2026 Annual Meeting of Members Recap

A total of 2,178 mem­bers vot­ed dur­ing Coastal Elec­tric Cooperative’s Annu­al Meet­ing Reg­is­tra­tion & Vot­ing May 18–20 pre­ced­ing the 2026 Annu­al Meet­ing of Mem­bers on May 21. This year marks 86 years since local peo­ple formed Coastal Elec­tric Coop­er­a­tive to bring elec­tric­i­ty to rur­al coastal Geor­gia.

In addi­tion to a chance to win a $1,000 grand prize, mem­bers who par­tic­i­pat­ed in Reg­is­tra­tion & Vot­ing each took home a mem­ber reg­is­tra­tion gift—a handy large can­vas tote.

Every not-for-prof­it coop­er­a­tive like Coastal Elec­tric Coop­er­a­tive oper­ates by Sev­en Coop­er­a­tive Prin­ci­ples. Coop­er­a­tive Prin­ci­ple 2 is Demo­c­ra­t­ic Mem­ber Con­trol, and that’s what the Annu­al Meet­ing of Mem­bers and mem­ber vot­ing is all about. Dur­ing Annu­al Meet­ing Reg­is­tra­tion & Vot­ing, mem­bers could stop by the Coastal Elec­tric Coop­er­a­tive offices in Mid­way or Rich­mond Hill to reg­is­ter for the Annu­al Meet­ing, vote to elect direc­tors and pick up a tote as a thank you for par­tic­i­pat­ing.

On Thurs­day, May 21, mem­bers tuned in to the Annu­al Meet­ing livestreamed on the co-op’s Face­book page and the web­site.

Lashea Williams of Rich­mond Hill won the $1,000 grand prize, and CEO Chris Fettes and oth­er Coastal Elec­tric Coop­er­a­tive staff deliv­ered details in a year in review, includ­ing:

• How mem­bers’ Oper­a­tion Round Up dona­tions have enriched our com­mu­ni­ty over the past year.
• How a bit of local his­to­ry lives on in the Bryan Fisherman’s Co-op.
• Coastal Fiber updates and how fiber-to-the-meter will help Coastal Elec­tric Coop­er­a­tive reduce out­age times.
• Eco­nom­ic devel­op­ment in McIn­tosh Coun­ty and Coastal Elec­tric Cooperative’s role to sup­port oppor­tu­ni­ties for cit­i­zens.

Fol­low­ing the year in review, mem­bers could watch the busi­ness por­tion of the Annu­al Meet­ing, held at the co-op’s head­quar­ters in Mid­way.

Mem­bers reelect­ed incum­bent direc­tors Rea­gan Odom (McIntosh/Long coun­ties) and John Woods (Lib­er­ty Coun­ty) to new three-year terms on the co-op board. Mem­bers also vot­ed to elect Dr. Wal­lace Hol­land to fill the board seat for Bryan Coun­ty vacat­ed by Lau­ra McGee.

Direc­tors who serve on the board are Coastal Elec­tric Coop­er­a­tive mem­bers elect­ed by the mem­bers to make deci­sions on behalf of the mem­ber­ship as a whole.

You can find the 2026 Annu­al Meet­ing video on Coastal Elec­tric Cooperative’s YouTube chan­nel, Face­book page or at CoastalElectric.Coop/live.