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 service years with positive net margin have been retired and paid back in the membership, in accordance with the 25-year payout goal.

For more information on capital credits, you may download the Capital Credits Brochure (PDF).

CEC utilizes Capital Credit funds to finance long-term construction maintenance and improvement projects to ensure safe and reliable service. The fund helps finance a variety of long-term capital needs including trucks, inventory, equipment, transformers, and power line construction. Capital Credit funding also reduces CEC’s borrowing costs from other sources, which helps keep electricity rates low.

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.

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.

CEC members receive a notice each spring stating their allocated Capital Credits for the previous year. Please know the apportioned amounts for any given year will be paid to the member years later, historically within 25 years (as it financially permits).

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.

Members can only receive retirement checks for service years they have allocated Capital Credits.

If you move and are no longer a CEC member, you will still receive your Capital Credit check after the allotted time period. For this reason, please update your mailing information with CEC any time it changes. It is the member’s responsibility to ensure their information is updated. Members can check the CEC website for any unclaimed Capital Credits.

CEC also tries to reach out to those members for whom it doesn’t have current addresses. The company will publish a notice in The Bulletin (from June through September) referencing the list of members with unclaimed Capital Credits on its website.

The allocated Capital Credits will stay in the member’s name until requested otherwise. To reassign the Capital Credit account, remove or add a name to the account, or for an estate request, contact CEC to get a Capital Credit Assignment Form. More documentation may be required depending on the original member’s situation.

Please mark “Return to Sender” on the envelope and mail the check back to CEC at PO Box 846 Redmond, OR 97756.

If you are the authorized heir, executor, or administrator of the estate of a deceased member, Contact Customer Service and request a Capital Credit Assignment Request Form be sent to you.

A Capital Credit Specialist will process the request and send the Assignment Form to you so that you may claim the Capital Credits Dividend Payments.

After you've returned a completed form to the office, the authorized representative will approve CEC to assign the deceased member’s Capital Credit account to another person or entity.