Board approves capital credit retirement
Burke-Divide Electric Cooperative (BDEC) isn’t like other utilities. You, as a consumer and a member, own the business.
BDEC operates at cost, collecting enough revenue to operate and expand the cooperative, with no need to raise rates to generate profits for distant shareholders. Any funds remaining from revenues after all operating expenses are deducted are called margins by cooperatives.
Each year, these margins are allocated, or credited, to members receiving electrical service based on the amount of electricity they purchased from BDEC.
Money allocated back to you and other members is called capital credits. These capital credits are put into a “holding account” and used by BDEC to fund capital needs for items such as power line construction, transformers, trucks, inventory and other equipment.
This “allocation” becomes your equity in the cooperative and is maintained in a separate account assigned to you. When the co-op’s financial condition permits, the co-op retires, or pays, the capital credits to members.
The board of directors has approved a general retirement of capital credits totaling $1.44 million. The retirement includes a portion of cooperative capital credits allocated for 2014 and generation and transmission capital credits allocated for 2009, 2010 and a portion of 2011. In addition, capital credits are being retired to former members of the cooperative whose capital credit balances were less than $250.
Checks were distributed to members who were in attendance at the annual meeting in Columbus on June 11. If you were issued a capital credit check and you were not able to attend the annual meeting, the check was mailed to you.
As always, I encourage you to contact us with any questions you have regarding the capital credit process or your co-op in general.
Until next time,
Jerry King
General manager