Members of Michigan electric cooperatives are becoming more involved in cooperative business as electric cooperative communicators embrace new media. This educational shift encourages member-owners to learn more about cooperative initiatives and future plans such as renewable energy and electric vehicles. One passionate cooperative member is excited to see growing engagement from new media use after decades of in-person advocacy for Cloverland Electric Cooperative.
Sault Ste. Marie resident, Heidi Witucki has had a powerful voice at Cloverland Electric Cooperative for decades. Witucki attends Cloverland Electric Cooperative’s monthly board meetings and always provides community insight to the board of directors during the public comment section.
Witucki’s roots at Cloverland Electric Cooperative began with her family’s involvement in bringing electricity to the rural Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Witucki’s family owned a farm in an area of the Upper Peninsula that had no access to electricity.
“I remember when they brought utilities poles to the farm,” Witucki states. “It was a day of celebration when they ran the first power lines.”
Access to reliable power was a life changing moment that sparked the Witucki family’s involvement at Cloverland Electric Cooperative’s Board of Director meetings.
“I remember going to every board meeting as a kid,” Witucki recalls. “I started paying attention in the board meetings when I was about 14 years old.”
Witucki rarely misses a board meeting and has a direct line of communication to the board of directors when she hears about an issue or problem affecting a cooperative member
As a member-owned electric cooperative, Cloverland Electric is managed by a board of directors that is elected by and from the cooperative’s member-owners. The board of directors meets once a month to hear from the cooperative’s management team, vote on new initiatives and provide direction the cooperative’s chief executive officer. All board meetings are open for member-owners to attend.
Witucki explains that while not many members attend the open board meetings, they do discuss cooperative initiatives on local Facebook groups. One Sault Ste. Marie area Facebook group has over 14,000 members – over a third of the rural city’s population. Witucki shares Cloverland Electric’s Facebook posts to this group and often receives feedback from members.
“People are paying attention to our little electric cooperative,” Witucki states. “It just makes me so proud to see how far we have come through the years.”
Witucki has never been employed by the cooperative. Her interest in Cloverland Electric Cooperative comes from knowledge that the rural Upper Peninsula did not always have access to reliable electricity. She is proud of the tools Cloverland Electric is using to reach members with information. A specific new media tool Witucki enjoys sharing is the cooperative’s videos on storm safety and preparedness.
While Witucki is most often an advocate for the cooperative, she also reminds board members that they answer to their member-owners. Witucki’s involvement at the cooperative shows that one passionate voice can make a large impact when backed by consistency and compassion. Witucki’s passion and presence at board meetings is now a respected tradition at Cloverland Electric Cooperative.
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