Capital Credits

As a member-owner of Doniphan Electric Cooperative, you have an ownership stake in your electric company. The co-op provides electric service at cost, therefore any payments made by you, the member-owner, for electric service that are in excess of the cost of providing such service, are credited to the members. These margins and credits are termed a capital credit.

Each member is given credit for their proportionate share of capital furnished or contributed to the co-op in accordance with the electric service purchased.  The total capital credits represent the member’s equity or ownership in the cooperative.   

These capital credits cannot be returned (retired) to the member-owners in the form of cash patronage refunds until the co-op has reached a financial condition in which permitting the capital credit retirements will not put the co-op at risk of meeting all of its other cash obligations as they become due.  

Distribution of capital credits is voted on by the board of trustees and may be made in the future when the co-op’s financial condition is deemed strong enough to do so without jeopardizing its reserves and financial structure.   

Because these credits are retired in the future, we ask that you continually keep your current address up to date with the cooperative. Current information helps us get you the retirement whether or not you are currently receiving electric service from our co-op.