Why not have all of us in the community decide, as it has done in the past, whether or not to use a particular company? Perhaps have us decide when to have elections for people to serve as directors for an electric cooperative, and put them to work for all of us to help keep our prices low. We can also use this power to decide whether or not to use an external manager. This is the idea behind shareholder democracy. Instead of the outside manager controlling us from the outside, we control the manager from the inside, as owners of the cooperative.

With this shareholder power, the external manager can become an employee. We the cooperative members do the hiring. We can fire any manager who acts to increase prices or profits for themselves at the expense of community members. This power was used quite successfully in the early days of co-ops when directors were elected by the cooperative members. This is, I believe, the future of co-ops in the energy industry. We in the electricity co-op have the power to take these steps to control our prices and profits. What are we waiting for?

— Jerry Williams is president of San Juan Island Electrical Association. His email address is

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