Capital Credits

A benefit of cooperative membership is the share in margins the cooperative earns annually. When there is a positive net margin, present and former members receive allocation letters announcing their share of that net margin from the previous year after the distribution of the Annual Report.

What are capital credits?

CEC tracks the amount of electricity used and what members pay for it throughout the year. At the end of the year, the company’s financial statements show whether or not revenues exceeded costs resulting in a net margin (profit). A portion of these margins are allocated to members as capital credits based on their electricity usage. The allotted amount is held in a capital fund account by CEC until funds are distributed to members who qualify for credit payments.   In 1981, the Board of Directors determined the financial condition of Central Electric warranted the payment of Capital Credits starting with the year 1950.  Since that time, credits for the years 1951 through 1990 have been retired and paid back to the membership.

What are capital credits used for?

The capital fund helps finance a variety of long-term capital needs including trucks, inventory, equipment, transformers, and power line construction.

Why are capital credits important?

By combining capital credit funds with money borrowed from other sources (on which CEC does pay interest), this allows the cooperative to lower its overall cost of capital.

Will I receive payments every year?

The cooperative’s bylaws authorize the board of directors to retire and pay capital credits to members whenever the financial condition of the utility is not impaired by such payments. The goal of the cooperative is to retire capital credits every year and retire the oldest credits first.

What if a member moves out of the service area?

If you have any changes in your mailing address, inform CEC. It is the member’s responsibility to ensure their information is updated. CEC also tries to reach out to those members for whom it doesn’t have current addresses. The company will advertise their names in The Bulletin (from June through September) and list members on its website from June through the end of the year.

Notice: Unclaimed Capital Credit Payments

If you were a member of CEC and would like to learn if you are listed among those whose payments are unclaimed, please search for your name or business using the Unclaimed Capital Credits Lookup table below. Or, you may download the full list of Unclaimed Capital Credits (PDF).

Unclaimed Capital Credits Lookup