A Message from Coastal Electric Cooperative CEO & Executive VP Chris Fettes
The holiday season brings a spirit of generosity and compassion. It’s a time to reflect on our many blessings and uplift those in need. While this is certainly a special time of year, coop- eratives like Coastal Electric are deeply rooted in giving back to their local communities year-round.
Our mission is reliable power. Our purpose is people—the members we’re proud to serve. You help us power that purpose. Coastal Electric Cooperative’s Operation Round Up program is made possible through members’ participation in “rounding up” electric bills to the next dollar amount. Your generous contributions help less fortunate families in our community and support local charitable organizations and community services.
Another way Coastal Electric Cooperative gives back is by investing in tomorrow’s leaders. Through presentations at schools, scholarship opportunities, Learners Today Leaders Tomorrow and the Washington Youth Tour program, we aim to empower students for a brighter future. When we invest in our local youth, we strengthen the fabric of our community.
As a not-for-profit electric cooperative, we believe in giving credit where credit is due—to the members who shape our co-op. One of the ways we do this is through capital credits. Because Coastal Electric Cooperative operates at cost, we give money back to our members rather than outside investors or shareholders.
Here’s how capital credits work:
Coastal Electric Cooperative members use the electricity we provide and pay their monthly bills, and we track their business with the co-op over time. Coastal Electric pays all operating expenses throughout the year, and if any operating revenue is left over, we allocate it as capital credits. When financial conditions permit, the co-op’s board of directors votes to pay capital credits back to the members.
Those who paid electric bills to Coastal Electric Cooperative any time from 2008-2009 can expect money back from the co-op by the end of December. In total, Coastal Electric will retire over $2.6 million in capital credits to around 11,000 members who received service during those years.
Checks will be mailed in December to those 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 nearly $16 million in capital credits to members.
Retiring capital credits is part of the cooperative business model, and is a regular practice of the not-for-profit co-op. When member revenues exceed costs, those margins become the member’s equity in the cooperative. When the financial strength of the cooperative allows, the member-elected board of directors can order the return of a portion of that equity.
The Coastal Electric Cooperative board of directors approved this year’s capital credits retirement during a board meeting Oct. 30.
Because they have voting rights and other benefits, those who pay bills to Coastal Electric are “members,” not just customers. As the co-op is not-for-profit, members’ electric bills collectively cover what is needed to supply power to their homes and businesses – generating the power at plants, buying lines and poles to deliver electricity, 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, allocated by how much electricity they used in a given year.
Get more information on capital credits.»
