Submitted by OPALCO

In December, some members of the local electrical co-operative OPALCO will receive money back.

Capital credit checks will be sent to members who were active in 1993, and some from 1994. Capital credit allocations represent members’ equity in the co-op. Each year, OPALCO allocates margins available at year-end to each members’ account to be paid back in the form of capital credits after 25 years. Every summer, members get a statement in their bill indicating the number of capital credits accrued under the account, and then actual checks in the mail are sent in December, based on co-op finances.

This year’s capital credit distribution totals about $1 million, which includes the remainder of 1993, with some paid in 2017, and a portion of 1994. This is what the “smoothing” practice is all about. In the next 25 years, the margins of capital credit distributions will vary widely: from $121,000 to $3.1 million. Anticipating these larger margins, the board discussed smoothing out capital credit distributions based roughly on a 10-year rolling average. Smoothing helps OPALCO to budget for the cash required to pay capital credits and keeps co-op margins in the members’ hands. Members will continue to get their capital credits at 25 years, but distribution will be calculated based on a general rolling average to balance the spikes in our capital credit forecast.

Capital credit checks will be mailed by the end of December to members who were active in 1993 and 1994. The check amounts range from $5 to thousands. Higher payments are for big energy users like grocery stores but most checks will be between $50-$250. Keep OPALCO updated when addresses change.