Chair & Treasurer

Karen L. Pate is a project management professional, with roots in environmental engineering. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering, is a former Professional Engineer, and earned a Master’s degree in Business Administration from The University of Denver. She has been a Colorado resident for nearly 30 years, the past five in Buena Vista. Her career includes environmental engineering for 10 years and information technology for the last 15 years, most recently working for a county government. She loves trail running (now mostly hiking) and being outside in nature, and snowshoeing and cross country skiing in winter. Karen installed a 10-kW free-standing solar system soon after purchasing her home outside of Buena Vista, which also leverages passive solar. Prior to being a Director for AVEF, she strongly advocated for an equitable rate restructure and assisted in the election of four forward-thinking SDCEA board members who support transparency with the co-op’s member owners. Karen looks forward to serving the AVEF organization and our community in a larger way, by leveraging her deep project management and strategy development skills.

Vice-Chair & Secretary

Terry is a graduate of Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He spent 30 years in pharmaceutical sales and 22 years as a high school baseball and basketball coach. He has extensive experience serving in leadership roles with several different youth sports organizations and with Coe College. Terry moved to Colorado in 2011 and built a new house in Fremont County that incorporated solar panels and passive solar design. Upon arrival in Colorado he volunteered with the Arkansas Valley Ambulance as their inventory and supply officer. His involvement with AVEF began by volunteering during the latest SDCEA Board election, which prompted his interest in getting further involved with AVEF. Terry is passionate about sports, the outdoors, renewable energy, battery storage, and the environment.

Deb Hannigan spent her career as a science and math educator, textbook writer, and educational consultant. Upon retirement, she and her husband moved to BV to build an all-electric, energy efficient solar house. Having built a passive solar cabin back in the 70s, she wanted to incorporate her knowledge of passive solar design with more modern technology, so she added photovoltaic solar panels to provide all their home’s electric needs. Deb specifically designed a modest home that could be supported completely from the abundant sun found in BV. After nearly 5 years with their house in the valley, the Hannigans are convinced that the experiment works! In the future, the Hannigans plan to take advantage of advances in battery storage and electric vehicles to extend the impact of their solar energy generation beyond their daytime use. Smart energy use and a sustainable lifestyle are important to Deb and her family, which now includes a grandson for whom they would like to leave a working planet.

AVEF has an opening for a Director position. If interested please email AVEF@arkvalleyenergyfuture.org to inquire.

AVEF has an opening for a Director position. If interested please email AVEF@arkvalleyenergyfuture.org to inquire.