OTEC opens board election, Baker County seat among three up for vote

Baker County’s seat is one of three up for election as Oregon Trail Electric Cooperative opens its 2026 board race, a vote that goes straight to the utility decisions that affect monthly bills, reliability and long-term system planning for local members. OTEC’s board sets business and policy direction for the cooperative, which is member-owned, and the Baker County position is currently held by Aletha Bonebrake.

The cooperative says its board has nine members, each elected by fellow member-owners to three-year terms, with rotating district elections meant to keep leadership tied to the counties OTEC serves. This year’s ballot includes Position 1 for Union County, Position 2 for Baker County and Position 3 for Harney County. Jeff D. Clark is the incumbent in Union County, and Robert Cargill holds the Harney County seat.

For Baker County residents who depend on OTEC for power in homes, farms and businesses, the stakes are practical as much as political. OTEC serves about 32,000 meters and nearly 60,000 residents across Baker, Grant, Harney and Union counties, and its distribution system stretches more than 3,000 miles with an investment of more than $204 million. That infrastructure makes board oversight especially important when the cooperative weighs reliability upgrades, maintenance priorities and capital spending.

The election timeline is already moving. Members who want to run have until May 7 to contact the nominating committee and request forms and qualification information. Petition nominations are due June 7. Ballots will go out in early July, and election results will be announced at the annual meeting on Thursday, August 6, 2026, at OTEC’s Baker headquarters, 4005 23rd St, Baker City. In 2025, the cooperative used the annual meeting to announce election results, and Charlene Chase won the Baker County seat.

OTEC says petition candidates need signatures from at least 50 members qualified to vote. Director candidates must be at least 18, be OTEC members, buy service from the cooperative and live in the district they seek to represent. That keeps the race focused on people with direct experience of the cooperative’s service, rates and outage response.

The board vote lands as OTEC keeps expanding its footprint. In March 2026, the cooperative announced a non-binding agreement to acquire PacifiCorp’s Wallowa County service area, a transfer PacifiCorp said would involve 5,514 residential, commercial and irrigation customers if regulators approve it. OTEC also reported $3 million in capital credits returned in 2024 and said total refunds to member-owners and communities had reached $61 million, underscoring how much board decisions can ripple through local budgets and utility costs.