South River EMC has refunded over $7 million to members this year. The largest part of this  refund is called capital credits and it is a special advantage of cooperative membership. As a not-for-profit cooperative, South River EMC doesn’t technically earn profits. Instead, any money remaining at the end of the year, called margins, is returned to the members who purchased energy from the Cooperative.

This year's capital credit retirement totaled $4,645,972, which will be refunded to 61,704 current and past members. Below is a breakdown of the numbers:

• 17,197 members will receive refund checks totaling $3,317,444

• 23,507 current members had their refund applied to their electric account

• The remaining refunds for inactive members have been applied to outstanding balances or have been moved to a “hold” status because we do not have a valid current address or the amount is less than $50.

Capital credit allocations are made each year based on the previous year’s margins. Total margins are divided among the members based on the amount of electricity they purchased that year. This year, the Cooperative is returning 20 percent of the amount allocated to members for 2018 as well as remaining allocations from 1999 and 2000. The remaining 2018 amount will be refunded in 19 years, unless a member leaves South River EMC and chooses the early-retirement option. 

Refunds come in all amounts, with the largest refunds going to the largest energy consumers. Harnett County Schools received a refund of $41,150; Cumberland County Schools, $38,518; Sampson County Schools, $11,793; Dubose Strapping, $32,649; Prestage Farms, $21,990; Murphy Brown LLC, $30,258; and Tri-County Community Health, $4,371.

South River EMC is a locally owned and operated electric cooperative, which provides electric service to 44,000 homes, farms and businesses in parts of Harnett, Cumberland, Sampson, Johnston and Bladen counties.