When you pay your bill each month, you are earning equity in the cooperative. Unlike electric utilities that generate margins on behalf of investors and shareholders, CCEC and other cooperatives return the margins earned to their members.
At the close of each fiscal year, all revenue received in excess of expenses (margins) is allocated to members in the form of capital credits. The allocation is made after the finances for the previous year have been audited and CCEC's books have been closed.
The 2024 margins – $3,173,332.28 – have been allocated to 47,715 members’ capital credit accounts based on the amount of electricity each member used during the year. If a member had more than one account active in 2024, they will have allocations for each.
The factor used to calculate the allocations was 4.4005701%. For example: If a member paid $1,797 in electric bills in 2024, the capital credit allocation would be $79.08 ($1,797 x .044005701).
Capital credits are a tangible benefit of belonging to an electric co-op. Those funds are held for a number of years and are used by CCEC to fund capital needs for items such as power line construction, transformers, trucks, inventory and other equipment. Capital credits also help keep rates at an affordable level by reducing the amount of funds the co-op borrows to maintain and grow its electric distribution system.
A percentage of your capital credits are returned to you after the CCEC Board of Directors reviews the co-op's financial health and declares a retirement of a portion of capital credits, typically in September.
Unclaimed Credits
Each year, former CCEC members leave money behind when they don’t give us their forwarding addresses. If you move from our service area, the capital credits accumulated in your account remain there until they are retired. After three years, any unclaimed funds go to the state. The co-op is currently holding more than $2.5 million in unclaimed capital credits.
Members are encouraged to visit the co-op's website to review a list of all members owed capital credits. You can review the list to inform friends and family members that they may have money available for refund, too. Learn more at ccemc.com/CapitalCredits.
