Columbia REA Welcomes Rick Lugar to the 2026 Columbia REA Board of Directors

WALLA WALLA - Columbia REA announced the official results of its 2026 Board of Directors election at the cooperative's 88th Annual Meeting of the Members, held April 23, 2026, at Columbia REA headquarters in Walla Walla.

This election is especially significant as Walla Walla resident Rick Lugar was chosen by the members to fill the District One position vacated by Greg Knowles, who retired after 15 years on the Columbia REA Board of Directors.

Rick has spent much of his career in the public power arena, including 29 years with Columbia River PUD (Deer Island, OR).

"On behalf of the cooperative, I want to thank every member who participated in this year's election," said Scott Peters, CEO of Columbia REA. "We're pleased to welcome Rick Lugar to the Board, and we feel very fortunate to have found someone who brings a career's worth of knowledge and experience in public power to the Board of Directors. Rick will be a great addition, and that is good news for the Co-op and for our members."

Incumbent Board Directors Jay DeWitt and Philip Mehlenbacher were re-elected in the other two Columbia REA voting districts. The 2026 Columbia REA Board of Directors are:

District 1: Patrick Dennis, Rick Lugar, Kent Marquardt

District 2: Doug Logan, Philip Mehlenbacher, Dennis Munden - Vice Pres.

District 3 Neil Carpenter, Jay DeWitt - President, Katie Wooldridge - Sec./Treas.