lines with relatively few customers, eight per mile, so we must continue to be creative, agile, and farsighted to meet our goal of providing reliable electricity at an affordable price in a global warming environment. This is the a major focus of the Board and I want to continue utilizing the experience I have gained to further progress in achieving this goal.

I believe in the cooperative model that can act in the best interests of our members, as opposed to acting to increase financial profit to shareholders.

I would be honored to serve another term on the WEC Board and to continue the work before us in these changing times. Please feel free to contact me to discuss your concerns or ideas for the future.

2022 Elected Directors

Susan Alexander

Cabot, VT
mullandmor@gmail.com
802.563.3259

Elected to WEC Board May 2022

Despite reading Currents for decades and having seen vacancies on the Board come and go, I only now find myself at that perfect intersection of time, opportunity, and interest to support WEC as a board member. I welcome the challenge of becoming fluent in the world of electricity and utility regulation while bringing my own toolbox of skills and knowledge in continuing a solid path forward, maintaining the excellent service members expect, and supporting the organization and its leadership. In the years that I have been a member, I have seen WEC grow, change, succeed, and lead largely due to the cooperative model of customer engagement and support. I consider WECs renewable energy portfolio as a source of community well-being knowing there is stewardship and sustainability underpinning our energy choices that fuel our daily activities. Working within my community to improve our overall health and well-being is a basic tenet of mine. Clean and affordable energy options are good for us in Vermont and for the planet and that is something I want to be a part of. Given the recent changes in both the staff and on the board makes applying for this vacancy that much more appealing to be able to learn and grow with these new professionals in the next leg of WECs history.

I live in Cabot and am a long-time member of WEC. When we moved here, ours was the first power line brought up the road and we have enjoyed increasingly good and clean service since. My professional career has spanned both private and public sectors. For the past 12 years I have been self-employed as an environmental management consultant and the founder and former owner of a small craft beverage business. I currently work as an independent contractor managing the Lamoille Solid Waste District’s 5 recycling facilities and Lamoille Soil Composting facility. I have degrees in both Forestry (College of ESF) and Soil Science (Cornell). I am available by phone 802-563-3259 or email mullandmor@gmail.com.

Working for a 12-member Board I am cognizant of the commitment and dedication required of Board members. My work has also provided me with experience digesting government regulation and policy. Having served on a number of Boards (school, wastewater, community coalition) I can appreciate the need for diverse perspectives in building a strong program and making compromises when presented with compelling data. When the ban on food scraps in the landfill was passed, I was in the process of building a composting facility that would effectively cut into the supply of methane that runs WECs generators in Coventry where my electricity was being generated. Understanding and communicating both sides of that equation is an excellent example of where conflicting regulatory and policy priorities benefits from a broad base of stakeholders and decision makers. Additionally, I have experience building budgets, reading financial statements, managing a staff of 18 and I am currently responsible for a $1.7M budget.

Always important to members are cost and efficiency and while WEC has been a leader in renewable energy and staunchly promoting efficiency there is no terminal point on those fronts. Making best use of Coop dollars, investing wisely and monitoring debt being critical functions. Updating and security of our infrastructure and the extended network may be less on members minds and yet a real challenge with accelerating technology. And not in any order is climate, climate, and climate. I am involved with a community of practitioners through the Climate Catalyst program of the Vermont Council on Rural Development creating tools to connect, share, and support efforts to mitigate impacts on climate. I am not an expert and I am aware there will be a steep learning curve to become proficient in content and priorities and yet I welcome that.

Thank you for the opportunity to take up the mantle representing our membership on the WEC Board with hopes of filling some very big shoes although that will certainly take some time.

Betsy Allen

Plainfield, VT
betsallen@gmail.com
802.535.7088

Elected to WEC Board May 2022

As a recently retired elementary public school teacher and math coach for elementary and middle school teachers, I would be honored to be elected to the Board of Directors for the Washington Electric Cooperative team.

During my 30 year teaching career, I had many opportunities to work with teacher and administration teams. I led many professional learning communities of grade level teachers, presented at staff meetings, and was a member of local and national math curriculum development teams, as well as a math coach to elementary and middle school teachers. Numerous workshops, the Snelling Institute, and several advanced degrees taught me leadership and team building skills that apply both to school and business settings and that I will bring to the WEC Board of Directors.

