FEC annual meeting is Saturday in Kalispell

Members of Flathead Electric Cooperative democratically control their Co-op and conduct its business via their annual members meeting. This year, the meeting takes place on April 22 at Canvas Church. If you pay an electric bill to Flathead Electric Co-op, you are a member. Co-op staff and Trustees look forward to visiting with members and to recognizing the Co-op’s 86 years of service in the community. 

Members will learn about the Co-op’s commitment to continued resilience in the rapidly evolving electric utility space. General Manager Mark Johnson will present his yearly report, and Chris Christensen, Director at NorVal Electric Cooperative in Glasgow will also address the membership. Christensen is the first Montanan elected as an officer of the National Rural Electric Cooperatives Association (NRECA) Board of Directors and recently ended his term as President of the NRECA Board of Directors. In addition, those running for Trustee positions will speak. 

Registration and breakfast begin at 8:30 a.m., followed by entertainment with local 1950s band the Fabulous Bel Aires. The business meeting commences at 9:45 a.m. and will adjourn around 11:30 a.m. Childcare is available on a first-come, first-served basis.

There will be prize drawings for those in attendance, including the grand prize, a $500 energy bill credit. Four $500 scholarships will be awarded to area high school seniors planning to enroll at an accredited Montana university or college. To be eligible, the student’s parent or guardian must be a Flathead Electric Co-op member, and the student must be present at the meeting. There is no application process; names will be drawn from those high school seniors in attendance. 

At the meeting, members will hear from candidates seeking to fill the trustee seats up for election in District 6 (West Valley, Marion), District 8 (Bigfork)  and District 9 (Libby).

For members who vote electronically, the online election opens April 24 at 8 a.m.  Those members can vote via an e-mailed link sent directly from Survey & Ballot Systems (the Co-op’s independent election vendor); their online account; or their My Co-op app. Members who have not opted-in to receiving an e-ballot will receive a paper ballot in the mail the week of April 24. 

Although members have multiple options to cast their ballot, each member can vote only once. Survey & Ballot Systems has controls in place such that if a member submits multiple votes, no vote will be counted. The Flathead Electric Cooperative election closes on Friday, May 19. Paper ballots must be received by the election vendor by this date and electronic voting closes at 11 a.m. on that day.