Benefits Of Being a Member
Capital credits are one of the many benefits of being a member of an electric cooperative.
Every year, New-Mac Electric sends each of its members a card informing them of their capital-credit amount for the past year.
So, what does it mean if you’ve gained capital credits?
Capital credits are your share of the operating margins realized by your cooperative each year. These margins are equally allocated to all participating consumers based upon total dollar billing.
These margins (payments in excess of expenses) become patronage capital and are used by your cooperative for operating capital, necessary reserves, storm damage, and other contingencies. Patronage capital is paid back to the members as the financial condition of the cooperative permits and the by-law provisions are met.
Patronage capital credits are returned in the same order in which they were earned; that is, the capital first paid in will be the first refunded.
Should you cease to purchase energy from the cooperative and change your present address, you should notify the cooperative of address changes so that when future payments are issued they can be forwarded to the proper address.
This past August, the cooperative returned capital credits to its members for the 26th consecutive year. Payments went to those who were New-Mac members in 2001 and 2002, and the amount was based on their usage in those years.