Rock Youth Visit Co-op

January 9, 2026—WECA Director of Youth Education Tina Walden joined a group of Rock Energy youth members in wrapping up 2025 with a visit to the co-op.

Five of Rock Energy Cooperative’s youth members—including past youth board members Thomas Peters and Garrett Schneider, and current youth board member Kelby Schneider—spent part of the morning meeting with the Cooperative’s Board of Directors and CEO for a special meet and greet and Q&A session.

The youth members also enjoyed a behind-the-scenes tour of the facilities led by Justin Busfield, assistant operations manager–north, getting an up-close look at how they keep energy flowing safely and reliably every day.

Richard Addresses Crowd at 2025 WECA Annual Meeting

November 21, 2025—Wisconsin is not only a swing state, it’s the leader of the swing states, according to some metrics, WECA President and CEO Rob Richard told the crowd at the WECA’s 2025 Annual Meeting last week at Glacier Canyon Lodge at the Wilderness Resort in Wisconsin Dells.

Richard said while presidential election results are almost always close in Wisconsin, in 2024, Wisconsin was the only state with a margin of victory less than 1%, and the close call is par for the course in the Badger state.

“Since 1948, Wisconsin’s margin of victory in presidential elections has been under 5% twelve times,” he said. “No other state in the country can claim that.”

And the political theatre will continue over the next two years, as the state Supreme Court considers whether to change the Congressional maps before the 2026 election, which could shift the 6-2 GOP majority.

In addition, the state Senate, currently with an 18-15 GOP control, is poised for a shift as half of the senators up for re-election will be running for the first time since the state redistricting which removed a Republican edge. Democrats flipped four seats in the 2024 election and only need to flip two more to take control. Also, during a midterm election, the party opposite the president historically has an edge, and some on the left are predicting a blue wave.

Wisconsin also has a competitive governor’s race coming up in 2026 as incumbent Democrat Tony Evers has announced he will not run for another term. On the Republican side, Congressman Tom Tiffany (R-7th District) is the early frontrunner, with Andy Manske, a medical service technician, and Josh Schoemann, Washington County Executive, also declaring to run.

The field of Democrats who have declared their intentions to run for governor include David Crowley, Milwaukee County Executive, Representative Francesca Hong (D-Madison), Missy Hughes, former CEO of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, Brett Hulsey, former state representative from Madison, Sara Rodriguez, former Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin, Zachary Roper, Carthage college student who launched an unsuccessful run for Wisconsin's 84th Assembly district in 2024, state Senator Kelda Roys (D-Madison), and Ryan Strnad, a Mukwonago man who has worked as a stadium beer vendor for 25 years.

Richard expects more steep spending in the upcoming races, although not the record spending displayed in the most recent state Supreme Court race, which tallied more than $100 million. He urged participation in the PAC and reminded those in attendance that WECA supports candidates who support Wisconsin electric cooperatives, and the statewide position is always evolving.

Richard said that nationally, 88% of electric cooperative CEO’s and 71% of directors contribute to the PAC, while in Wisconsin, those numbers are 65% and 49% respectively. He issued a challenge to all Wisconsin electric co-op leaders to contribute, even a little.

“The reality is that if we don’t do this, we lose our voice with legislators in the state capital in D.C., so we're going to try and make an effort to get these numbers up,” he said. “I just think we can do better as an organization.”

WECA Hosts 89th Annual Meeting in Wisconsin Dells

November 14, 2025—The 2025 WECA Annual Meeting took place this week at Glacier Canyon Lodge at the Wilderness Resort in the Wisconsin Dells. The two-day event wrapped Thursday with much positive feedback members who traveled from across the state to attend.

"The speakers were exceptional," said WECA Board Chair Karen Newbury. "This was one of the best annual meetings we have ever had."

The full board was officially seated at the meeting, and following a board reorganization meeting, the leadership team is:

Chairperson: Karen Newbury, Price Electric Cooperative
Vice Chairperson: Barb Miller, Rock Energy Cooperative
Secretary/Treasurer: Les Dokkestul
Executive Committee: Karen Newbury, Barb Miller, Craig Buros, Les Dokkestul, Dan Hillberry.
Finance Committee: Karen Newbury, Al Jicinsky, Monica Obrycki, Cynthia Thorman, Les Dokkestul
 

2025 WECA Board Members L to R, Back row: Kevin Meistad (Chippewa Valley Electric Cooperative), Alan Wilkie (St. Croix Electric Cooperative), Kurt Harris (Jump River Electric Cooperative), Monica Obrycki (Eau Claire Energy Cooperative) Cynthia Thorman (Polk-Burnett Electric Cooperative), Allen Jicinsky (Clark Electric Cooperative), Robert Cornell (Washington Island Electric Cooperative) Front row: Les Dokkestul, (Jackson Electric Cooperative), Dan Hillberry (Richland Electric Cooperative), Karen Newbury (Price Electric Cooperative), Barbara Miller (Rock Energy Cooperative), Craig Buros (Vernon Electric Cooperative)

Some of the featured speakers at the event included UW Women's Hockey Head Coach Mark Johnson who has established the Badgers as one of the nation’s elite programs during his 22-year tenure, and was a member of the "Miracle on Ice" U.S. Olympic Hockey team at the 1980 Lake Placid winter games.

Bob Welch, executive director of the Rural Policy Institute, and Brian Reisinger, author of Land Rich Cash Poor, who spoke about rural issues, Jeff Ditzenberger, founder of TUGS (Talking, Understanding, Growing, Supporting) and director of communications at FarmFirst Dairy Cooperative who shared his journey to mental wellness, and Mark Nutsch, former Green Beret commander and co-founder of Horse Soldier Bourbon who led the first successful Special Forces mission in Afghanistan after 9/11.

We'll have more from the 2025 WECA Annual Meeting next week!

New Federated Youth Foundation Officers Elected 

November 14, 2025—The Federated Youth Foundation (FYF) held its officer elections today under the facilitation of Rob Richard. Trevor Clark was unanimously elected as president following his nomination. He subsequently nominated Monica Obrycki for vice president, a motion that also received unanimous approval. After outlining the responsibilities of the Secretary-Treasurer position, Trevor proposed Jolene Fisher for the role, and the group confirmed her appointment unanimously.

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