n SBEC retires over $1.7 million to members,
It’s time for you to get the credit —capital credits, that is― for helping build, sustain, and grow your local electric cooperative. This fall San Bernard Electric Cooperative, Inc. retires – or pays by bill credit – over $1.7 million to 6,275 active and inactive members that had service in the years 1989 and 1990 with the co-op.
When you sign up to receive electric service from an electric cooperative, such as SBEC, you become a member-owner of an electric cooperative. While investor-owned utilities return a portion of any profits back to their shareholders, electric cooperatives 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, SBEC allocates and periodically retires capital credits (also called patronage dividends, patronage refunds, patronage capital, or equity capital) based on how much electricity you purchased during a year.
This year, SBEC members from 1989 will receive 100 percent and members from 1990 will receive 17% of capital credit retirements through bill credits on their December 2025 billing, reflecting their contribution of capital to and ownership of the cooperative during that year.