A Return of Your Investment: Capital Credits Coming Soon

September 1, 2023

Paying your electric bill isn’t just payment for service—it’s an investment in your cooperative. As a member providing a share of our capital, you’re building equity in the co-op, and capital credits are your return of that investment. Each year, any margins (revenues in excess of expenses) generated by Union Power are proportionally allocated to you as capital credits and are held in an account in your name. Those margins are then reinvested into the cooperative for capital expansion, system improvements, and ongoing operations and maintenance activities. Once the cooperative has met its financial requirements, and after a period of time, capital credits are returned (paid) to you. Based on the continued financial strength of the cooperative, the board of directors approved a capital credit retirement of approximately $4.0 million to be distributed in 2023. This year’s capital credit retirement was comprised of 100% of the unretired allocation balance from 2005, as well as 57.5% of the unretired allocation balance from 2006. This means that if you had service with us during the years of 2005 or 2006, you will receive a payment during September. Those active members who are eligible for a payment will see a credit on their September electric bill. Former members who moved off of our system will receive a check in the mail. Capital credits are one of the tangible benefits of being a member of an electric co-op and a big part of what makes us different from other utilities. You can visit union-power.com to learn more about capital credits.