Capital Credits
As a cooperative member, you own a share of the cooperative’s margins. You may have heard us refer to your share of these margins as capital credits. Capital credit allocation notices are printed annually on our members' bills, usually in May. The notice states the dollar amount that has been assigned, or allocated, to the recipient based on last year's margins and their energy use from the previous year.
For example, a notice on your bill in May 2020 would reflect the amount in capital credits that was assigned to the recipient based on the cooperative's margins in 2019, and also the member's proportion of the cooperative's revenue billed in 2019.
Surry-Yadkin EMC considers the cooperative's financial needs and position when determining how much money it refunds, or retires, to our members each year. Capital credit refunds are usually applied to a member's electric bill each year prior to our annual meeting.
If you have questions or concerns about how capital credits are refunded, please contact our Billing Department at 336-356-8241.
How do capital credits work?
As owners, members are the primary source of ownership (equity) funds for the cooperative. Any revenues above the cost of doing business are considered margins. These margins represent capital furnished by the members to the cooperative for use as operating capital. At the end of the year, the margins are allocated to each member as capital credits based upon how much electricity was used during the year.
Members must invest in their cooperative. The cooperative must keep or retain a portion of each year’s cooperative earnings as equity capital to use for a period of time. Like any business, a cooperative has to have adequate funds to pay bills, make investments in assets and have reserves for risk management.
If financial conditions allow, the board of directors will pay out the capital credits to members. Having strong and healthy financial ratios is important to continue the wellbeing of the cooperative. Dividing the ownership equity among many members makes it easier and less risky to finance the cooperative than if only one or a few members tried to do it on their own.
Surry-Yadkin EMC retires capital credits back to its members using the FIFO method – First In First Out; the first ones on our system will be the first ones to be paid out.
Do we owe you money?
To claim their capital credits, these former members must contact SYEMC at 336-356-8241. You can search former members with unclaimed capital credits below. If you recognize someone on the list, please have them contact us.