What Are Capital Credits?
Your Cooperative is a not-for-profit, member-owned electric utility. We do not exist to make money for shareholders – we exist only to provide low-cost, reliable electricity to you, our members.
One benefit of being a member of a not-for-profit co-op is that you share in any excess revenue.
Read on to learn more about capital credits.
Most Recent Capital Credits News
How Capital Credits Work
1
Money comes in from members when they pay their electric bills.
- Electric bills can be thought of as each member’s fair share of the funds needed for their cooperative to run.
2
Money goes out to pay Co-op expenses.
- Members’ dollars are pooled together and used as operating capital so that the Co-op can provide reliable service and pay expenses.
3
At the end of each year, if money is left over, it is allocated back to members.
- If you are an active member, an allocation statement is included with your electric bill, typically in April or May.
- If you are an inactive member, your allocation statement will be mailed to you in this same time frame.
- Amounts allocated are determined by the electricity you were billed in the previous year.
- Your allocation statement is not a payment or a bill credit but a reflection of the capital credits allocated to your account that may be paid to you at a future time (as the financial condition of your Cooperative permits).
4
Allocated capital credit funds are returned to members at a later date.
- Capital credit funds are retained for a period of time for long-term improvements and maintenance of the Co-op equipment, to ensure reliable service.
- This keeps rates lower by offsetting the need for the Cooperative to borrow funds.
- As financial conditions allow, capital credits are retired (paid) back to members.
- Most payments are returned as bill credits to active members.
- Inactive members receive capital credit payments as mailed checks.
5
Unclaimed Capital Credits
- Because capital credits may not be retired for several years, it is important that you keep the Cooperative informed of your current address.
- Despite our best efforts, some capital credits go unclaimed. Most commonly, this is because a member moves without leaving a forwarding address.
Special Provisions
For deceased members, their estate may request the retirement of capital credits at a discounted lump sum amount.
Members age 75 or older may request a discounted payment of capital credits in a lump sum.
Unclaimed capital credits go into a fund used for educational purposes. (This is where the money for Flathead Electric Cooperative Scholarships comes from.)
Unclaimed Capital Credits
Your Co-op would like to locate former members who have unclaimed capital credits on file. Please search for your name or business:
Unclaimed Capital Credits Lookup Tool