Wake Electric returns more than $2 million in capital credits to members in December

It’s time for you to get the credit—capital credits, that is—for helping build, sustain and grow your local electric cooperative. In mid-December 2021, Wake Electric will return $2 million to members across the seven counties served by the co-op. When you signed up to receive electric service from Wake Electric, you became a member of an electric cooperative. While investor-owned utilities like Duke Energy return a portion of any profits back to their shareholders, electric co-ops operate on an at-cost basis. So, instead of returning leftover funds, known as margins, to folks who might not live in the same region or even the same state as you do, Wake Electric returns capital credits to its members, which is based on how much electricity you purchased during a year.

This year, patronage capital earned in 1996 will be fully retired, as well as a small portion of the patronage capital earned from 1997 through 2020. Capital credits earned prior to 1996 have previously been fully retired. If your patronage capital retirement equals or exceeds our minimum check amount of $25, then you will receive a capital credit check in the mail reflecting your contribution of capital to, and ownership of, the cooperative during those years. That span of time may seem like a long time ago. However, those funds helped us keep rates low by reducing the amount of money we needed to borrow  from outside lenders to build and expand a reliable electric distribution system.

For questions regarding capital credit retirement or member assistance, please call us at 919.863.6300 or 800.474.6300.