2021 MEA Elections
What is the Matanuska Electric Association (MEA)
The Matanuska Electric Association was established in 1941 making it the first electric association in Alaska. Today, more than 53500 members make up the ownership of MEA which serves the communities of Eagle River, Chugiak, Birchwood, and Eklutna in addition to the Mat-Su Borough. If you pay electricity bills to MEA, you are one of these member-owners! MEA is governed by bylaws and articles of incorporation that are voted on and approved by the member-owners of MEA. This role comes with rights and responsibilities such as voicing your opinion at monthly MEA Board meetings, getting monthly updates from MEA, and most importantly, voting for key by-law changes and members of the board of directors.
The MEA board of directors work closely with the CEO to provide reliable and affordable electricity and guide the cooperative in the future. The board of directors is made up of four district based representatives and three directors at-large who are elected at the spring annual members meeting and serve 4 year terms. MEA’s service area covers approximately 4,500 miles of power lines in Southcentral Alaska.
What MEA means to the SRC Community
It is important to elect MEA board members who support expanding collaboration along the railbelt, speaking out against wasteful projects such as the Susitna-Watana Dam, and increasing engagement from member-owners like you! MEA plays a large role in the Railbelt Reliability Council (RRC) which is an effort between electric associations from Fairbanks to Homer to share power and innovation ideas.
Energy innovation is great but projects such as the Susitna-Watana Dam have shown us that we need responsible board members advocating for responsible renewables on the MEA board and the RRC. That is why the Susitna River Coalition has launched a program to engage member-owners of MEA across the 4,500 miles of powerline to get out and vote for good candidates in the MEA board elections every spring
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Important Dates:
Friday, March 26th
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Ballots and Election information sent to members Mail Boxes
Friday, March 26th @ 12 PM
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Online Voting Begins using members SmartHub account
Tuesday, March 30th @6PM
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SRC & AKPIRG present an MEA Election Round Table with the Matanuska Board Seat Candidates
Tuesday, April 6, @ 6PM
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SRC & AKPIRG present an MEA Election Round Table with the Eagle River Board Seat Candidates
Monday, April 26th
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All Ballots (both mail and online voting) are Due by 5:00PM
Tuesday, April 27th @ 6PM
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MEA Virtual Annual Membership Meeting
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Mark Masteller,
SRC Endorsed Candidate for The Matanuska MEA Board, 2021
Mark Masteller is a longtime Alaskan who came to Palmer 33 years ago to work for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. For the past 20 years his work has been related to building science, energy efficiency, and renewable energy systems. He now teaches online for the University of Alaska Fairbanks Bristol Bay Campus where he is Director of the Sustainable Energy program. Mark was elected to the MEA board in 2017 and is seeking re-election this year. He is opposed to the construction of the Susitna-Watana Dam and is the only member of the board who advocates for a diverse, renewable energy grid in the MatSu.
To learn more about Mark you can visit his facebook page and campaign website
If you are a member within the Matanuska or Eagle River District, you can vote in this election!
This year, both the Matanuska and Eagle River/Chugiak districts are on the ballot. This means only people who live within the orange or green areas can vote for a board member this year however.
Who are the other candidates?
Brandi Burchett
Matanuska
Brandi Burchett is running for MEA Board “to impact the projects and the direction in some of the ways MEA supports its members to include substation upgrades, power outages, and be a part of the way MEA makes progress towards energy efficiency”. She received a master's degree in counseling from Webster University in December 2009 and now works as the Chief Clinical Officer at Akeela inc., an organization which provides substance abuse treatment. Brandi moved from North Carolina to Alaska in July of 2019.
Stephany Jeffers
Eagle River
Stephany Jeffers moved to Chugiak when she was one year old. Since then, with the help of an MEA scholarship, she attended Whitworth University in Spokane where I received my B.S. in Biology in 2007, and continued her education at UAF where she received a M.S. in Biological Sciences. Since then, Stephany found her forever home right here where she grew up. Stephany is a small business owner, artist, and community advocate. She has run in 3 separate elections since 2018 including State House, Assembly, and finally State Senate in 2020. She is running for MEA Board “to give back to my community and help shape what our energy future looks like”. Stephany has always made an effort to listen to all of the perspectives on an issue and make a fact based decision. She is opposed to the Susitna-Watana Dam project.
Mark Hamm
Eagle River
Mark Hamm is a lifelong Alaskan who has lived in the MEA service area for 8 years. He has been the Chief Financial Officer at the Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association since 2012. Mark is sympathetic to renewables saying in a Facebook post he “has designed and built a small solar electric project to power lights and a charging station at our family's off-grid cabin”. Mark has expressed what his priorities are on the MEA board writing on Facebook he “want(s) to ensure that our families, community, and local businesses have access to reliable, affordable and sustainable electrical services”.
Jackie Endsley
Eagle River
Jackie Endsley has lived in the MEA service area for 40 years and worked for MEA for 15 of those in billing, dispatch, as the Eagle River District Office Supervisor, and spent her last years there as a meter reader. Upon leaving MEA, Jackie received a dual degree in Journalism and Psychology from the University of Alaska Anchorage. After college, she worked for IBEW Local 1547 as the Community Relations Coordinator until she retired four years ago. Jackie is environmentally conscious and believes that MEA should pursue more renewable forms of energy. If elected, she has committed to thoroughly research all aspects of the Susitna Watana Dam Project before voting on this important issue
Dan Flodin
Eagle River
Dan Flodin is a lifelong Alaskan who currently works as the Chief Procurement Officer (CPO) for Alyeska Pipeline Service Company. Before that Dan was Alyeska's Supply Chain Management Director for 17yrs. Dan wishes to serve on the MEA board to bring his “passion for working with community leaders and stakeholders, bringing a sense of humor, honesty, and results-orientation”.
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Donn Liston
Eagle River
Donn "respectfully declines our forum" and requested that all information about him be removed from our website.
More information about Donn can be found on MEA's site.