February 2018 Back Page – Candidates for the Board

Posted: February 1, 2018

Here are your candidates for the three board seats you will be voting for. Look for a more detailed brochure arriving with your ballot

later this month. Please cast your vote!

Phyllis Clough (Old Harbor), board member since 2003: We have made some important decisions as a team, making sure impacts on the cooperative are minimal. Future years will be more challenging because funding sources continue to decline. This means AVEC must diversify the way we do business to meet the challenges. We need to find a way to look for sources to address immediate changes.

Peter Demoski (Nulato), board member since 2012: AVEC is an innovator of alternative energy, and through the CEO is a well known and respected public utility throughout Alaska. As a board member for the past several years, I feel that I helped contribute to AVEC’s successes and I would like to continue working toward relieving us in rural Alaska of high energy costs.

Homer Hunter Jr. (Scammon Bay), delegate for five years, village chairman since 2015: I wrote a resolution directing AVEC management and board to protect rural Alaska’s Power Cost Equalization by lobbying aggressively in our capital city in Juneau. Perhaps it has been done before and this is just one of my examples of why I am running for the AVEC Board of Directors. If I am elected, I will be ready to listen to your concerns and suggestions as to how we can continuously improve AVEC at the community and organizational levels during these challenging times.

Helena Jones (Ambler), board member since 1982: In the past 35 years, I have seen AVEC grow and improve. I am proud to say I helped build AVEC to be a strong and positive co-op. AVEC ties the members together. Our growth includes many improvements, including wind and solar power projects, interties, reliable electricity, local hire and new fuel delivery barges. Although I have served for 35 years as a board member, I feel that my work and dedication to AVEC is not done yet.

Enoch Mitchell (Noatak): AVEC has a big impact on our village community economics and style of living these days, and we all want a good living made to be continuous with a safe economic state. Today, the prices of everything has gone up and we all want to work to make our living more affordable and safe. With that, I am expressing my interest in joining our AVEC Board of Directors.

Robert Okitkun (Kotlik): A cooperative effort with the tribes could enable AVEC to buy fuel from BIA at a reduced cost. Conversion to LNG or natural gas will leave us a cleaner environment. North Slope communities have converted to natural gas for electric generation and home heating. Perhaps AVEC can introduce talks with the regional corporations and tribes to explore for natural gas. AVEC serves the same communities of many of the rural villages as the tribes and it makes sense to work cooperatively with them.

Henrietta Tom (Stebbins): I am interested in running for a board seat because AVEC has been part of my life ever since I can remember. I am interested to see how I can serve all others using the knowledge I have gained all these years. Both my dad and husband have been power plant operators, and I would like to see doors open from this opportunity. I have served on our corporation and am very interested in expanding my knowledge of AVEC.