Member equity refunds of less than $100 will now be distributed as bill credits instead of mailed checks.
Payments larger than $100 will continue to be distributed as mailed checks.
All members will still receive a member equity statement in the mail.
Because electric cooperatives operate at cost, any excess revenues, called margins, are returned to members in the form of Member Equity.
Part of each year’s Member Equity is paid to recent members, while another part is reserved to be paid back on a 25-year-or-less rotation.
We allocate these margins to members based on the amount they were billed for electricity during the year.
Part of your allocation is paid back to you the following year, when our financial condition permits.
We send refunds to each qualifying member via bill credit or check.
For example, our May 2024 payout represents Member Equity from members who purchased electricity from HCE in 2023.
The remaining portion of the margin is invested into our utility system rather than taking out loans and paying interest.
We will return these funds back to members within 25 years.
Look for these refunds annually in December.
For example, our December 2024 payout represents Member Equity from members who purchased electricity from HCE in 2007-2008.