A message from Manager of Accounting & Finance/CFO, Evan Rauch 

The holiday season brings a spirit of generosity and compassion. It’s a time to reflect on our many blessings and uplift those in need. While this is a special time of year, cooperatives like Butler Rural Electric Cooperative are deeply rooted in giving back to their local communities year-round.

Our mission is reliable power. Our purpose is people — the members we’re proud to serve. That’s why we organize our annual Holiday Harvest Food Drive and sponsor local events to make a positive, meaningful impact for our community. You help us power that purpose, too. Butler Rural Electric Cooperative’s Community Connection program is made possible through member participation. Your generous contributions support local organizations and community services.

Another way Butler Rural Electric Cooperative gives back is by investing in tomorrow’s leaders. Through presentations at schools, scholarship opportunities, and the Electric Cooperative Youth Tour, we aim to empower students for a brighter future. When we invest in our local youth, we strengthen the fabric of our community.

As a not-for-profit electric cooperative, we believe in giving credit where credit is due — to the members who shape our co-op. One of the ways we do this is through capital credits. Because Butler Rural Electric Cooperative operates at cost, we give cash back to our members rather than outside investors or shareholders.

Here’s how capital credits work
At the end of each year, we subtract our operating expenses from the amount of money collected from members paying their electric bills. The money left is called margins. Your margins are based on the amount you paid for electric service and are deposited into your capital credits account at the end of the year.

Butler Rural Electric Cooperative uses allocated margins to build and maintain our electric infrastructure by purchasing materials and equipment like poles and wires. These funds serve a vital function and allow the cooperative to operate economically and effectively while investing in the infrastructure necessary to meet the needs of members.

Butler Rural Electric Cooperative’s board of trustees evaluates the financial stability of the co-op each year to determine if we can retire capital credits. When the co-op retires capital credits, we withdraw margins from your capital credits account and send them to you as a check or credit on your bill. The capital credits amount you receive is based on the amount you paid for electric service during the years of capital credits retirement.

We retired more than $2 million in capital credits this year!
In November, members who received electricity from Butler Rural Electric Cooperative in 2007 and 2023 may have received a capital credits check or a credit on their electric bill.

Capital credits are just one of the many benefits of co-op membership. Giving back to our local members instead of outside parties is one of the many aspects that set cooperatives apart from other types of businesses.

Our members guide every decision we make and are the reason our co-op exists. To us, you’re more than a customer. This holiday season, we hope you’re proud to be part of a community-focused co-op that puts people before profits.