2026 Capital Credits

One of the greatest benefits of being a member of Big Country Electric Cooperative (BCEC) is sharing in the co-op’s success through capital credits. Each year, any revenue earned beyond the cost of operating expenses, known as margins, is allocated back to members based on how much electricity they used.

Unlike investor-owned utilities, which pay profits to shareholders, BCEC allocates margins to the very people who make the cooperative possible — our members. These capital credit allocations represent your ownership in the co-op and your share of its financial performance.

This year, $3.62 million was allocated to members who received electric service in 2025. Of that, the BCEC Board of Directors voted to retire $561,051.00 — returning a portion of those funds to members as bill credits or mailed checks.

What’s the Difference Between Allocation and Retirement?

An allocation is your share of the margins, based on your usage, that’s recorded to your account each year. Each year, the Board reviews the co-op’s financial standing and typically approves retiring a portion of previously allocated capital credits. The rest stays with the co-op temporarily to fund system maintenance, upgrades, and daily operations, which helps avoid borrowing money and keeps rates more stable.

This year’s general retirement includes:

• 80% ($448,843.35) to members with capital credits from 1996, 1997, and 1998
• 20% ($112,210.55) to members who earned capital credits in 2025

This approach helps balance returning recent margins to newer members while fulfilling the cooperative’s responsibility to retire older, outstanding capital credits as financial conditions allow.

Receiving Your Capital Credit Retirement

Last year, BCEC implemented a new capital credit retirement process for residential accounts. To reduce costs and simplify the process, residential, farm, and seasonal accounts received their capital credit retirements as bill credits on their July statements rather than as separate mailed checks. Non-residential accounts, such as commercial, large power, and irrigation accounts, continued receiving their capital credit retirements by mailed check during July.

If you have a single residential meter, your capital credit retirement appears in the "Detail of Charges" section on your bill. Members who receive a Group Invoice for multiple meters can find the credit listed under the "Other" line for the applicable accounts.

If you have questions about your allocation, retirement, or how your capital credit was applied, just give us a call — we're always happy to help.