The Cooperative Difference
Look for Your Allocation Credits and Billing Credits This Spring
Have I mentioned lately that we don’t serve customers? Wait, what? Of course, I have! I mention it all the time. If you use our electric or natural gas service, you’re more than a customer; you’re an honest-to-goodness member of Union Rural Electric (URE). 1 major benefit of being a member, and not just a customer, is that you share in the success of the cooperative.
Not only does URE strive to operate efficiently, but any “profit” or, more appropriately, “margin” that we make over and above what it takes to operate the business is allocated right back to members like you every year. Allocation of margins back to our members is a key requirement of any cooperative.
During this allocation process, we credit each member’s capital credit account with funds proportional to their payments to URE over the prior year. This is your investment in URE. Over the next several years, that “member equity,” made up of all member allocations, is used to responsibly operate the business and invest in utility infrastructure.
Separate from the allocation process, the board annually determines how much of that allocated capital to “retire,” resulting in money back in our members’ pockets through credits on your May bill. These bill credits are usually made up of capital credits earned by our members in prior years, usually about 20 years prior, but also by some funds from the most recent year. This approach allows us to issue bill credits to our long-tenured members as well as those who have joined URE more recently.
We’re in the process of determining the allocation of 2023’s member capital based on earnings from last year. We will also make a proposal to our board of trustees to refund some earnings from past years. While for-profit companies are working hard to earn profits for their investors, not their customers, URE is working for you by improving reliability, maintaining stable rates, and continuing our involvement with the local community, all while allocating the margins right back to you.
Your April URE electric and natural gas bill will include the 2023 allocation for your account, along with a statement of the total capital allocation still held by the cooperative.
With board approval, we will be refunding a portion of your capital credit allocation in the form of a credit on your May bill. Or, in the case of former members, we will send a check. In 2023, URE paid back $2.68 million in electric bill credits and checks to our members.
Any checks for refunded credits that are returned to the cooperative as “undeliverable” are placed on an unclaimed funds list on our website for 4 years. Attempts will be made to find the members eligible to claim these refunds but they will be redistributed to the rest of the membership if no claim is made.
It’s very important that you let us know your new address when moving away from URE’s system so we can continue sending checks when we refund future credits. You can email URE or give us a call at (937) 642-1826 to let us know your new address. After all, this is your money, and we want to make sure you continue receiving these funds.
This whole allocation and refund process is 1 reason I like to remind you that you’re not just a customer. When you look at your May bill, maybe you’ll think, “Wow, I love being a member of URE!” Bill credit refunds are just another perk of being part of your electric cooperative.