Skip to main content

THE VICTORY ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE ASSN., INC.

Your local electric cooperative. Serving you since 1945.

 

 

Home
Dodge City, KS, USA
1-800-279-7915
SmartHub Logo SmartHub Login
Quick Bill Pay
Menu
  • Home
  • About
    • Your Cooperative
      • Office Information
      • Victory Today and Yesterday
      • 75th Anniversary
      • What is an Electric Cooperative?
      • Annual Meeting
      • What are Capital Credits?
      • Seven Cooperative Principles
    • Board of Trustees
    • Management Team
    • Cooperative Career Opportunities
  • Account Services
    • Payment Choices
      • Pay Online with SmartHub
      • PowerMyWay
      • AutoPay
      • Payment Arrangements and Assistance
      • Billing Procedures and Due Dates
      • Invoice Payments
      • Security Deposits & Fees
      • Your Electric Bill Explained
      • Protect Yourself Against Payment Scams
    • Service Requests
      • Open an Account and Connect Service
      • Transferring Service
      • Disconnecting Service
    • Governance/policies & procedures
      • Rules and Regulations, Bylaws and Rates
      • Cold Weather Rule
      • Medical Necessity
  • Communications
    • Publications
      • Kansas Country Living Magazine and ElectroNews Newsletter
      • Latest news
    • Document Library
    • Video Library
    • Member Satisfaction Surveys
    • Legislative Awareness and Grassroots Efforts
  • My Community
    • Programs
      • CoBank Sharing Success Grant
      • Community, School & Electrical Safety Presentations
      • Co-ops Love Local
    • Events
      • Pumpkin Painting & Carving Festival
      • Co-ops Care Golf Tournament
      • Christmas Parade of Lights
    • Youth Programs
      • Scholarship Opportunities
      • Youth Tour & Leadership Camp
    • Our Community Partners
  • Power 101
    • Outage Preparedness
      • Preparing for a Power Outage
      • My Power is Out. Now What?
      • How Power is Restored
      • Power Supply and Getting It to You
      • Winter Storm Preparedness and Safety
    • Safety Resources
      • Electrical Safety
      • What to do in an Emergency
      • Oversize Loads
      • Dig Safe and KS One Call
      • Trees and Power Lines
      • Generator Safety
      • Surge Protection
      • Wildlife Protection
      • Report a street light problem
    • Energy Efficiency
      • Energy Saving Tips
      • Choosing the Right Lightbulbs
    • Advanced Metering

Latest

  • If you are experiencing a power outage, please call our office at 620-227-2139 or 800-279-7915. Thank you! 
  • Stay Connected. Sign up on SmartHub to receive outage text alerts.
1 of 2 

You are here

  1. About
  2. Your Cooperative
  3. What are Capital Credits?

What are Capital Credits?

-A A +A

Victory Electric is a not-for-profit electric cooperative with members who share in the ownership, maintenance, construction and prosperity of the cooperative. A benefit of cooperative membership and ownership is the share in the earnings/margins Victory Electric earns each year. 

Victory Electric’s rates are set to bring in enough money to pay operating costs, make payments on loans, and provide an emergency reserve. A cooperative does not earn profits; instead, when revenues exceed the expense of providing electric service it is considered “margins” and returned to you in the form of “capital credits.” Capital credits are the difference in operating costs and revenues and denote each member’s ownership of the cooperative. The margins represent a contribution of operating capital by the membership to the cooperative with the intent the capital will be retired (repaid) to you in later years. 

Thank you for being a member of Victory Electric. This information is an effort to help our members better understand capital credits and explain how your investment in Victory Electric is one way the cooperative difference works for you. A print-friendly version is available for your convenience.

Capital%20Credit%20Graphic.png

How do you determine how much in capital credits I receive? 

The amount of capital credits you earn in a given year is based upon the yearly margins in relation to the amount of capital you contribute through payment of your electric bills. The more electricity you use, the greater your capital credit allocation.

What’s the difference between allocated and retired capital credits? 

Allocated capital credits are the member’s share of net margins and reflect your equity and ownership in Victory Electric. Members are allocated capital credits, and will receive an allocation notice, each year the cooperative earns positive margins. This money is set aside to be used as operating capital for improvements and maintenance over a period of years. 

A retirement is the amount a member receives as a refund. It is a portion of your total allocation. When capital credits are retired, a check is issued and your equity in the cooperative is reduced. Retirements can be years after the year in which the margins were earned/allocated. Until retirement, an allocation has no cash value. The decision to refund (retire) capital credits rests with the Victory Electric board of trustees and is dependent on the financial situation of the cooperative, bylaw provisions, and the requirements of our lenders.

How do I start accumulating capital credits? 

No special action is required to earn capital credits. Your cooperative membership, which starts when you establish electric service in your name, activates your capital credit account.

Will I receive a capital credit check every year? 

Not necessarily. While capital credit allocations are made each year, the board of trustees must authorize a retirement before you receive a check. When considering a retirement, the board analyzes the financial health of the cooperative and can only authorize a retirement if Victory Electric’s financials meet USDA Rural Utilities Service equity level requirements.

What happens to my capital credits when I leave the Victory Electric service area? 

They remain on the books in the members’ name until the board authorizes a retirement. When moving, you should always provide an updated and current address.

What capital credits are not?

