Members receiving electricity from East-Central Iowa REC in 1995, 2006, and/or 2012 should see a credit on your electric bill this month. It represents your share of the deferred patronage dividends, or profits, which the Cooperative earned in 1995, a portion of those from 2006, and the Cooperative’s 2012 allocations received from our power supplier, Central Iowa Power Cooperative (CIPCO). This year, ECI REC returned $783,775 to members. 

If you do not receive a credit on your June bill, you did not receive elec­tric service from ECI REC in 1995, 2006, or 2012. Call or email the Urbana office at csr@ecirec.coop or 877-850- 4343 if you have any questions.

With the exception of 2007, when ECI REC suffered extensive damage from a winter ice storm, the Cooperative has returned at least $500,000 in patronage dividends to members each year since 2003. From 2003 through this year, ECI REC has returned a total of $5,545,194 to members.

Understanding Your Allocations

ECI REC is a nonprofit organization, and members pay for their electricity at cost. Any margins left over at the end of the year—after all expenses are covered—are allocated to you in the form of patron­age dividends. A portion of these allocations come from operating margins generated directly by the sale of electricity to you.

ECI REC, as member of CIPCO, receives deferred patronage dividends back from this cooperative much like you receive dividends from us. These types of non-operating dividends are also allocated back to our members. The credit on your June bill reflects allocations from both operating and non-operating margins.

In April, the ECI REC Board approved allocating $1,157,685 from the 2012 margins to member-consumers of the Cooperative. As owners of the Cooperative, members provide equity by allowing ECI REC to hold on to these margins for a certain length of time, which is why the entire amount was not returned to members with your June patronage dividends credit.