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EPISODE · May 18, 2026 · 9 MIN

The most important election you've never heard of

from Up North Lowdown

It’s election season for races you’ve probably never heard about — but can impact your energy bill. Michigan’s rural energy cooperatives set rates, manage multi-million dollar budgets and decide reliability standards. They're board of directors are voted in by co-op members but annual elections for these positions have low voter turnouts — as low as 10% for some energy co-ops. This could be the year things start to change. IPR climate change reporter Vivian La takes us to the hidden world of energy co-op elections. Also, state legislatures forgive snow days and slash the essay portion of a state exam (11th graders across Michigan rejoice).

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published May 18, 2026

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