Dear Midwest Electric member-owner:
Midwest Electric is paying more than $2.3 million in patronage cash back to members this month! You are receiving an electric bill credit that says “Patronage Applied to Bill”; or some receive a check. Please read on for a special request I want you to consider.
Better yet, we haven’t raised electric rates since 2010! In that time, we have invested more than $26 million in electric system reliability improvements, and we have returned $17 million in patronage cash back…all without raising electric rates!
Last year, we had planned a rate increase for 2021, which would have been our first rate change in 11 years. But thanks to updated planning and our continued focus on cost control, we were able avoid that.
I am writing to ask you to please consider “re-investing” part of your patronage capital payment back into the future of your cooperative.
Please join nearly 700 Midwest Electric members and 35,000 electric cooperative members, employees and directors nationwide who are part of the political action group, Co-op Owners for Political Action®. (If you’re already a member of Co-op Owners and your bill has a line item for “Grassroots COPA” you don’t need to sign up again.)
We need your help with Co-op Owners for Political Action® to support members of Congress and the Ohio Statehouse who support us in our fight for reliable and affordable electricity.
Help us keep electricity affordable and reliable. Co-op Owners for Political Action is our best tool to work with decision makers in Ohio and Washington, D.C. Just $25 a year (only $2.08 per month) makes you part of this voice for electric cooperatives. It’s a small investment that can help keep electricity affordable and reliable.
We’re battling against poorly conceived federal energy policy that puts stable, reliable and dependable baseload sources of power generation at risk. We need your help in this fight.
As a member-owner of Midwest Electric you have distinct advantages over customers of other types of utilities. You receive electric service at cost, and any margin the cooperative makes is allocated back to you as patronage capital. We invest those funds in new poles, wire, transformers, substations and other infrastructure in order to provide a reliable supply of cost-effective electric power. That equity is then retired - or paid back - to you as it is financially feasible to do so. This month, you are receiving a patronage capital payment from your cooperative, either as a bill credit or a check. In true cooperative fashion, the benefit is going back to the membership.
Go to midwestrec.com > My Coop > Political Action for a link to a Q & A brochure. Or use this form to send us a message, and we can conveniently add your Co-op Owners contribution to your monthly electric bill. (If you’re already a member of Co-op Owners and your bill has a line item for “Grassroots COPA” you don’t need to sign up again.)
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Matt Berry, CEO