Being a member-owner has its benefits.
If you are a new electric cooperative member-owner, you probably haven't thought too much about the cooperative process. In fact you probably just think, "That's the place we get our power from." While that's true, buying electricity from an electric cooperative makes you more than a customer, it makes you a part-time owner in the business - a member-owner. You can vote at the Annual Meeting or call us any time to offer your comments on cooperative issues and direction.
Your electric cooperative is very different from other utilities because it is a not-for-profit business. Funds remaining after expenses are called margins or patronage capital and are reinvested in providing you and your community the best possible service. As new funds continue to come in - they replace old funds which are then paid back to you in the form of a patronage dividend check or if you are a current customer, it is applied to your electric bill.
Payment is based on the amount of electricity you have purchased. While checks aren't issued the same year they are earned, you can rest assured the margins are used to keep your rates lower than they might be if large sums of money had to be borrowed from other sources.
It is the policy of the Cooperative to maintain a program of refunding patronage dividends to estates of deceased natural persons who were patrons of the Cooperative.
Effective January 1, 2017, the following options will be available for payment of deferred patronage dividends to the estate of a deceased member:
1. The estate may apply for all deferred patronage dividends allocated to the deceased member. This allocation will be paid in one lump sum according to present value calculations using a discount rate approved by the Board of Directors. The discount rate currently in effect is 5 percent.
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2. The deferred patronage dividends of the deceased member may remain on the books of the cooperative, either in the name of the estate or assigned to an heir, and paid at 100 percent value when approved by the Board of Directors as part of a general patronage retirement. This general patronage retirement cycle is usually no greater than 20 years.
Please keep the Cooperative informed of your current address to assure notification of margin allocations and patronage dividend payments.