One of the seven cooperative principles is ECONOMIC PARTICIPATION. As a member of the cooperative, you have the benefit of the return of any revenue remaining at the end of the year after all bills are paid (margins). Capital credits reflect each member's equity in, and contribution of capital to, the cooperative.
Your cooperative has returned over 11 million dollars in capital checks to its members throughout the years.
JREC is a cooperative and one of the things that makes us different from an investor-owned utility is that we are not in business to make a profit. We exist to serve our member-owners and we belong to the community we serve.
Active members earn capital credits and they are paid out as a bill-credit, when and if it is feasible to return a portion of them at the end of the year. Former members will continue to receive checks on retirements (returns) once they reach $10 or greater. Checks will continue to be mailed out until all capital credit funds have been paid back to that member or his/her estate.
Refer to the graphic on the top of this web page that explains how capital credits work.
Capital credits cannot be used to pay your current electric bill. However, when the board elects to retire capital credits and return them to members, active members receiving a capital credit will receive them as an energy credit, generally in the fourth quarter of the year.
The board of directors decides when it is financially feasible for capital credits to be returned to members while maintaining adequate reserves of capital business expenses.
Current members receive an energy credit and inactive members receive a check. It is important that you notify JREC of any address changes when they occur to insure any future checks are received.
Capital credits are yours to keep, even if you are no longer receiving electrical service from JREC. This is why it is important to notify JREC if your address changes.
Several attempts are made to notify members of any unclaimed capital credit funds over the course of multiple years. If no response is received from the member, the unclaimed capital credit funds are transferred to the Federated Youth Foundation to be used for JREC scholarships and charitable donations.
In the event of death, the capital credit account is available for estate retirement. The member's heirs are eligible to continue to receive any remaining capital credit funds or can ask to settle the account.
Heirs will need to provide JREC with documentation verifying their claim to the funds. JREC gives heirs the option of either adhering to the regular capital credit retirement schedule, receiving a special one-time payout that is discounted based on the age of the capital credits, or donating the funds to the Federated Youth Foundation (FYF). JREC uses funds from the FYF for scholarships and charitable donations.
Call 715-532-5524 for more information or to initiate settlement of the capital credit account.
Allocation - Your share of the amount of net margins JREC sets aside into a separate account to be used as operating capital for reliability improvements and maintenance over a period of years. You will receive a notice of allocation each year. Active members will have this printed on their April energy bill. Inactive members will receive this information in the form of a letter mailed to their last known address.
This amount cannot be applied to your energy bill. This is informational only.
Retirement - The amount you receive back as a capital credit refund. This amount is a percentage of your total capital credit balance.
2023 Retirement
The JREC board reviewed the financials for 2023 and determined how to best retire capital credits. The board approved retiring 100 percent of remaining capital credits allocated in 1993 and 25 percent of 1994, and 1.5 percent of all capital credits allocated in the years 1995-2022. The total capital credit retirement for 2023 is just over $248,510. These capital credits were applied to energy bills mailed in November 2023. Inactive members who have a retirement of $10 or greater were mailed a check in December.
We may be lking for you!
NOTICE OF FORFEITURE OF FUNDS HELD BY JUMP RIVER ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE, INC., UNLESS CLAIMED BY OWNER: Jump River Electric Cooperative has several members who have not cashed their capital credit checks that were paid out in 2020 and are listed HERE. You are further notified that unless you do claim such funds and provide satisfactory evidence of your right to receive the same by October 30, 2024, these funds will automatically be forfeited and transferred to the Wisconsin Federated Youth Foundation for educational and charitable purposes.
UNCLAIMED CAPITAL CREDIT CHECKS ISSUED IN 2021: The following is the list of members that appeared in the Wisconsin Energy Cooperative News and have not cashed their capital credit checks that were paid out in 2021 and are listed HERE.
If your name appears in either list above, please contact us. If you know someone on the list, please contact us only if you know their current address. You can reach us at 715-532-5524 or email us at jrec@jrec.com. In cases where the person is deceased, please call us if you know the contact information for a relative or benefactor who may have rightful claim to the capital credits. Any unclaimed checks will revert to the Wisconsin Federated Youth Foundation, Inc. The Foundation is a charitable tax-exempt trust established by the Wisconsin Electric Cooperative Association for educational and charitable purposes.
If you move off JREC service lines, please be sure to contact our office with your new address so we can continue to send capital credit retirements you are eligible to receive in the future.