The Choptank Electric Cooperative Board of Directors voted to return $2.1 million to its members during the month of December.

Of the $2.1 million to be returned, approximately 60 percent will be paid to long-time members who have Choptank Electric capital credits owed to them from 1992 and 1993.  The other 40 percent will be paid to members who have been allocated Choptank Electric capital credits from 1994 through 2017.

Any active member who has accrued capital credits less than $35 will receive the amount credited directly to their December bill. Active members who have accrued more than $35 in capital credits will receive a check in the mail. For any member who is inactive, you must accrue $35 before a check is sent. Inactive members must have a good address listed at the co-op to receive their check. The checks are scheduled to be mailed by mid-December.

From the moment you signed up to receive electric service from Choptank Electric, you became a member of Choptank Electric, not a customer. While investor-owned utilities return a portion of any profits back to their shareholders, electric co-ops operate on an at-cost basis. Co-ops return their profits to its members. Choptank Electric allocates and periodically retires capital credits to its members. The amount received is based on how much electricity the member purchased during a year.

That’s the cooperative difference, where members are first, every day.