By CARA LORELLO
Staff Reporter
The board of trustees of Inland Power & Light announced last December it would refund $1,250,000 in capital credits to its membership.
Capital credit funds are generated through the company's power bill revenues.
Inland Power & Light currently provides service to 6,427 customers in the West Plains, including the Cheney, Medical Lake, Four Lakes and Marshall area. The company has sent refunds totaling $773,000 to West Plains customers, and $11 million in total capital credits to customers over the past decade, according to a December 2007 news release.
December 2007 saw 1,800 checks totaling $91,000 to the Cheney area alone, Inland Power & Light chief executive officer Kris Mikkelsen said on Jan. 14.
“Over the past 10 years we have paid out $11,800,000 in capital credits to our members throughout Eastern Washington and North Idaho,” Mikkelsen said.
“All of us at Inland are very proud of the excellent job we do for our members. One of the many benefits of belonging to a cooperative is getting a refund check in addition to paying rates that are among the lowest in the Northwest,” she added.
Electric cooperatives such as Inland Power are independent electric utilities incorporated under state law and are controlled by the customers, or members, they serve, and Inland does not technically earn profits. The funds members provide are a main source of financing for system improvements, pole replacements, general maintenance and other things needed to provide service.
Inland experienced record levels of growth during the 1970s, according to the company website. In 1974, the cooperative had margins of $432,656, and as a result, 1975 was the first year Inland paid capital credits to its members.
Capital credits are excess revenues over the total costs of doing business, Inland Power & Light marketing director, Dan Villalobos said. The amount members are allocated is determined by the amount of power consumption. The longer a customer is an Inland Power member, and the more electricity purchased, the larger the refund check will be. A member must also be eligible for at least a $25 refund before a check gets issued.
Refunds are typically distributed around the holidays each year when most customers are struggling to balance increased power bills and tight budgets.
At first glance, offering refunds to the biggest power users might seem counterintuitive given the number of power companies currently offering incentives for power conservation. The measure isn't designed to increase consumption, Villalobos explained, because there are equal benefits to getting a lower power bill by using less energy. Capital credit refunds are something Inland has offered customers since the 1970s as a way of saying “thanks” to members for purchasing power.
“We're definitely not encouraging over-consumption. It's basically payback for what they've invested in utility,” Villalobos said.
A nationwide emphasis on power-saving measures is changing the energy market, he added, which is why the cooperative currently offers rebates to members who purchase power-saving Energy Star appliances such as washers, freezers, refrigerators and dishwashers. Further rebates are available for use of energy efficient water heaters, and heater/cooling improvements.
Inland recently completed installation of 6,000 low-flow showerheads for homes with electric-heated water systems, and is a current participant in the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance “Change Light, Change the World,” campaign, which promotes use of compact fluorescent light bulbs.
Inland Power & Light is currently in the process of building a new facility on the West Plains, where it will be moving its administrative offices and upgrading all existing operating facilities in the area. Of the cooperative's West Plains membership base, 526 accounts are commercial, and the remainders are residential and agricultural.
Further information (including frequently asked questions) on the cooperative's capital credits program may be found online at http://www.inlandpower.com/ab-capital.asp.
Cara Lorello can be reached at [email protected]
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