What are Capital Credits?
Your cooperative is operated on a not-for-profit basis. As a member of Central Wisconsin Electric Cooperative you share in any excess margins (revenues - expenses) the Co-op has in a particular year. The surplus margins are allocated to members of the cooperative in the form of Capital Credits. Quite simply put, Capital Credits reflect each member's ownership in the cooperative. Capital Credits are used by your cooperative to help build and maintain the electric system and then when finances permit, the board of directors authorize a cash refund to you.
UNCLAIMED PATRONAGE CAPITAL CREDITS
Central Wisconsin Electric Cooperative has unclaimed patronage capital funds for former members of Central Wisconsin Electric Cooperative.
Funds for these people have been unclaimed for three years. In accordance with Cooperative bylaws, after 60 days from this publication, the unclaimed funds shall be forfeited from the Cooperative to be used for educational loans, scholarships, or charitable purposes.
If you know the whereabouts of these former members, please ask either the individual member or the estate executor to contact us at 800-377-2932. When writing to us, please include information to verify the person is the same one we are trying to locate. A previous mailing address, service address, street, road, or fire number where service was received would be helpful.
Regular business hours are from 7:30 a.m. – 4 p.m., Monday – Friday. If you prefer e-mail, address your message to cwec@cwecoop.com
We respond to all inquiries, however, due to the large volume of inquiries please be patient as we do our best to serve you, our Member.
CO-OP RETIRES $275,000 IN CAPITAL CREDITS
WHAT ARE CAPITAL CREDITS?
One of the benefits of being a member of Central Wisconsin Electric Cooperative (CWEC) is that members are eligible to receive capital credits, which represents your ownership in CWEC.
Unlike investor-owned utilities that maximize profits to pay dividends to shareholders, CWEC, which is a not-for-profit electric cooperative, provides our members with “at cost” electric service. We do not exist to earn a profit.
When each year’s finances are audited and closed out, the remaining profit or margins are allocated to the members based on the amount each member paid for electricity during the year in the form of capital credits. These capital credits are used by the co-op to help build and maintain the CWEC electric system. When the co-op’s finances permit, the Board of Directors approves a portion of the allocated capital credits to be retired, and paid back to you – the members.
ALLOCATION OF RETIRED CAPITAL CREDITS
This year, the board of directors approved the retirement of $275,000 in capital credits. That amount was divided as follows: 70% of the $275,000 went to members who had capital credits from 1993 and prior years; 30% went to members with capital credits from 1994 through 2018. All members who have been on CWEC electric lines for six years or longer received retired capital credits.
Active members whose retired capital credits were less than $100 received a credit on their September electric bill, which was mailed to members in October. Checks were mailed in October to active members whose retired capital credits amounted to more than $100. Checks, with a minimum of $10, were also mailed to all offline members who received retired capital credits.
For more information about capital credits, or to resolve a capital credit account issue, please call our office at 715-677-2211, or send an email to cwec@cwecoop.com.