IREA election results: Incumbent George Hier retains seat

The much-watched board of directors election for Intermountain Rural Electric Association, the state's largest power co-op, wrapped up this weekend, and those who saw the race as a referendum on longtime IREA general manager Stan Lewandowski and his conservative energy ideas are eagerly awaiting the outcome. Of the three board of directors seats up for election, the results have come in for the co-op's District 7 board seat (which represents the co-op area around Parker, Castle Pines North and Sedalia) -- and the winner is incumbent George Hier with 3,899 votes, or 68 percent of the total.

Hier's victory over Charles Bucknam, one of three candidates backed by progressive activist group IREA Voices, means that IREA Voices won't take control over a majority of the seven board seats (they managed to get one of their candidates elected two years). In other words, IREA Voices won't come out of the election with control of the board, which could have allowed them to theoretically get rid of Lewandowski and his controversial investment in a new coal plant. Still, if the other two IREA Voices candidates take their races, things could still get pretty interesting at IREA. Stay tuned as the rest of the results come in over the next few days.