The nearly 23,700 members of Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative will be getting refund checks in the mail sometime in mid-May, according to a KIUC spokesperson. The refunds, which represent about $1.7 million in total, are part of $6.9 million in
The nearly 23,700 members of Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative will be getting refund checks in the mail sometime in mid-May, according to a KIUC spokesperson.
The refunds, which represent about $1.7 million in total, are part of $6.9 million in revenue (margins) generated by KIUC from November 2002 to December 2003.
The checks will be approximately 25 percent of what each KIUC user pays each month. Larger consumers of electricity, such as businesses and resorts, will get back more than the average residential user, who typically wracks up a monthly bill of $100 to $125, said Anne Barnes, KIUC’s director of communications.
“For an average residential account that consumed about 500 kilowatts per month for the period, the average refund check will be approximately $25,” she said.
It all comes on the heels of recent approval by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Service (RUS) and the National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corporation (NRUCFC) to allow KIUC to issue refunds — a situation that is typically unheard of for co-ops, especially since KIUC has only been in business just over a calendar year.
Indeed, the RUS and NRUCFC are KIUC’s principal creditors, and their approval is a positive indication that KIUC is in good financial condition, Barnes said.
“They (our creditors) obviously have a lot of confidence in us,” she said.
Why not issue more than 25 percent?
“Well, we have to keep the doors open and the lights on,” joked Barnes.
The KIUC is one of the few utility cooperatives in the country that attempts each year to return money to members, Barnes said.
“Most cooperatives have a 10- or even 20-year cycle,” she said.
KIUC paid $215 million for Kaua‘i Electric in 2002, and is the only utility cooperative in the state.
Here are the specifics on the refunds:
- If the amount of the refund is less than $5 and the member has an active account, the amount will appear as a credit to the member’s account;
- If the amount of the retirement (the rebates are known as “retirement of patronage capital” in co-op lingo) is less than $5 and the member does not have an active account, the amount will be held until the cumulative is $5 or more.
Business Editor Phil Hayworth may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 251) or mailto:phayworth@pulitzer.net.
