One tangible benefit of being an REMC member — that literally puts money back in your pocket — is your access to what are called “capital credits.”

Capital credits are simply your share of your electric cooperative ownership. This concept of returning your financial investment in your electric utility back to you is something you may not be used to. But Marshall County REMC is a not-for-profit organization. It operates at cost, not to grow profits.

Each REMC member’s investment in the REMC is used to purchase and maintain substations, poles, wire, transformers and equipment to keep the lights on. This investment is part of your monthly electric bill.

Having members actually invest in their electric company’s electric system is different than what investor-owned utilities (like NIPSCO) do. At investor-owned utilities, stockholders pay the necessary costs to keep the utility running. But as an REMC member, you are, in fact, an owner of your electric utility and as an owner you’re responsible for making sure your utility has what it needs to operate.

As an owner, you also enjoy tangible benefits. For instance, you have a voice in how your REMC is run. Each year you can vote for your co-op’s board of directors, or you can even run for a seat on the board. And, just as stockholders receive dividends from investor-owned utilities, REMC customers are entitled to allocations from their cooperative.

The amount of those allocations is based on each member’s energy use. Members and former members have capital credit accounts where the co-op’s equity is maintained.

At the end of each year, your REMC board calculates the co-op’s operating margin — the amount that income exceeds expenses. This margin may be used to improve or expand the co-op’s electric system or to meet other capital needs. Using the margin to pay for these necessary expenses means the REMC doesn’t need to borrow money to ensure that it can continue to provide safe, reliable and affordable service.

If there is excess revenue after these necessary expenses are accounted for, it is allocated back to you as capital credits. When the co-op’s financial strength permits, the board issues those credits back to the REMC members. After a significant hiatus, Marshall County REMC is pleased to resume distributing capital credits to our members.

In 2024, credits will be distributed to members who purchased power from Marshall County REMC from 1966–1970. Active and eligible members will see a credit on their bill in the next few months, while those who are no longer members will receive a check in the mail.

Checks will only be mailed to former members that the REMC has addresses on file for. That’s why it’s important to make sure Marshall County REMC has your correct address(es) — contact our office to update your information. If capital credit checks are returned to the co-op because they were sent to the wrong addresses, the REMC will typically publish the names of those whose checks are unclaimed in Indiana Connection with the hope former customers or their heirs will contact the REMC and claim their capital credits. Any checks not cashed or claimed within a certain period will be considered a gift to the REMC.

Amounts of the checks or credits may range from a few dollars to several hundred dollars depending on the amount of electricity used by each account holder.

You may wonder why your REMC is sending you money back in the first place. It all boils down to the fact that, unlike investor-owned electric companies, the REMC provides at-cost electric service. It’s not in business to make a profit. Since you’re a part owner of your REMC, you share in its success.

We will provide more information about returning capital credits in future issues of the Indiana Connection. Please know that returns will take place over an extended period to ensure accurate distribution practices. Going forward, the board will decide on an annual basis which years will be retired and when they are distributed.