Capital credits represent each member’s ownership of the cooperative.
They are the margins allocated to the members of the cooperative based on their purchases from the cooperative. These margins are used by the cooperative as capital to operate the business for a period of time.
Allocations and retirements of capital credits are two different things. Allocations are made annually for each member, based upon the amount of electricity purchased the previous year. An allocation is the amount set aside into a separate account to be used as operating capital for reliability improvements and maintenance over a period of years.
A retirement is the amount you receive back as a capital credit refund. It is a percentage of your total capital credit balance. The percentage to retire is decided by the board of directors annually, based upon the financial condition of the cooperative. When the cooperative is in good financial standing, capital credits are retired to members. Current members receive bill credits, while previous members or their heirs receive checks.
Below you'll find a couple lists of individuals whose capital credits have been retired, but whom the cooperative has not been able to contact or locate to refund their credits. The people listed potentially have capital credits available to them or their heirs. If you know the whereabouts of anyone on the list, please contact us by phone at 1-800-558-1580 or by email.
If emailing: Please include the following information when emailing us:
- Past consumer’s name as listed on the website
- Past consumer’s current address or contact information of heir
- Your phone number for follow up if Bluestem has any questions
In few cases, capital credits may be retired early. If you wish to apply for early retirement of capital credits, please complete the request for capital credit retirement application. You may also print and mail the application.
