When you signed up to receive electricity from Rio Grande Electric (RGEC), you became a member-owner of the Co-op. Other businesses return profits to investors and stockholders, but not RGEC. As a cooperative, Rio Grande operates “at cost”. Any revenue left after expenses is returned to members. Each year, RGEC goes through a capital credit allocation process, assigning margins to each member who received electric service the previous year. These margins are based on how much energy is used by each Co-op member.
Once the allocation is complete, Co-op members are mailed a Capital Credit Allocation Statement. This notice states the amount of credits the member has accumulated for the particular period. Capital credit allocation statements for the year 2024 will be mailed in the month of July.
When capital credits are retired (RGEC is on a 25-year retirement cycle), the member will receive a check for the funds. Retirement of capital credits usually takes place in December.
For questions regarding capital credits, please call (800) 749-1509 and select option 5.