Three familiar names top election for PenLight electric co-op board

Three incumbents were re-elected as directors of the Peninsula Light Co. in annual elections held Monday.

Paul Alvestad, Debra Ross and Nick Markovich were chosen by members of the electric cooperative to serve new three-year terms. All are incumbents. The unsuccessful candidates were Ken Malich and Michael Cobey.

Alvestad and Markovich are Gig Harbor attorneys. Ross is Gig Harbor property manager retired from the Peninsula School District.

At a board meeting following the May 3 election, the board again chose Alvestad as president, Scott Junge as vice-president, Spence Nordfors as treasurer and Ross as secretary, according to a company release

Peninsula Light has nine directors, three of whom are up for election every year. An election committee selects candidates, and the top three vote-getters are elected.

Founded in 1925, PenLight is the second largest cooperative in the Northwest, serving more than 32,000 members with 986 miles of line and 112 square miles of service territory in Gig Harbor, the Key Peninsulas, and Fox Island.

Out of 32,268 mailed ballots, 4,432 were returned, yielding a participation rate of 13.73 percent, slightly more than the required quorum of 12 percent

Vote tallies were: Alvestad – 3,224, Ross – 3,202, Markovich – 2,700, Malich – 1,707 and Coby – 1,207. There were 62 write-ins.

This story was originally published May 4, 2021 at 12:36 PM.