Choptank Electric Cooperative held its 85th Annual Meeting on April 27 at the Talbot County Community Center with over 300 guests in attendance. Members reelected four Board members, the Cooperative awarded ten $1,000 scholarships to students in attendance and shared significant highlights from 2022 about Choptank Electric and its subsidiary, Choptank Fiber.
Mike Malandro, President and CEO of Choptank Electric, started by thanking our members for being the heart of our cooperative as owners. He summarized the success of the Cooperative last year by pointing out that we “maintained over 6,000 miles of electric lines across the Eastern Shore, continue to receive a 99% reliability rating from the ASAI, and we are pleased that our long-term investments continue to pay off.” He added that the Cooperative made “great strides with grid upgrades to modernize electric service and protect against cyber threats.”
Jeff Rathell, chairman of the board, applauded the Cooperative’s dedication to rural members by providing broadband services through Choptank Fiber. “We are proud to provide our communities with this necessary resource that has become the lifeblood of our modern world,” added Jeff.
Choptank Fiber has passed over 3,500 homes, constructed over 1,250 miles of distribution fiber, and secured over $38 million in grants as of December 31, 2022.
The following uncontested board members were reelected to three-year terms: John Burke Jr. of Cecil County, Craig Mathies of Somerset County, Jeff Rathell of Talbot County and Robert Thompson of Ocean Pines district.
Choptank Electric’s Luck of the Draw Scholarship winners were drawn from those who applied and attended the Annual Meeting. Winners included:
- _Delaney Bennett of Wicomico County
- _Catherine Cronan of Talbot County
- _Emma Duff of Cecil County
- _Kinley Elliott of Caroline County
- _Ashton Elzey of Dorchester County
- _Gunnar Hoffman of Caroline County
- _Kai Kelly of Talbot County
- _Emilie Schanken of Dorchester County
- _Blaire Smith of Wicomico County
- _Drew Swanger of Wicomico County
A full recap of the Cooperative in 2022 can be found online at choptankelectric.coop/financial-information.
–Report by Katie Luckett, Marketing, Communications and Education Manager, Choptank Electric Cooperative