BAKER CITY — Oregon Trail Electric Cooperative’s Board of Directors has approved the retirement of $3 million in capital credits to its member-owners. This is the third-highest return in the cooperative’s history.

OTEC in a press release Tuesday, Nov. 3, explained capital credit retirements are one of the more visible benefits of membership in an electric cooperative.

“Capital credits are each member-owner’s share of OTEC’s margins earned during the year,” the press release stated. “Each year, after all operating expenses have been paid, remaining margins are allocated to each member’s capital credit account based on the amount they were billed during previous years.”

The credits become each member’s “owners’ equity” and investment in OTEC, and each year the board makes a decision on how much it can return to members without reducing the cooperative’s financial strength.

“Being able to return capital credits represents OTEC’s commitment to operating a financially solid electric cooperative,” according to Heidi Dalton, OTEC’s chief financial officer. “Just as we are committed to keeping the lights on and power flowing, we are also committed to returning to our member-owners a portion of what they have paid the cooperative for their electricity.”

Oregon Trail Electric Cooperative is a not-for-profit, member-owned electric cooperative that serves nearly 60,000 residents in four counties in Eastern Oregon with headquarters in Baker City and district offices in La Grande, Burns and John Day.

Returns are applied directly to the member’s account if the amount is less than $15, or if the member has a past due balance. Members with returns greater than $15 and no past due accounts will receive a check in the mail in mid-December.

Since OTEC first began retiring capital credits in 1996, according to the press release, the co-op has returned $46 million to its member-owners. Nonprofit cooperatives such as OTEC allocate and periodically return those funds back to the member-owners rather than to stockholders, as investor-owned utilities do.

OTEC also encouraged members who may be leaving to provide it with a mailing address for the return of capital credits.