Capital Credits

• Members with multiple accounts for different locations will receive a consolidated capital credit allocation statement whenever possible, grouped under a single membership number.
• CVEC’s customer information system consolidates allocated capital credits for multiple accounts by member number for ease of tracking and payment.

• Each member has a separate patronage capital account, which represents the member’s ownership in the Cooperative.
• When capital credits are allocated at the end of a year, all members who received electric service during that year will receive an allocation notice showing that year’s allocation.
• The total balance of your capital credits can be made available upon request from Coosa Valley Electric’s customer service or billing departments provided cooperative employees can establish a consumer’s identity as it relates to all capital credit allocations for each year of service a consumer claims.

If the membership is a joint membership, the surviving member must provide a copy of the death certificate of the deceased individual. Upon notification of the death of a member of a joint membership, the:

• Cooperative will remove the name of the deceased person from the account records.
• Membership, and any allocated patronage capital, is then held solely by the surviving spouse.

Capital credits of deceased members where there is no surviving member of a joint membership may be claimed by individuals who can show proof that they are the heir at law or legatee of a deceased member. To obtain the capital credits belonging to a member who has died, please provide the following documents:

1. Death certificate – Certified copy or good-quality photocopy of certified copy
2. Form of valid, state-issued photo identification
3. Completed and notarized Affidavit for Right to Claim

Upon receipt of acceptable documentation, CVEC:

• Shall issue payment for those years that the cooperative has already issued capital credit payments
• Payments will be issued only in the deceased member’s name
• Capital credits for a deceased members’ estate will be paid only for the years which the cooperative has already issued payments.
• Will not retire any capital credits early

If we determine you are or have been a member and you consumed electric service from CVEC, capital credits will be issued to you for the years that the cooperative has already issued capital credit payments.

• To claim capital credits issued to you simply bring valid, state-issued photo identification to the Coosa Valley Electric Cooperative office
• The cooperative will not issue capital credit payments early
• Payments will only be issued to individuals whose name is associated with the member number on the patronage capital account

• The member should inform our office of any changes in his or her mailing address.
• It is a member’s responsibility to make sure the cooperative has up-to-date address information at all times.
• CVEC can be contacted by phone, fax, or email to update an address.

For individuals, capital credits are generally not taxable. We suggest you seek the advice of a tax professional for any specific questions.

• Per Cooperative Bylaws, the Board of Trustees determines how many years and how much of the capital credits will be paid out or retired for each year.
• If you just received a notice regarding your capital credits, that notice covers patronage capital earned during the last calendar year. Right now, the Cooperative is not able to retire those amounts.
• The Bylaws require that patronage be retired on a first-in, first-out basis. (Those who first earned capital credits must be paid first)
• The first year the Cooperative earned a margin was 1947, so we have started with that year and will work our way toward present day as resources allow.

• Capital credits are allocated based on how much electric energy (kilowatt-hours) a consumer uses
• A person who uses more electricity will earn more capital credits

• Margins are the amount of money left over after all expenses are paid from the revenue earned by the Cooperative during the year.
• Years during which the cooperative earned higher margins, the amount of capital credits allocated to each member will be higher.

• Capital credits are each consumer’s share of the margins
• The total of capital credits assigned to each consumer represents the value of their ownership in the Cooperative