The Umatilla Electric Cooperative (UEC) Board of Directors has approved $2.5 million to be distributed to members in April 2020 as part of the cooperative’s Capital Credits program.
The refunds are based on the amount of power consumed during the year 2018. A residential member (customer) who consumed an average amount of electricity during 2018 would receive a check for about $70. All classes of service – homes, farms, businesses, industries – will receive refunds.
As a not-for-profit, member-owned company, UEC operates at cost, with net operating revenues, or margins, returned to members in the form of Capital Credits refunds.
Robert Echenrode, UEC general manager and CEO, said employees’ hard work and fiscal responsibility have a positive effect on the bottom line, making such distributions possible.
“We are proud to be able to make this distribution in a time of need to help stimulate a portion of the economy,” he said.
In all, 9,905 UEC members who purchased electricity during 2018 will receive a refund. Checks are scheduled to appear in mailboxes by mid-April.
Refunds of less than $10 will not be mailed, but rather retained in the member’s Capital Credits account until it surpasses that amount in a future distribution.
Since it began Capital Credits refunds in 1960, UEC has returned more than $80 million to members.
For more information, call UEC at 541-567-6414 or email customer.service@umatillaelectric.com.
