Delaware Electric Co-op election online voting closes Aug. 10

Delaware Electric Cooperative members have until 8 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 10, to cast an online vote in the 2023 board of directors election.

Three candidates are seeking an at-large seat, while three other incumbents are running unopposed.

Members may also cast in-person votes at Delaware Electric Cooperative’s annual meeting from 3 to 7 p.m., Tuesday, Aug. 15, at the Delaware State Fairgrounds in Harrington. Members voting in person must bring photo identification.

The ballot also asks members to vote on amendments to the co-op’s bylaws. The amendments are minor and will not change any policies or procedures. The changes amend language to accurately reflect legal partnerships and correct grammatical errors.

Vying for the at-large seat are incumbent Hunter Emory of Lincoln, and challengers Mat Hastings of Rehoboth Beach and Lorelei Mottese of Milton. Also seeking re-election in unopposed races are Bruce Walton of District 2, Bruce Henry of District 5 and William Haughey of District 8.

Members can vote via a secure electronic ballot at directvote.net/DECI. Members can also vote via mail-in ballot, through DEC’s online member SmartHub portal or in person at the annual meeting.

Registration, voting, a community fair and DEC’s famous fried chicken dinner will begin at 3 p.m., Aug. 15, at the Centre Ice Rink. DEC’s business meeting will begin at 7 p.m. in the Dover Building. During dinner and the business meeting, members will be treated to live music. A special lineworker demonstration will also be held.

The annual meeting will also be livestreamed. For more information, go to delaware.coop/about/2023-annual-meeting-election.

Candidate bios

Hunter Emory

Hunter Emory joined DEC’s board in 2021. He has been appointed to both the DEC audit committee and the legislative committee, and has completed the Credentialed Cooperative Director Certification. Emory represents Delaware on the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association board. Within the NRECA organization, he was nominated to the Insurance and Financial Service Board, and was recently named vice chair. Emory owns and operates the Emory Agency State Farm Insurance and Financial Services practice in Milford and Georgetown. He served on the Milford school board for five years and is an active volunteer in his community, supporting organizations such as the Georgetown Boys & Girls Club, local school district sports and numerous nonprofits. He resides in Lincoln with his wife Jamie, and their two boys, Jake and Reece.

Mat Hastings

Mat Hastings retired after 40 years in the electricity and gas industries, including heading up the National Rural Electric Co-op Association’s National Consulting Group. At NRECA, he led teams working with electric co-ops from Alaska to the Florida Keys in management audits, strategic planning, new business opportunities, member relations, market research, and mergers and acquisitions. Hastings also worked for the New York Power Authority (owner of the Niagara Falls hydro-generation facility), Chesapeake Utilities (Delaware/Florida Natural Gas), Ebasco (built power plants), the World Bank (renewables in developing countries) and the Edison Electric Institute (cybersecurity, finance, renewables, electric vehicles and distributed generation with international utilities). He has had a home in Rehoboth Beach since 2002 and is a member of the Rehoboth Beach Sunrise Rotary, serves on the board of Coastal Concerts and volunteers with local food banks. He graduated from SUNY Potsdam and Penn State. Hastings said: “Our co-op is facing rapid growth which shows no sign of slowing down. I would like to bring my 40 years of utility industry experience to help DEC continue to deal with the challenges and opportunities of that growth. It would be an honor to be on the board of our co-op.” 

Lorelei Mottese

Lorelei Mottese resides with her husband John in Milton. She retired after serving as an executive with the Wakefern/ShopRite supermarket cooperative. As a representative of Wakefern and its ShopRite members, she sat on multiple food industry boards and committees. Prior to her tenure at Wakefern, she was an elected municipal official, serving 10,000 residents who were dependent on a local sewer authority for services. She is a member of St. Jude the Apostle Church, Friends of Cape Henlopen State Park and the Delaware Easy Striders hiking club. She holds a bachelor’s degree from William Paterson University and a master’s degree from Fairleigh Dickinson University. Mottese said: “As we witness continued development in this region, it will require forward thinking to keep pace with technology for infrastructure investments and seeking talent to manage the new technology. I would be honored to serve our members on the board.”

Editor’s note: Because the other candidates are running unopposed, the Cape Gazette did not include their biographies due to space limitations. To view those biographies, go to delaware.coop/about/2023-annual-meeting-election.