Each year, an electric membership cooperative (EMC) generates revenue from the sale of energy. In the same year, the cooperative pays for all expenses such as wholesale power costs, salaries, materials, etc. The cooperative is required by its lenders to have revenue in excess of expenses. Any difference between revenue and expenses is known as margins. At the end of each year, these margins are allocated to the members who generated revenue for the Cooperative by using power and paying for power that year. This allocation of margins to members is then termed as “Capital Credits.”
Cooperatives, that are typically not-for-profit, retain these margins for a specified period of time. The margins are utilized to help maintain the financial health of the cooperative. At the end of a specific period of time, these margins that have been allocated to EMC members as Capital Credits are returned to those members in the form of a check.
According to Colquitt EMC policy, the Cooperative has maintained a 20-year rotation for refunding Capital Credits, and each year Colquitt EMC returns Capital Credits to its members.