One of the reasons I am running for a position on the WEC board is that I have noticed how this cooperative really works hard to support our community and its members in many ways. They offer incentives for energy efficient heat pumps and water heaters, pellet stoves and furnaces, home electric car chargers with a power shift program, and the Community Fund. They recently revised the electric rate structure to reflect today’s energy use. And they continue to evaluate utility resources and be 100 percent renewable. These business decisions are all made by thoughtful and caring Board members who work hard to serve our community members’ electric needs.

The newest challenge is deciding about WEC’s involvement to help provide fiber optic broadband service to our rural towns. This is a complicated issue that your Board of Directors and Manager have been researching. If elected I would learn more about this issue and how it may affect the financial future of the cooperative and members.

In short, I am excited to run for a Director position to join the WEC team of dedicated community members and employees who play such an important role in supporting our community and lives. I am a hard worker who will bring commitment to listen to and consider member needs as decisions are made. Thank you for your vote.

Hi, I am Betsy Allen. You can reach me at betsallen@gmail.com or leave a phone or text message at 802-535-7088.

Prior to moving to Plainfield, I resided and raised two children in Glover. My former husband and I built our home and maple sugaring businesses, which some of you may know. Sugarwoods Farm produced and marketed maple products and Waterloo USA sold maple equipment. As in any small business, I learn to do it all. My responsibilities included tapping and boiling, canning syrup, wholesale and retail sales, marketing, bookkeeping, purchasing and inventory, and whatever else was needed.

In addition to co-owning the maple businesses, I have worked in public education for more than 30 years. I was an elementary classroom teacher, then (and currently) a math coach to elementary and middle school teachers, and a graduate level instructor for teachers. Numerous workshops both local and national, the Snelling Institute, and several advanced degrees taught me leadership and team building skills that apply both to school and business settings. I will bring my experience and tools to the WEC Board of Directors.

While my children were young, I volunteered as a Girl Scout leader and started cross country ski programs for the Glover School and the Bill Koch Ski Program for area kids. I wrote grants to secure ski equipment for the school where I was teaching. Those were very busy years!

When I moved to East Hardwick and built my own home, I chose to live off the grid with a battery solar system and back up generator. This was a personal choice to live simply with renewable power. I look forward to working with WEC’s commitment to 100 percent renewable energy.

When electric cars first emerged on the market, I was right there, along with the initial WEC and federal incentives to purchase a Nissan Leaf. I had a Level 2 Charger installed (bought used from Steve Knowlton). I currently own my second electric car, the Chevy Bolt. I am excited WEC has been in the forefront to support members with incentives, charging stations, and the power shift program.

As we move ahead with technological advances and increased electrical needs with heat pumps and water heaters, pellet stoves, electric cars and more, I believe my personal experiences and history of choosing alternative energy resources will contribute to making informed and thoughtful decisions. I enjoy working with teams of people to affect positive change.

I am eager to run for a Board of Director position to join the WEC team of dedicated community members and staff who play such an important role in supporting our community and lives. I am a hard worker who will bring commitment to the job. I will listen to and consider member’s needs as decisions are made. Thank you for your vote.

Steven Farnham

Plainfield, VT
Steven4WEC@gmail.com
802.917.2581

Re-elected to WEC Board May 2022

Residence: Five generations of my family have been WEC members since power lines were strung across our farm in Plainfield, my home since birth. The farm’s WEC membership has been in my name since 1995. You may contact me at Steven4WEC@gmail.com, or 802.917.2581.

Background: Graduated local school system, secured Associate’s in Electronics (with Honours) from VTC; subsequently furthered studies in Business Administration at UVM, and the International College of Cayman Islands. Early engineering career consisted of work at Mitel Semiconductor, GE, and DEC (Digital Equipment Corporation) in Quality Assurance, Manufacturing, Technical Support, and a summer job servicing substation equipment at Green Mountain Power. Recent endeavours include semi “retirement” in heavy equipment operation, selling agricultural products, carpentry, machinery repair & restoration.

