EMC Donates Checks for Local Causes
Last Friday, January 27, Central Georgia EMC’s Board Member Linda Jordan along with Central Georgia EMC’s Marketing Manager, Craig Frank, and Director of Information Systems, Jeff Greeson presented Sage Edwards of the Monticello-Jasper County Chamber of Commerce, Tracy Trovillo of the Jasper County Development Authority, and Jay Brinson of Jasper County Schools with checks to go toward education, community, and economic development activities.
“This is a good day for Georgia communities,” says Central Georgia EMC President George Weaver. “This legislation allows EMC members’ unclaimed funds to help parents educate their children, help community leaders attract businesses to Georgia and help charities provide services to those in need.”
Capital credits (a.k.a. “patronage dividends”) are margins over and above the cost of providing service for customer-owners of an EMC for a specific year, after EMC financial obligations have been met. According to unique cooperative business principles, capital credits may be returned to each member/customer on a pro-rata basis on a schedule determined by the respective EMC management and board of directors.
Until now, unclaimed capital credits were remitted to the state Department of Revenue, under Georgia’s Disposition of Unclaimed Property Act (DUPA). The new legislation will allow unclaimed capital credits remaining after five years to stay in the communities served by EMC’s.
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The amount of unclaimed patronage dividends will fluctuate annually, depending on the amount of capital credits refunded to members in a given year. For example, in 2003, EMC’s statewide refunded more than $22 million in capital credits to their members, while over a recent five-year period unclaimed capital credits each year averaged $1 million.
To declare an abandoned capital credit, EMC’s must follow strict member/owner notification requirements.
They must post on either a company website or at the EMC headquarters a list of members and addresses who have failed to claim capital credits. And, they must advertise the location of the list three- to six months before the retirement of capital credits in the newspaper designated as the legal county organ.
Moreover, the list must contain notification that unclaimed funds will be donated to education, economic development or charities.
On May 4, 2005 Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue signed legislation that brings thousands of dollars annually to communities served by Electric Membership Corporations (EMC’s), including Central Georgia EMC.
House Bill 431 allows EMC’s to retain unclaimed capital credits for the sole purposes of funding education, economic development and 501(c)(3) charitable organizations in the EMC service area.
Georgia joins 23 other states in the nation that already donate unclaimed capital credits for education, economic development and charitable organizations.
Central Georgia EMC is a consumer-owned cooperative providing electricity and related services to over 43,500 members in 14 counties.
Collectively, the 42 customer-owned EMCs in Georgia provide electricity and related services to 3.9 million people, nearly half of Georgia’s population, across 73 percent of the state’s land area.
Georgia’s 42 electric cooperatives now serve more customers than any other state network of EMCs in the nation.