Capital Credits are not cash, they represent your share of Trico’s equity during the time of your membership. Like any business, Trico needs to maintain enough equity to provide reliable service for current and future members.

Capital Credit retirements represent a return of a portion of equity over and above what is necessary to operate the Cooperative properly. They are paid in the form of cash or bill credits when the Board determines the financial condition and business needs of the Cooperative warrants it.

Trico does not have a provision for retirement of Capital Credits to members in advance of the normal 25-year retirement schedule and process. However, you can donate your Capital Credits to the Trico Foundation, and the Trico Foundation will receive the Capital Credits on a normal retirement schedule. The Trico Foundation uses these unclaimed and donated Capital Credits to help fund education programs and scholarships for college students.

Allocated Capital Credits appear as an entry on Trico’s permanent financial records and reflect your equity in the Cooperative. Allocated Capital Credits are account entries and have no cash value until they are retired. Each year, the Trico Board considers whether the Cooperative is in a financial position to retire a portion of its allocated capital credits. When Capital Credits are retired, they are paid out to you in cash or as a credit to your monthly electric bill. Your equity account is reduced by the number of Capital Credits retired. Capital Credits are typically retired over approximately a 25-year period.

Note, that if you have a delinquent bill outstanding to the Cooperative, your capital credit retirement is first applied to your delinquent balance. Any remaining retirement amount is paid to you.

Your Capital Credits remain on Trico’s financial records in your name until they are retired. Capital Credit retirements to your account will continue to be made until the balance is fully paid out, typically over a period of up to 25 years.

It is your responsibility to notify Trico of any changes in address, so you can be located when it is time to retire Capital Credits. Capital Credit checks that are returned with no forwarding address information will be held for three years. If not claimed, the funds are transferred to the Trico Foundation to fund educational programs and scholarships.

In the case of a member passing away, if your membership is a joint membership, the surviving spouse becomes the sole member, and the Capital Credit account remains in the name of the surviving spouse. Allocated Capital Credits will continue to be retired to the surviving spouse on a normal retirement schedule.

If the membership is a single membership, the estate of the member may assign the Capital Credit account in accordance with the Last Will and Testament of the deceased member, or the Personal Representative of the deceased member’s estate may apply for a retirement of the member’s capital account on a discounted basis. The Board has full discretion with respect to the discounted retirement of Capital Credit balances to estates. The estate must submit a request for a discounted retirement with acceptable documentation for consideration by the Board.

Capital Credits are typically retired over approximately a 25-year period. When approved by the Board, Capital Credit retirements to an estate are discounted in recognition of the time value of money (funds received today are worth more than the same amount of funds over time). The alternative is for the estate to distribute the Capital Credit account in accordance with the Last Will and Testament of the deceased member, and the Capital Credits will be retired in the ordinary course.