OPALCO Announces two upcoming planned outages on Tuesday, September 25 at 12:30 am & Tuesday, October 23 at 12:30 am… All of San Juan County will be affected by a series of two planned outages necessary for BPA to replace a section of one of the two main power lines that feeds the San Juan Islands from  Continue Reading

OPALCO tree trimming crews are at work throughout San Juan County clearing vegetation from around power lines for safety and to prevent outages this coming winter. This work is part of OPALCO’s routine annual line clearance program – also called Right of Way (ROW) clearing. Trees and vegetation in the ROW, in proximity to high-voltage  Continue Reading

All of Orcas, Shaw, Blakely and some of Lopez island were without power for almost 10 hours after a car accident on Lopez took out a transmission pole at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, August 17th. Power was completely restored by 8:15 p.m. to Orcas, Shaw and Blakely and by 11:30 p.m. to all of Lopez.  Continue Reading

OPALCO’s first big community solar project is complete and energized! On July 31, 2018, the 504KW-DC array began producing power. The 272 OPALCO members who invested in the project will begin to see credits on their September bill for the energy produced to date. Member participation ranged from one unit to as many as 160  Continue Reading

Governor Jay Inslee proclaims July 10 Line Worker Appreciation Day… OPALCO’s team of line workers keep the lights on for more than 11,300 co-op members on 20 islands in San Juan County. That is no small task! Governor Jay Inslee has proclaimed July 10, 2018 as Lineworker Appreciation Day and OPALCO invites its members to give  Continue Reading

New Phone System Improves Outage Info Calling Local Musicians! OPALCO Wants to Highlight Local Talent If you’ve called OPALCO lately, you’ve noticed the new phone system. Like it is in the rest of the world, callers start out with an automated menu and press a key to get what they are looking for. Press ONE  Continue Reading

The Sun Shines at OPALCO Meeting on the Ferry; Struthers and Christmas Elected OPALCO members boarded the ferry on Saturday, April 21st to participate in the 2018 Annual Meeting. This year the meeting was on the interisland ferry, resulting in significant cost savings for co-op members. With a hearty “Here Comes the Sun!” OPALCO celebrated  Continue Reading

Beginning at 10:00am on Wednesday, March 21st, OPALCO members can purchase units of the Co-op’s first Community Solar project, while they last. To get yours, go to www.opalco.com/solar and fill out the participation agreement (live 3/21). The one-time cost to participate is $150 per unit (75W) and members can purchase multiple units in this 350KW  Continue Reading

Schedule Change: OPALCO Candidate Forum Thursday, March 15 only There are two open positions in this year’s OPALCO election and only two candidates. Because this is an uncontested election, OPALCO has scaled back the candidate forums; there will only be one forum: Thursday, March 15 at Oddfellows Hall on Orcas Island at 6 pm. The  Continue Reading

Candidates Named for OPALCO Election; Nominations by Petition due 2/23 The volunteer member Elections & Governance Committee has selected two candidates as nominees for the OPALCO Board of Directors election, District 2 (Orcas, Armitage, Big Double, Blakely, Fawn, Little Double and Obstruction islands), in April 2018. The following were nominated by a vote of the  Continue Reading

OPALCO Seeks Board Candidates for District 2 (Orcas et al) Nominations are now open for the 2018 OPALCO Board of Directors election. There are two positions up for election in District 2 (Orcas, Armitage, Big Double, Blakely, Fawn, Little Double and Obstruction islands). Interested co-op members from District 2 can apply to be nominated through  Continue Reading

Fired Up! Ready to go! Island Women’s March invites all islands to participate in a sidewalk march on January 20th, 2018 in Friday Harbor. We will meet at the Friday Harbor Courthouse on 1st Street, next to the American Legion. Staging time will be at Noon and the march will start at 12:30. The Saturday  Continue Reading

OPALCO + PNGC = more power to shape our islands’ energy future PNGC is a power supplier and cooperative of 15 regional electric cooperative utilities who are banding together to build greater access to affordable power, renewable resources and to influence public policy. It also increases OPALCO’s buying power as we plan for an energy  Continue Reading

Preserving, interpreting and exhibiting the history of San Juan Island are key components of the San Juan Historical Society and Museum’s mission. With the maintenance of 1.6 acres of property, eight buildings averaging 90 years of age, insurance and utilities, there are many expenses involved with the overall day to day running of your Historical  Continue Reading

OPALCO Bills Go Up in January – average of $7 When OPALCO members open their bills in January, they will be about $7 higher. Most of the increase is driven by the 2017 installation of “George” (our new $15M submarine cable named after George Goff), inflation and BPA rate increases. This change represents a 5%  Continue Reading

OPALCO Members Get Year-End $$ Money Back! Colder temperatures in 2017 brought in greater revenue than projected and, as a result, all OPALCO co-op members who paid a bill for any part of 2017 will receive a credit on their last bill in December. The average credit for residential members (based on typical energy usage)  Continue Reading