Morgan County REA sends $4.75 million to members in capital credits

There's a lot to look forward to in December. Christmas is right around the corner and the coming weeks will be filled with joy, great food, and treasured time with loved ones. 

At your electric cooperative, this time of year is exciting for another reason: capital credits. This year, we are pleased to announce that your Morgan County REA Board of Directors has approved $4.75 million in capital credits to be returned to MCREA members. This is the largest patronage capital retirement in MCREA history.

Capital credits are one of the best parts of being an electric co-op member. As a not-for-profit cooperative, we believe in giving credit where credit is due--to the members who shape our co-op. Based on MCREA's financial condition, our board elects to retire the profits, also called patronage capital, from a given year. Anyone who was a member of the co-op during that year retired is sent a capital credits check based on how much power they purchased. This is very different from investor-owned utilities, which, instead, send profits to shareholders.

In October, the MCREA board approved a complete retirement of 2018 MCREA patronage and 2004 Tri-State Generation & Transmission capital. They also approved partial retirement of 2019 MCREA patronage. This means that anyone who was an MCREA member in these years received a capital credits check this month, reflecting your contribution to the cooperative. Those funds helped MCREA manage rates, cover emergency expenses, and reduced the amount of money we needed to borrow from outside lenders to build, maintain, and expand a reliable distribution system.

Because capital credits are dispersed according to how much power each member purchased in these years, check amounts vary. If someone is no longer an MCREA member, but was in any of these years retired--they still received a capital credits check. That's why it's important for MCREA to have your current contact information, so that your check can make its way to you.

MCREA is proud to deliver these capital credits to you, the members we serve--and it makes this wonderful time of year even better. Morgan County REA wishes all of our members a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!