Capital Credits

When you belong to an electric cooperative you are more than just a customer; you are a member-owner. What does this mean? Simply put – you have a financial stake in your cooperative and you may periodically receive money back in the form of capital credit retirements.

At Mountrail-Williams Electric Cooperative (MWEC), employees and the Board of Directors work together to ensure that we have the money we need to operate and deliver reliable electricity.

How do capital credits work?

Capital Credit Quick Guide How to CC's work

 

Did you receive a green Capital Credit Allocation Statement in the mail?

Are you wondering what it is and what it means?

Click the question mark icons on the image below to find out more.

 

As a non-profit electric cooperative, we allocate our annual operating margins, or profits, to members receiving service during the year. These margins (revenue in excess of expenses) are based on your patronage and are called capital credits. They are used by your cooperative for operating funds and paid back to our members as the financial condition of the cooperative will permit and bylaw provisions are met.

Should you cease to purchase energy from our cooperative, please keep us informed of your address in future years. This will enable us to forward payment(s) when the capital credits are refunded for the year or years of your membership.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at 800-279-2667.


PLEASE REMEMBER:
(1) This is not a bill. You do not owe these amounts.
(2) These amounts are not now payable and do not represent cash but rather your equity in our cooperative.
(3) You cannot apply these amounts to your electric bill.


FIELD EXPLANATIONS:
Member Number: The number which identifies your membership within our cooperative. All of your capital credit information is stored by your member number.
Account #: Your unique account number assigned by your cooperative which appears on your monthly bill.
Service Description: A description of the service location or entity which generated the revenue (patronage).
Patronage: The amount of revenue provided by your service which was used in the calculation of your allocated amount.
Type: Identifies the type of allocation entity: cooperative distribution, G & T (your cooperative's power supplier) distribution, etc.
Allocated Amount: The calculated capital credit amount assigned to your membership account for the year being allocated.
Unretired Capital Credits: The cumulative capital credits you have been allocated less capital credits previously paid to you or applied to amounts due Mountrail-Williams Electric Cooperative.


 

2025

This is the process of generating electric power through various sources such as coal, natural gas, oil/diesel/jet fuel, hydro, recovered energy, solar and wind.

Operating capital is the money required by a business to run its daily operations. We use this money to build and maintain the distribution system that keeps your lights on. Operating capital is used to pay for poles, wires, trucks, and other essential equipment needed to deliver reliable power to your home/farm/business. Co-ops do a balancing act. Ensure we have enough to operate and in case of emergency, like storm damage, but also give members their share of earnings.

Everyone who buys, or has bought, electricity from MWEC will receive capital credits for the years they were a member of the co-op.

Every year, excess revenue (margins), are allocated as a capital credit on a capital credit statement. This statement is not a bill credit, it is a notice of your share of MWEC’s revenues. It includes three numbers:

Total Allocation for the Year Shown Above - This is your share of revenue for the year identified on the statement. This amount will accumulate and be retired (paid out) on a rotational cycle as financial conditions allow.

Total From Prior Years Not Yet Refunded - This is your share of revenues for all years of membership. This amount will accumulate and be retired (paid out) on a rotational cycle as financial conditions allow.

Total of the Unretired Capital Credits to Your Membership - This is your total share of revenues for ‘Year Shown Above’ and ‘Years Not Yet Refunded’. 

The capital credit statement is a snapshot of what you will receive in years for capital credits. This number will not match the capital check you may receive in June.

Cooperatives vary in how and when capital credits are retired. It is not uncommon for electric cooperatives to retire capital credits 20-25 years after service is received. For example, if you purchased power in 2022 – you would receive a retirement capital credit check in 2047.
At MWEC, Capital Credits are paid out on a FIFO basis (First In, First Out) on a 1/15 rotation. Generation & Transmission (G&T) are paid out was we, MWEC, receive them.

There are times when a capital credit check is mailed to a member-owner and never cashed/deposited. This is what we call unclaimed capital credits. Unclaimed capital credits are published annually in our North Dakota Living Publication, Capital Credit Statements and at www.mwec.com/capital-credits. If you need MWEC to re-issue a check, please call 800.279.2667

First things first - we will miss you! To ensure you receive all of your capital credits, simply contact our office at 800.279.2667 to inform us of any address changes.

If your return to retirement was less than $20 you may not receive a check unless:

*You are no longer a member and ALL active years of your membership have been retired
Or
*If you are still an active member but your total return was less than $20, you will receive a check once that minimum has been reached.

If neither of these applies to you or you have questions, please contact our office at 800.279.2667