In December, 2023, Sumner-Cowley Electric retired (paid by bill credit or check) $463,357.07 to 1,337 current and 600 former cooperative members. When you signed up to receive electric service from Sumner-Cowley you became a member of an electric cooperative. While investor-owned utilities return a portion of any profits back to their shareholders, electric co-ops operate on an at-cost basis. So instead of returning leftover funds, known as margins, to folks who might not live in the same region or even the same state as you do, Sumner-Cowley allocates and periodically retires capital credits based on how much electricity you purchased during a year. This year, members receiving service in 1997 received a capital credit retirement through a bill credit or by check reflecting their contribution of capital to, and ownership of, the cooperative during that year. That may seem like a long time ago, but those funds helped us keep the lid on rates, reduced the amount of money we needed to borrow from outside lenders to build, maintain, and expand a reliable electric distribution system, and covered emergency expenses. Here are some commonly asked questions regarding capital credits.

Capital Credits