MONROE, Ga. – More than 90 percent of Walton Electric Membership Corporation (EMC) customer-owners will get their share of a $5 million refund this December.

The cooperative's board of directors recently voted to return $5 million in capital credits, a $2 million increase in the refund amount from last year. Approximately 112,000 customer-owners who had accounts in 1987, 1988 and/or 2013 are included.

Walton EMC is a cooperative, meaning customers own the company. Showing a profit is self-defeating and is why the company returns leftover revenues. The amount returned to customer-owners is based on their past electric bills or, in other words, the amount of business they did with the co-op.

After paying off debt and establishing a reserve for unexpected events (like a catastrophic ice storm), the board determines if it's financially prudent to issue a refund. If so, most refunds are distributed by a credit on electric bills. This collectively saves the cooperative's customer-owners tens of thousands of dollars in check printing and postage costs.

Walton EMC provides electric service to 123,000 residential and business accounts in a 10-county area between Atlanta and Athens. Because its customers own the company, service – not profit – is Walton EMC's primary focus.

2014 Refund Facts

• Amount – $5 million
• Total capital credits returned to date – $71 million
• Years refunded in current disbursement – 1987, 1988, 2013
• Number of refunds – approximately 112,000
• Issued by bill credit unless the amount is over $500. All refunds exceeding $500 will be issued by check.

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