CEO’s Message – May 2025
The Cooperative Difference: Board Approves $2,760,000 Refund
As a member of Union Rural Electric Cooperative (URE), you share ownership of the utility. That’s the business structure of a cooperative — it’s owned by the consumers. Because of that, your democratically elected board of trustees directs management to return money to the members each year, when it can responsibly do so.
At this year’s March board meeting, the URE board of trustees approved a return of $2,760,000 to our electric members from operating margins earned in prior years. This includes $2.71 million returned from electric operation margins from 2003 to 2006 and 2024.
Also, for the first time, URE is returning approximately $55,000 to members receiving our natural gas service. You might recall that in 2020 and 2021, URE returned significant funds to natural gas members during the pandemic. This is the first time financial metrics for the natural gas division have allowed refunding of capital credits to be done on a regular schedule moving forward. This year’s retirement comes from natural gas margins earned in 2014, 2015, and 2024.
As a member of URE, you invest in the company, and that capital is paid back over a period of time, after the company has been able to use these funds to continue building and growing the business. This latest round of credits includes margins from URE’s electric and gas operations as well as margins from our investment in Buckeye Power, the cooperative that owns and operates power plants and coordinates the transmission of electric delivery to all Ohio electric cooperatives.
Pay special attention to your May bill because it will include credit for the margins allocated to you in the years mentioned above. But what if you moved and are no longer a URE member? If you recently moved away from the URE system, you are still entitled to receive those bill credits for the years we are retiring; we can just send you a check. If you know a former URE member, make sure to let them know. Call our office at (800) 642-1826 or email URE Services and give us your current mailing address so we can keep in contact. You can also check our comprehensive list of member names whom we’ve lost contact and are eligible to receive a refund on the Unclaimed Credits page.
URE is owned by our consumers, so we are committed to the allocation and return of money to our members. We’re not owned by disconnected investors; we are owned by the consumers of our service. That’s something you can be proud of, and it’s what sets us apart from for-profit companies.