Capital credits should not be confused with profits, which are a return on capital. Retirement of capital credits is a return of member-furnished capital. Electric cooperatives exist not to make a profit, but to provide low-cost electricity.

What happens to the capital credits of a member who dies? Details of Estate Capital Credit Retirements

The capital credits of a deceased member with a residential account may be paid without waiting for a general retirement. Article VII, Section 2 of Victory Electric's bylaws provides the board of trustees the power, upon the death of any member who is a natural person, to pay a deceased patron’s estate the net present value of his/her capital credit allocations accumulated up to the date of death. Patronage capital allocated to the cooperative by an affiliated wholesale power provider, and allocated to the cooperative members as a separate allocation, will not be retired by the cooperative until such capital is retired and paid by the wholesale provider. However, at the discretion of the board, a patron’s share of such allocated capital may be retired at the death of a patron at the net present value of the allocations.

However, these estate payments are not automatic. A representative of the estate must request the capital credits by completing the Retirement of Estate Capital Credit Affidavit form and providing the required documentation. In section 2 of the affidavit form, representatives of a decedent’s estate are required to choose to receive the deceased member's capital credits in the form of a present-value lump sum payout or to wait and receive the monies as they are retired as part of the normal, non-discounted retirement process of the cooperative. For the total dollar value of a decedent’s capital credits, both discounted and non-discounted amounts, the representative of the estate must contact the cooperative.

There is no early retirement of capital credits in the case of dissolution of a business, entity, corporation or partnership. To claim payment of future retired capital credits for a business or entity ceasing to exist or has been terminated or dissolved, complete SECTION 3, FORM D: Business or Entity Successorship of the Retirement of Estate Capital Credit Affidavit form.

The Retirement of Estate Capital Credits Affidavit can be emailed, mailed or delivered Victory Electric's office. Once Victory Electric received the affidavit form and all proper documentation proving ownership by the successors, the request for payment of a decedent’s capital credits will be considered for approval by the board of trustees at the next regularly scheduled meeting. Once approved, the check will be mailed to the executor, administrator, or the listed heirs. *Note: Victory Electric cannot assist with obtaining any required documents.

For additional information or questions on estate capital credit retirements, please call Victory Electric at 620-227-2139.

Do We Owe You Money?

Sometimes when Victory Electric retires capital credits, the refund checks are returned as undeliverable and past members of the cooperative cannot be found. When this happens, these capital credits are placed in an Unclaimed Capital Credits account. Check the Unclaimed Capital Credits list below to see if you recognize any familiar names who have outstanding capital credits owed to them. If you find your name or someone you know on the list, please provide us with the name, new address, phone number, or contact information via email or by calling our office at 620-227-2139. If the person on the list is deceased and you are a successor of the estate, please review the Estate Capital Credit Retirement details and affidavit form.

Unclaimed Capital Credits

Click here to download

Share this story

Back to Top

Share Your Feedback

Questions? Concerns? Victory Electric wants to hear from you. Submit a comment or question using our online comment form. Your comments are important to us and the feedback will help to create a better experience for all our members.

We're Listening

Call Before You Dig

Quick Links

  • Contact Us
  • News
  • Legal Information
  • Privacy Policy

Follow Us Online

©2021 Victory Electric Cooperative. All Rights Reserved. This institution is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

  • Home
  • About
    • Your Cooperative
      • Office Information
      • Victory Today and Yesterday
      • 75th Anniversary
      • What is an Electric Cooperative?
      • Annual Meeting
      • What are Capital Credits?
      • Seven Cooperative Principles
    • Board of Trustees
    • Management Team
    • Cooperative Career Opportunities
  • Account Services
    • Payment Choices
      • Pay Online with SmartHub
      • PowerMyWay
      • AutoPay
      • Payment Arrangements and Assistance
      • Billing Procedures and Due Dates
      • Invoice Payments
      • Security Deposits & Fees
      • Your Electric Bill Explained
      • Protect Yourself Against Payment Scams
    • Service Requests
      • Open an Account and Connect Service
      • Transferring Service
      • Disconnecting Service
    • Governance/policies & procedures
      • Rules and Regulations, Bylaws and Rates
      • Cold Weather Rule
      • Medical Necessity
  • Communications
    • Publications
      • Kansas Country Living Magazine and ElectroNews Newsletter
      • Latest news
    • Document Library
    • Video Library
    • Member Satisfaction Surveys
    • Legislative Awareness and Grassroots Efforts
  • My Community
    • Programs
      • CoBank Sharing Success Grant
      • Community, School & Electrical Safety Presentations
      • Co-ops Love Local
    • Events
      • Pumpkin Painting & Carving Festival
      • Co-ops Care Golf Tournament
      • Christmas Parade of Lights
    • Youth Programs
      • Scholarship Opportunities
      • Youth Tour & Leadership Camp
    • Our Community Partners
  • Power 101
    • Outage Preparedness
      • Preparing for a Power Outage
      • My Power is Out. Now What?
      • How Power is Restored
      • Power Supply and Getting It to You
      • Winter Storm Preparedness and Safety
    • Safety Resources
      • Electrical Safety
      • What to do in an Emergency
      • Oversize Loads
      • Dig Safe and KS One Call
      • Trees and Power Lines
      • Generator Safety
      • Surge Protection
      • Wildlife Protection
      • Report a street light problem
    • Energy Efficiency
      • Energy Saving Tips
      • Choosing the Right Lightbulbs
    • Advanced Metering