Gardens are getting planted, camping gear is being prepared, the mornings are full of bird songs—yes, spring is arriving in Northern Michigan. While these signs are widely known, another sure sign that spring is here is that Cherryland Electric’s annual Board of Directors election launches today!
Why does this matter? Well, Cherryland Electric is one of nine Rural Electric Cooperatives (RECs) serving our rural communities throughout Michigan. These cooperatives serve members in 60 of Michigan’s 83 counties, powering over 300,000 homes, businesses and farms. This means that our RECs stand to play a critical role in helping Michigan hit our clean energy goals that require Michigan to have 80% of the electric grid supplied by clean energy by 2035 and 100% by 2040. (Want to see how our cooperatives compare with their green programs and member accessibility, check out this Michigan Rural Electric Cooperative Scorecard!)h
How can you help speed the transition to clean energy? Because of the cooperative structure of RECs, member-owners (people who receive their energy from a REC), have a say in the decisions of cooperatives by voting on certain policy issues and being able to elect the Board of Directors, which influences high-level decisions at the cooperative. That means that if you are a member of Cherryland Electric, you can, beginning today, vote in the elections for three board positions!
Groundwork Center is proud to announce our support for two candidates running for the two at-large positions on the ballot: Brian Fenlon and Jim Dyer. You can see all of the candidates’ bios here, and here’s info on how to vote online or by mail.
We are excited to support Brian because as he and his wife and start their own family, Brian plans to continue his family’s tradition of service in our community that goes back to his grandparents. He will always strive to represent the entirety of the co-op membership while also being diligent in decision making, being mindful of what’s best for members and the overall future of Cherryland Electric Cooperative.
And we are excited to support Jim because he has extensive experience with the oversight of municipal utilities, legal training, and decades of experience as a nonprofit board member to benefit Cherryland Cooperative and its members.
If we are able to get both of these candidates on the Cherryland Board, we will have two more local leaders looking at all of the options we have to transition our energy systems to cleaner, cheaper, more reliable, local energy. If you aren’t a Cherryland member but want to support this work, we have several volunteer opportunities! So please let me know if you’re interested and I’ll plug you in.
Clean energy development is going to either move forward or be halted at the local level—having two more leaders who are forward-thinking and understand the need to transition our grid is crucial to help move clean energy forward throughout Michigan.
Cheers to a clean energy future! 
Nicholas Jansen is Groundwork’s Rural Clean Energy Organizer.
nicholas.jansen@groundworkcenter.org
