Each year, the Board of Directors approves the portion of capital credits to be retired. Because all members and former members are eligible to receive capital credit retirements, it is necessary to properly budget for this expense. By retiring a portion at a time, the co-op is able to maintain financial stability while demonstrating a key benefit of cooperative ownership to its members.
Capital credit retirement checks are typically mailed out to former co-op members in early December each year. Starting in 2023, current co-op members will instead receive a bill credit in December equal to the amount they would have received via check in the past. This allows members to keep more of their money to begin with rather than waiting for us to send it back to them. Printing and mailing checks has become both slower and more expensive than other options. Switching to bill credits helps us keep our operational costs low, which helps keep our electric rates stable.