The person who is legally entitled to the refund should contact the cooperative so arrangements can be made to return the money.

Unfortunately, no. If we paid interest, it would defeat the purpose of the cooperative principle governing capital credits. The money to pay for the interest would have to come from you, the member-owner, and would likely require a rate increase.

Your capital credit money is already working to help your cooperative cover costs. Allocations (or capital credits not yet returned to our members) help fund distribution system improvements for more reliable electric service.

We have an obligation as a cooperative to return capital credit earnings to our member-owners. However, there may be years when we will not be able to issue capital credit refunds if we feel it would hinder our ability to continue to operate in a financially responsible manner for the benefit of our member-owners. The return of capital credits must be approved by the cooperative board of directors.

At the end of each year, net margins are allocated to each member in proportion to the member’s cooperative purchases during the year. The allocation is entered into the member’s capital account. It will be returned to the member at some point in the future when the board of directors deems the cooperative is financially able to do so.