Capital Credits
Your electric cooperative belongs to you and the other members who receive electric service from Blue Ridge Electric. Your ownership interest is based on member equity investments know as capital credits.
Every month you pay your bill for electric service and the cooperative pays the expenses incurred in providing that service. Any left over funds, called margins, provide equity for the cooperative and you. These funds are called "capital credits." Your share of these capital credits is based on how much you have paid Blue Ridge Electric for service.
As capital credits accumulate the cooperative retains the amount needed for financial strength, and from time to time distributes a portion of the balance to you. Rather than pay all of these capital credits back to you at once, Blue Ridge Electric retains most of them for two purposes:
- As working capital to keep the cooperative financially sound and to allow for emergencies, such as storm damage, which might require replacement of poles and power lines; and
- To balance equity and debt requirements as investments are made in the electric system. This builds member equity in the cooperative.
Upon the death of a member, the capital credits account will be available for the estate retirement process. If the account is set up as a joint membership (two people), half of the capital credits account will be available for the estate retirement process if one of these members should die.
In the event of death, the estate administrator should contact Blue Ridge Electric to settle the capital credits account.
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