Cape Hatteras Electric Cooperative returns $1.3M in Capital Credits
At its September 2020 meeting, the Cape Hatteras Electric Cooperative (CHEC) Board of Directors authorized the return of $1,323,911 for its annual capital credit retirement.
Checks were mailed to members in November for amounts of $30.00 or more. Any amount less than $30.00 was issued as a credit to the member’s account.
Capital Credits represent each member’s ownership or “equity” in the Cooperative. Patronage Capital, the sum of that equity, can be likened to the retained earnings of a for-profit or investor-owned utility.
Capital Credits are similar to the dividends paid to the for-profit entity’s stockholders. Each member of a not-for-profit electric cooperative has a capital credit account that tracks their ownership in the Cooperative. The patronage capital allocation factor per $100 of electricity usage for 2019 was $15.42.
The refund amount approved equals 50% of the Cooperative’s 2019 margins, and will retire the patronage balances for members with services in 1993, 1994 and 2019.
