More than 100 Homer Electric Association members met in Soldotna last night for the electric co-op’s annual meeting of the members — a chance to hear from the utility’s management and elect new representatives for HEA’s nine-member board of directors.
According to results announced last night, incumbent Jim Duffield will keep his seat representing Kenai, Nikiski and parts of Soldotna for District 1. He had 616 votes to challenger Rob Ernst’s 393.
Dan Green was elected over incumbent C.O. Rudstrom for the seat in District 2, representing Soldotna, Sterling and Kasilof, 783 votes to 417.
And incumbent Jim Levine will keep his seat representing the southern peninsula for District 3. He had 968 votes to Mike Jones’s 683.
Of HEA’s 25,000-plus members, 3,931 cast ballots in this election.
At the meeting, General Manager Brad Janorschke also acknowledged the final results in the special election in Seward, announced just hours before, in which voters rejected a sale of their city-owned utility to HEA by just seven votes.
Janorschke said his staff have spent a lot of time in Seward leading up to the election, talking to voters about the benefits that could come from a merger.
“I know, it’s a heartbreaker,” he told members Thursday night. “But it is what it is.”
You can watch the full meeting of the members here.
