A la manera cooperativa: ¡Los cheques de crédito de capital están en el correo!
Just in time for the holiday season, more than $1.2M in capital credit checks are going out to longtime OPALCO members this month, as they do each year. As a co-op, OPALCO does not earn profits. Revenues over and above the cost of doing business are called “margins”. These margins represent an interest free loan for operating capital made to the cooperative by the membership and then returned in the form of capital credits to the member after 25 years.
This year, more than 6,000 members will get capital credit checks. Each year the co-op tracks how much you pay for power and determines how much of the margin you will receive in the form of capital credits. Capital credit retirements are paid to members after 25 years and the OPALCO Board of Directors assess the financial conditions and decide whether to approve the capital credit disbursements. The checks sent out this year are for members active in 2000 and 2001. The check amounts range from five dollars to thousands (for big energy users like grocery stores); most checks are for between $50 to $250.
More than $25,000 was donated through reoccurring capital credit checks donations to support Project Pal, one of OPALCO’s energy assistance programs. Project Pal offers a one-time grant (per year) to low-income members during the heating season. Members will have the option to donate their capital credits when they receive their check.
En 2018, OPALCO implementó una metodología de suavizado para garantizar que los retiros generales sean lo más parejos posible de un año a otro y para planificar los márgenes mayores que se produzcan. Por lo tanto, se distribuyó todo el año 1999, más aproximadamente 46% del año 2000. Esto ayuda a OPALCO a presupuestar el efectivo necesario para pagar los créditos de capital y mantiene los márgenes de la cooperativa en manos de los miembros. Los miembros seguirán recibiendo sus créditos de capital a los 25 años, pero la distribución se calculará en función de un promedio general móvil.
¡Recuerde mantener a OPALCO actualizado cuando cambie su dirección para que sus distribuciones de crédito de capital puedan encontrarlo! Obtenga más información sobre los créditos de capital:https://www.opalco.com/account-services/bill/capital-credits/.
