Co-op Elections

Current democratic process doesn't need new legislative rerstrictions

BY MONA NEELEY, EDITOR/PUBLISHER

The new year is well underway at Colorado’s electric cooperatives. And with a new year comes a new round of board elections. Here in Colorado, electric co-op members get to vote on their board representation every year. Electric co-ops are member-owned organizations that were formed to meet their members’ need for reliable and affordable electricity. And one of the best ways they make sure they are meeting the needs of the membership in ways the membership wants is through those board members who are the elected representatives of the membership.

That democratic control is one of the seven co-op principles that every co-op operates under. The other principles are voluntary and open membership; economic participation by members; autonomy and independence; education, training and information; cooperation among cooperatives; and concern for community. All of these principles are designed to keep co-ops operating in the best interests of their members. The democratic control that comes with director elections is an important part of that.

The Colorado Rural Electric Association’s 21 member co-ops have a total of 176 board members who represent co-op members. Boards range in size from as few as six members to as many as 12. Some of the board members have years of experience, are well-versed in how the electric industry operates and understand how their co-op has gotten to where it is today. Many others are newer board members; in fact, almost 19 percent of current board members are new to the board they serve on in the last three years. These new members bring new perspectives and new energy to their boards.

The result is a good mix of experience and enthusiasm. The boards benefit from the long-term members’ knowledge of a complicated, highly technical industry and from the ideas for new approaches that come with new faces on the board.
These board members have been elected from among their peers who depend on the local electric co-op for their power. They have volunteered their time for little compensation and have been entrusted with protecting the financial viability of their co-op while establishing an overall focus for the co-op during a challenging time in the industry.

Not all of the members they represent are happy with all of their decisions. That is inevitable when tough decisions have to be made. However, one disgruntled co-op member and board candidate has gotten the attention of state Rep. Claire Levy (D-Boulder). She has introduced House Bill 1098, which would change the election process for Colorado’s electric co-ops.

While some of the requirements of HB 1098 simply codify existing election practices, other provisions of the bill impose unnecessary restrictions on the rights of the co-op employees and directors. CREA’s members already go to great lengths to conduct open and fair elections.
Many of you will notice announcements starting to run in this month’s co-op newsletters and in your local media calling for nominations for board positions that are up for election. State law already allows any qualified person to become a candidate for an electric co-op board by gathering 15 signatures. Your co-op bylaws outline this procedure. Many of you can find those bylaws on your co-op’s website, or you can get a copy by stopping by the co-op office. These announcements are generally run about 60 days ahead of the annual meeting and allow several weeks for candidates to get their name on the ballot. Announcements are running now for the March annual meetings. For those with annual meetings later in the year, you’ll see your announcements at the appropriate time.

HB 1098 is also written to keep the co-op and co-op employees from getting involved in board election processes. This seems to be an attempt to muzzle the co-op so it can be taken over by a group with a different agenda. Why would you keep those who actually know what’s going on inside the co-op from speaking out?

Remember, an electric co-op is a utility that was formed when friends and neighbors came together to find a way to work together to provide themselves with affordable, reliable electricity. Those who receive the electricity are members, and the board members are elected from among those members.

There are no big profits or salaries to be made by serving on the board. Decisions made in the boardroom affect each and every board member just as they affect the rest of the membership. And each co-op currently has a system in place to make sure those board members are fairly elected to represent the co-op members. The majority has spoken in each of the nearly 175 elections held for co-op board members in the last three years.

Those challengers who lost their elections to the board didn’t lose because the system is flawed. They lost because they ran on a platform that didn’t represent the majority of those voting.

If they want to serve on a co-op board, they need to get to know their neighbors and fellow co-op members and find out what kind of representation they want on the board. They need to be prepared to represent the memberships’ agenda, not a personal agenda. That will get them elected.