MANSFIELD — Tri-County Rural Electric Cooperative will be returning $600,000 in capital credits refunds to members and former members of the cooperative this month.

The Tri-County board of directors voted at its October monthly meeting to approve the retirement of capital credits allocated to members’ accounts in 1989, 1990 and 2020.

Current Tri-County members who received electric service from the cooperative in the retirement years will receive a credit on their December electric bills.

Tri-County sends checks to all inactive members who are entitled to a capital credits refund but no longer receive electric service from the cooperative. The checks will be mailed Dec. 15.

Capital credits reflect margins the cooperative realizes at the end of each year. Margins are revenues that remain after all expenses have been paid.

Because cooperatives are member-owned, not-for-profit businesses, margins are allocated back to the members in the form of capital credits. The amount of the allocation to a member’s account is based on that member’s energy consumption during the retirement years.

“I am extremely pleased that the cooperative is in a strong financial position and able to return capital credits to members again this year,” said Kevin Brownlee, Tri-County’s president and chief executive officer.

Brownlee noted that the cooperative has returned over $7 million in capital credits to members since 2010.

With headquarters in Mansfield, Tri-County Rural Electric Cooperative provides electric distribution service to nearly 17,000 members in Tioga, Potter, Bradford, Lycoming, McKean, Cameron and Clinton counties.