At their June board meeting, the Calhoun County Electric Cooperative Association (CCECA) Board of Directors authorized the retirement of more than $211,000 in patronage capital credits to be implemented as bill credits on members’ July electric statements.

“This action is a result of CCECA’s strong financial performance, financial stability, and returning value to the membership,” said Board President Jim Miller. “It’s a testament to CCECA’s commitment to the cooperative principles and local governance structure.”

Each year CCECA strives to return undistributed patronage capital within a 17-year schedule. With this distribution, all capital credits through the year 2005 will have been retired. The Board has also approved the return of a portion of the most recently allocated capital credits, back to current members. Members with patronage in 2021 will receive a bill credit, as well.

“Over the course of just the past five years, the CCECA board has approved the distribution of nearly $1,136,659 in capital credits,” said Keaton Hildreth, CCECA CEO. “One of the benefits of being a member of a cooperative is that members own their cooperative, and therefore are entitled to the retirement of previously allocated margins that are undistributed. We assign all operating and non-operating margins to our members on a patronage basis, and the board at its discretion may decide when to retire those margins that were allocated in prior years.”

This action will bring the amount returned to members since the year 2000 to over $2,842,893 via patronage capital retirements and bill credits.

Hildreth said current members will receive a bill credit for their share of the patronage capital credit retirement, which is determined based on their power purchases during 2004, 2005, and 2021. The bill credit will appear on members’ July 2022 electric bill that will be issued in August. Members no longer receiving service from CCECA will be issued a check.