Capital Credits

What are Capital Credits?

Revenue minus Expenses equals Capital Credits

Capital credits reflect the not-for-profit nature of our Cooperative. Capital Credits are actually the amount of money that is “credited” to a member’s account at the end of each year. This amount is based on revenue remaining after expenses have been paid.

Investor-owned utilities return this margin (profit) to the stockholders through dividends. In the case of a member-owned non-profit cooperative like Douglas Electric Cooperative, the margin is credited to the member owner on a pro-rata basis as capital credits.

Money Back to You!

Capital credits represent your share of the Cooperative’s operating income (operating revenue remaining after operating expenses).

The amount earmarked in your name depends on your energy purchases.

To calculate this, we divide your annual energy purchase by the Cooperative’s operating income for the year.

The more electricity you buy, the more capital credits you earn.

Cooperative Retains Capital Credits

The Cooperative retains these capital credits for 2 reasons:

As capital credits accumulate, the Cooperative still retains the amount needed for financial strength, but distributes an amount determined by the Board of Directors and within RUS regulations to their members in a general retirement of capital credits.

Unclaimed Capital Credits

At times, the Cooperative may be unable to contact former members or their next of kin to distribute retired capital credits. Use the search box below determine if you or a family member has unclaimed capital credits. If you find that you or a family member has unclaimed capital credits, please call the office at (541) 673-6616 with the full name and member number and one of our member service representatives will assist you.