The District 1 and District 2 positions on the Douglas Electric Cooperative board are up for election this year. Incumbents Terry Nelson and Evan Barnes are running again. There are no challengers for either position. Voting results are announced at Douglas Electric Cooperative’s annual meeting on Saturday, April 5, at Douglas County Fairgrounds.
The District 1 board position can generally be described as Camas Valley, Tenmile, Olalla, Porter Creek, and Reston areas.
The District 2 board position can generally be described as Lookingglass, Happy Valley, Flournoy Valley, San Souc,i and part of Melrose, south of Doerner Road.
District 1 Board Candidate: Incumbent Terry Nelson
The learning experiences of being on the Douglas Electric Board continue to energize Terry Nelson.
“I’m always learning things I didn’t know and understand before,” he says.
Terry is a 30-year member of the board.
“I like the work we do,” he says. “It affects all of my neighbors, it affects my whole community. The staff is excellent to work with. It’s very professional. The board is very professional and cordial. It’s a pleasure to work on a team that does good for the community.
“The board members care about the co-op’s members and give their time to study the issues. I believe if any of our members were sitting in my seat, the majority of them would make the same decisions I have.”
Terry says highlights of his last 3-year term include the staff and line crew moving into a new building and warehouse on Stephens Street in Roseburg. The facility provides the co-op with a more efficient, streamlined process to get projects done and to respond to outages.
Terry says lowering wildfire risk continues to be a focus for the co-op. A $9.1 million grant has allowed the co-op to hire extra crews to keep rights of way under power lines cleared of brush and to take down hazardous trees and branches.
“If there’s a bug-killed tree outside the right of way, and it’s a risk to the lines, we try to get permission from the landowner in order to take it out,” Terry says. “They almost always say take it out.”
A new co-op policy dictates that all new service projects are put underground if at all possible, eliminating the potential of overhead lines sparking a fire.
Sensory equipment on overhead lines helps to prevent wildfires. If the equipment senses a spark, it automatically powers down a line. During the wildfire season, the sensitivity of the equipment is turned up.
“It’s important that we build relationships with all the fire agencies, with all the folks tasked with wildfire, so we can work seamlessly with them when needed,” Terry says.
Terry says another ongoing goal is to keep power coming to the co-op’s members at a low cost.
“Technology keeps changing the equipment we use, but the focus will always be delivering electricity efficiently and at a low cost,” he says. “It’s more complicated than it used to be, but that remains a goal.”
Terry, an electrical engineer and longtime resident of Camas Valley, says he likes the challenge of being on the board.
“It’s good for my hometown to have somebody sitting on the board, and I’m happy to do it,” he says.
District 2 Board Candidate: Incumbent Evan Barnes
Evan Barnes, a 12-year member of the Douglas Electric Cooperative board, is proud of the accomplishments the board and the co-op have made in the past 3 years.
“The new building has made a dramatic change in the cooperative’s efficiency,” he says. “It has streamlined the process of connections for new services from people coming in the front door and the work getting done in the field.”
Evan says the wildfire threat continues to be an ongoing concern for the board and co-op.
“We are concerned whether it’s a bird strike or a branch,” he says.
A $9.1 million grant is funding an increased effort in clearing rights of way of brush and removing hazardous trees and branches along the perimeter. Evan says new lines are going underground when feasible and without creating an unfair financial burden on members.
“It’s a credit to the staff who put together the application for that grant for vegetation management in rights of way, of which we have approximately 1,500 miles,” he says.
Evan says the co-op’s motto is to keep the power on, but the co-op can shut off the power temporarily when low humidity, high temperatures, and high winds create hazards. He says while the staff is prepared for that possibility, so far a Public Safety Power Shutoff has been avoided.
Evan says negotiations are underway for the power purchase agreement with Bonneville Power Administration, which is up for renewal in 2028. He says the goal of the board and staff is to keep rates as low as possible.
These challenges are not insurmountable, Evan says, but it will take a thoughtful approach to deal with each issue.
Evan is proud of the growth of Douglas Fast Net. DFN serves most Douglas Electric members has expanded into Coos and Lane counties and “is always looking for more opportunities,” he says.
With a long career in construction contracting and a strong interest in the utility industry, Evan believes he can continue to be a productive asset to the board and its members. He continues to be the district manager for the Lookingglass Olalla Water Control District and is a Lookingglass Grange member.
Evan has been a board member of the Douglas County chapter of the Oregon Small Woodlands Association since 2012. He and his wife, Lorreen, were recognized as the county’s 2021 Tree Farmers of the Year.
“I’m impressed with the work the staff and crew take on diligently every day,” Evan says of DEC. “I admire how they all come to work for the common cause of keeping the power on.”