Members to receive almost $1.5 million in capital credits

If you were a Coastal Elec­tric Coop­er­a­tive mem­ber at any point from 2002–2004, the coop­er­a­tive wants to give you mon­ey back.

In fact, this month, Coastal Elec­tric will retire almost $1.5 mil­lion in cap­i­tal cred­its to mem­bers who received ser­vice in 2002, 2003 and 2004.

As a not-for-prof­it coop­er­a­tive, Coastal Elec­tric oper­ates dif­fer­ent­ly from oth­er busi­ness­es. One spe­cial prac­tice of the co-op busi­ness mod­el is retir­ing cap­i­tal cred­its.

When mem­ber rev­enues exceed costs, those mar­gins become the member’s equi­ty in the coop­er­a­tive. When the finan­cial strength of the coop­er­a­tive allows, the board of direc­tors can order the return of a por­tion of that equi­ty.

Those who pay bills to Coastal Elec­tric are more than cus­tomers— they are mem­bers. Coastal Elec­tric has no need to gen­er­ate prof­its, so mem­bers’ elec­tric bills col­lec­tive­ly cov­er what is need­ed to sup­ply pow­er to their homes and busi­ness­es, from gen­er­at­ing the pow­er at plants and buy­ing lines and poles that deliv­er elec­tric­i­ty to main­tain­ing equip­ment to keep ser­vice reli­able and com­pen­sat­ing employ­ees who make it all hap­pen.

When the co-op’s elect­ed board of direc­tors deter­mines it is finan­cial­ly fea­si­ble, Coastal Elec­tric retires excess mar­gins back to mem­bers who have paid their elec­tric bills.

Checks will be mailed in Decem­ber to every­one receiv­ing a refund of more than $25. Amounts less than $25 will be deliv­ered in the form of bill cred­its.

To date, Coastal Elec­tric Coop­er­a­tive has retired more than $11.5 mil­lion in cap­i­tal cred­its to mem­bers.

Inac­tive or for­mer mem­bers who no longer pur­chase elec­tric­i­ty from Coastal Elec­tric (but who pur­chased elec­tric­i­ty dur­ing the years being retired) receive cap­i­tal cred­it checks, too. So if you ever move off the Coastal Elec­tric sys­tem, be sure to keep your address up to date in the co-op’s records so you can receive cap­i­tal cred­its when the time comes.

You get the credit

How you get mon­ey back over time

As a not-for-prof­it coop­er­a­tive, Coastal Elec­tric oper­ates dif­fer­ent­ly from oth­er busi­ness­es. One spe­cial prac­tice of the co-op busi­ness mod­el is retir­ing cap­i­tal cred­its. Cap­i­tal cred­its are allo­cat­ed based on how much elec­tric­i­ty you use in a giv­en year.

Co-op mar­gins

When mem­ber rev­enues exceed costs, those mar­gins become a member’s equi­ty in the coop­er­a­tive. When the finan­cial strength of the coop­er­a­tive allows, the board of direc­tors can order the return of a por­tion of that equi­ty.