At the end of each year, after all of the cooperative’s bills have been paid and all expenses considered, the amount of money that is left over is called a margin. Margins provide equity for the cooperative and are allocated to the members in proportion to their purchases of electricity during the year. Member credits, otherwise known as capital credits, are your share of the margin. Member credits are allocated annually to each member and are retired in accordance with the cooperative’s bylaws.
If you have questions regarding your member credits, please call (888) 873-9832 our Member Services Department, or to find out more about member credits or YVEA, visit our Contact Us page.
You will still receive your member credit checks from previous years of membership with YVEA. When you close your account with us, we ask for your forwarding address so we can mail your member credit retirement checks to your new address.
Our co-op uses these funds as working capital to maintain the existing distribution system and to build new infrastructure without having to borrow any money to do so. This is why we allocate funds, and in later years pay out the member credit funds back to you. It's part of your economic participation in the co-op.
Every spring, after the previous year's accounting is finalized, any funds remaining after all expenses are paid (margins) are allocated to members who purchased power in the previous year. These funds are called patronage capital and are later paid out as member credits. Members are typically notified of their allocation on their bills in the spring.
YVEA uses these funds as working capital to maintain the existing distribution system and to build new infrastructure without having to borrow any money to do so.
Every year the co-op takes a hard look at our financial situation and determines how much the cooperative can retire, or pay out, in member credits. The credits members receive either by check or bill credit, typically in December, are tangible evidence of each member's investment into the cooperative.
We are required by our lending institutions to meet certain financial requirements to show that the cooperative is financially stable. However, all margins are allocated back to our membership and later paid out as member credits.
Every spring, after the previous year's accounting is finalized, any funds remaining after all expenses are paid (margins) are allocated to members who purchased power in the previous year. These funds are called patronage capital, and are based on the prior year's electric use - the more electricity you use, the larger your allocation. Your allocations build up over the years and are later paid out as member credits.
