CEO Patrick Grace explains how capital credits put OEC’s cooperative business model into practice
One of the questions I’m asked from time to time is, “What really makes a cooperative different?”
There are plenty of answers. We’re locally governed. We’re focused on serving our members instead of outside investors. Every decision we make is guided by what’s best for the communities we serve.
But one of the most tangible examples is something many members see every year: capital credits.
How capital credits work
When you receive electric service from Oklahoma Electric Cooperative, you’re doing more than paying a monthly bill. You’re building equity in the cooperative you own.
Each year, if OEC brings in more than it needs to operate and maintain the electric system, those remaining margins are assigned to members based on how much electricity they used. They’re tracked as capital credits until the cooperative is in a financial position to return them to members, with each retirement approved by the board of trustees.
That’s why capital credits represent more than money returned to members. They’re a reminder of how the cooperative business model works. Every member helps build OEC’s success, and when the cooperative is financially strong, our members share in that success.
A new way to receive capital credits
This year’s capital credit retirement also changes how eligible current members will receive those funds. Instead of mailing paper checks to eligible current members, capital credit retirements will be applied directly to September electric bills.
We believe this is a simpler, more convenient way to return those funds. Members on prepaid service will receive their credit as their accounts are processed, while eligible former members will still receive a check because they no longer have an active OEC account.
The way members receive capital credits is changing, but the reason for them remains the same. They are one of the clearest examples of what it means to be part of a cooperative. It’s your ownership in action.
Thank you for being an OEC member.