October 2015
As a member of a not-for-profit electric cooperative, you build ownership in SECO Energy through your energy purchases. There is no stock to be bought or sold; our members ownership is defined through the annual process of allocating each member’s share of the co-op’s margins from the prior year. These allocated margins are referred to as capital credits and are a tangible benefit of electric co-op membership. Capital credits are the accumulation of all prior year’s revenue after the co-op’s expenses have been paid. These credits are allocated on a pro rata basis to each SECO Energy member’s record and represent a portion of their patronage with the cooperative in the prior fiscal year. SECO Energy, through sound financial stewardship, has been able to return (retire) capital credits to members consistently for the last 19 years. Last year’s retirement of $4.2 million was a record amount and brought the total of capital credits paid back to the members to over $32 million since 1995. Capital credits are typically retired in November with Board of Trustee approval as long as the financial stability of the cooperative remains intact. SECO Energy’s solid fiscal management has been the key to being able to consistently return capital credits to the members for over the past two decades. I encourage you to keep an eye on your November bill if you are an active member of the cooperative. There you’ll see a line item bill credit representing your portion of the retirement. Otherwise, you may get a check in the mail. I also encourage you to take a look at this month’s bill, as SECO has once again decreased the bill for the third time this year through the Power Cost Adjustment (PCA) – called “Hot Bucks.” Read more about the most recent bill reduction on the inside pages. Best regards, Jim Duncan, CEO
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“ Capital credits are the accumulation of all prior year’s revenue after the co -op’s expenses have been paid. These credits are allocated on a pro rata basis to each SECO Energy member’s record and represent a portion of their patronage with the cooperative in the prior fiscal year.”