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Capital Credits

What Are Capital Credits?

Capital credits reflect each member’s ownership in the cooperative. Electric cooperatives like Wasco Electric Cooperative (WEC) do not earn profits in the sense that investor-owned utilities earn profits for their investors. Instead, any margins or revenues related to the sale of electric service remaining after all expenses have been paid at the end of the year are returned to the cooperative’s members in proportion to their electrical usage.

How Are Capital Credits Returned to You, The Member?

“Retiring” i.e., paying back or returning capital credits is a two-step process:

  • Step 1: Allocation
      • An allocation determines your share of the cooperative’s margin in a given year.
      • Margins are “allocated” or assigned to members who belonged to the cooperative during that margin-producing year.
      • Your allocation is based on how much electricity you used that year.
      • This portion is referred to as your capital credit allocation.
  • Step 2: Retirement
    Once capital credits are allocated, they are retained by WEC until the Board of Directors deems it is financially feasible. Why? Because capital credits are the primary source of equity for our cooperative. That equity allows us to:

      • Invest in new equipment to serve our members
      • Maintain and grow our electric system
      • Repay debt
      • Keep electric rates affordable by minimizing the need for outside borrowing

When Do You Get Your Capital Credits?

Annually, WEC’s Board of Directors reviews the financial health of the cooperative and may declare a retirement — that’s your cash-back moment.

  • Current members, after any past-due and current balances are paid, capital credits will be distributed as follows:
    • Current members receiving an amount under $25 will have that amount automatically applied to their electric account.
    • Current members receiving an amount between $25 and $250 may elect to have a check mailed or have the amount placed on the account as a credit. Please see form below.
      • Members that do not respond will have their capital credit check mailed to them.
    • Current members receiving an amount over $250 will be mailed directly to the member as a check.
  • Former members will receive a check, mailed to the last known address on file.
Submit Your Refund Response

Support a Good Cause With Your Capital Credits

Want to make a difference? At any time, you may choose to donate your capital credits to the WEC WECare program.

What Does Wasco Electric Do With Unclaimed Capital Credits?

WEC seeks out former members who are owed capital credits. The co-op waits 4 years after the capital credits are authorized for payment and then posts the names of the former members in local area newspapers and on our website. If after the notification period, the capital credits remain unclaimed, they become part of the cooperative’s permanent equity.

Search Unclaimed Capital Credits

If you have other capital credit questions, please contact WEC at (541) 296-2740 or send us an email.

Update Contact Information

It is important that current and former members keep an updated mailing address on file to ensure receipt of capital credit retirement checks. Update your contact information (PDF).

Looking for Unclaimed Capital Credits?

If you believe you may have an unclaimed capital credits payment from Wasco Electric Cooperative, you can submit an Unclaimed Capital Credits Payment Request Form for review.

Unclaimed payments most commonly occur when a former member has moved and the cooperative no longer has a current mailing address on file. Complete the form with as much information as possible so our team can verify your records and process your request.

Unclaimed Capital Credits Payment Request Form

If you have questions or need assistance, please contact our Member Services team.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are capital credits?

Capital credits are the assignment, to Wasco Electric Cooperative members, of each account’s portion of the margins for a year. Since Wasco Electric Cooperative is a non-profit organization, all profit or margins are assigned to you, the member-owners.

An example of this is as follows:

Revenue: $1,000,000 – Expenses: $900,000 = Profit/Margins: $100,000

For the sake of keeping it simple, imagine that you paid $100,000 for energy that year or 10% of the total revenue came from you. At the end of the year, 10% of the margins [$10,000] will be assigned to you.

This allocation comes to you in a letter each year. Many people confuse it with a power bill or credit. It cannot be used as credit on your next bill.

When will I receive my capital credits?

After the patronage has been allocated to you, the cooperative uses your money to cover the operating costs and capital investments. This in turn helps keep your rates down by allowing us to not borrow money to operate on and make capital investments.

The capital credits are refunded only upon authorization by the member-elected Board of Directors. According to the bylaws, the board cannot authorize refunding capital credits if it will financially impair the operation of the cooperative.

If I die, what happens to my capital credits?

The refund amount is reduced by the net-present-value of the future expected distributions and then provided to the estate or next of kin. Heirs have the option to retire unpaid capital credits.