Community: WEC Board since 2019, including service on the Power and Operations Committee, as well as present or past service on boards of Hunger Mountain food co-op, Vermont Philharmonic, and Cutler Library. Served with Cutler Friends of the Library, Plainfield planning commission, and Justice of Peace. Fifteen years host of weekly community affairs program - WGDR-FM. Judge at Vermont State Science and Math Fair (now Vt STEM Fair), Volunteer at Barre Opera House, Lost Nation Theatre, and Montpelier Senior Activity Center (pre-CoViD). Forest Pest First Detector: Trained to recognise signs of various exotic invasive tree-eating insect pests.

I have participated in over 75 conferences and seminars aimed at land and woodland management, community/leadership development, environmental concerns and personal interest. These include: Arbour Day (6), Grazing (>5), Forest Ecology Monitoring Cooperative (5), NOFA-VT, Vermont Coverts Cooperator, Vermont Woodlands Association (>3), Abolitionist Challenge (2), Consumer Cooperative Management Association (4), Neighboring Food Co-op Association, Municipal Day (3), Slow Living Summit (3), VECAN (4), VNRC (3).

Current membership in five co-ops: Credit Union, Co-op Insurance, Energy Co-op of Vermont, Hunger Mountain Food Co-op, Washington Electric, and lapsed/past memberships in six others: Cabot Creamery, City Market (Onion River Co-op), Granite City Grocery, Onion River Exchange, Plainfield Co-op, Vermont Development Credit Union (now Opportunities Credit Union).

My affinity for co-ops stems from their obligation to serve their members. No IOU can make that claim. Washington Electric Co-op serves its members well; I am committed to seeing this continue and improve. It’s been an honour to serve my first term; I’d appreciate your support to serve another. Thank you.

Community: WEC Board of Directors since 2019, as well as present or past service on boards of Hunger Mountain food co-op, Vermont Philharmonic, and Cutler Library. Served with Cutler Friends of the Library, Plainfield planning commission, and Justice of Peace. Fifteen years host of weekly community affairs program - WGDR-FM. Judge at Vermont State Science and Math Fair (now Vt STEM Fair), Volunteer at Barre Opera House, Lost Nation Theatre, and Montpelier Senior Activity Center (pre-CoViD). Forest Pest First Detector: Trained to recognise signs of various exotic invasive tree-eating insect pests. Current membership in five co-ops. Past membership in six others.

My affinity for co-ops stems from their obligation to serve their members, not a separate elite. Washington Electric Co-op serves its members well, and I am committed to seeing this continue and improve. When outages occur, WEC’s priority is to see that its members’ power is restored. It is uncertain WEC’s 11,000 rural households would be priority if served by a larger, corporate utility that also served more densely populated areas. WEC’s philosophy places high priority on preventative maintenance in an effort to avoid outages in the first place.

The need for broadband in much of WEC territory provides an opportunity for WEC to broaden the service it provides its members. The WEC Board and Staff have been deeply involved in conversations with various stakeholders to make this a reality, and I support WEC’s continued involvement in the effort to design and implement the optimal means to enable under-served and unserved WEC members to finally have the advantage of this vital 21st century technology.

Another way I would like to see WEC broaden its offerings is to facilitate establishing home-generated power for its members. At present, grid design and the political and regulatory environment are not exactly friendly to the peaceful co-existence of utility-generated, and home-generated power, especially in areas of low-population-density like WEC territory. I believe the two can co-exist to the advantage of the end-user, utility, and the environment, and we should strive to make this happen. Maintaining a clean, livable environment, addressing climate change, and enabling energy independence are far more important than who wins the battle over energy production market share. WEC should lead the way, and evolve to meet this need.

I believe there is an abundance of brilliant thinkers in WEC territory who can help in these efforts, and the WEC board needs to increase its interactions with these resourceful individuals. Member engagement is not merely a matter of broadcasting “current” company thinking and activity via the newsletter, Co-op Currents. Member engagement means just that: engaging the members.

If one wants to escape a box, one must first dare to think outside it. It took that kind of thinking to extract WEC from its commitment to Seabrook Nuclear, and it took that kind of thinking to build Coventry. If WEC wants to continue to pioneer revolutionary, innovative, cost-effective, environmentally friendly means to keep members' homes and businesses powered, illuminated, and connected, then WEC needs to elect individuals able to imagine bold new ideas.