Front row, left to right: Shelly Pinkelman, Bob Kran, John LaForge, Dale Farrier
Boyne City, MI – Great Lakes Energy (GLE) members recently elected three board members to the cooperative’s board of directors. Election results were announced at the cooperative’s annual business meeting on Aug. 25, 2021.
Incumbent directors Mark Carson of Boyne City, and Paul Byl of Shelby were re-elected in districts 2 and 7. Challenger David Coveyou of Petoskey earned the seat for district 1. Coveyou overtook incumbent Paul Schemanski of Petoskey and Carson edged out challenger Nathan Altman of Beaver Island.
In voting district 1, Coveyou received 823 votes, Schemanski received 666 votes. In voting district 2, Carson received 619 votes, Altman received 377 votes. In voting district 7, Byl received 277 votes.
GLE members in voting districts 1 (Emmet County), 2 (Charlevoix and Cheboygan counties), and 7 (Muskegon and Oceana counties) received their mail-in ballot in the July/August issue of Michigan Country Lines magazine. Voters returned their ballots to a private CPA firm by Aug. 19 and results were announced Aug. 25 at the GLE annual meeting.
Unlike investor-owned utilities, GLE is a not-for-profit business owned by its consumer-members. Board members are elected by members, not staff, with each member’s vote carrying equal weight. The cooperative conducts an annual meeting to update members on the progress made during the past year and to announce the results of director elections.
GLE provides electricity to roughly 120,000 rural members in 26 counties along the western side of the lower peninsula. Visit gtlakes.com for more information.
