Patronage Capital Refunds

The Member List (see Quick Link) contains the names of those people who have patronage capital refund checks available to them. The owners of these checks were served by Sulphur Springs Valley Electric Cooperative, Inc., (SSVEC) at some period of time in 1984, 1985, 2002 and/or 2004. Their checks were either returned by the Post Office as undeliverable because SSVEC has no current mailing address or the owners never cashed the checks.

If your name or the name of a friend or relative who was a member of SSVEC during the years indicated above appears on the list, please obtain a Patronage Capital Refund Request form here (see Quick Link), any SSVEC location, or call (520) 515-3495 to have a form mailed or emailed to you.. The person to whom the refund is due must complete the application. Amounts not claimed by April 30, 2008, will be transferred to the Sulphur Springs Valley Electric Cooperative Foundation, pursuant to SSVEC's bylaws as revised October 25, 2000. The SSVEC Foundation is an Arizona charitable, tax-exempt corporation, established by SSVEC's bylaws and approved by the IRS.

Your cooperative solicits your cooperation in helping to find the owners of these checks. For questions regarding the refund or to request a refund application, call (520) 515-3495 or your local cooperative office and enter ext. 3495.

Where does this money come from?
Because SSVEC is a cooperative, it is owned by the members it serves. Each year after all expenses are paid, the margins (profit earned after expenses) are divided among the members. The margins are assigned to each member's account based on the amount of electricity purchased during the year and the amount of revenue generated by consumer category. As the financial condition of SSVEC allows and via regularly scheduled retirements, these margins are paid to members in the form of a patronage capital refund check or a credit on their next bill. All members are advised to keep SSVEC updated on their current mailing address to ensure they receive patronage capital refund checks. Nonetheless, numerous checks are returned by the Post Office because no forwarding address is available. SSVEC periodically advertises the names of those whose checks can't be delivered to encourage friends and relatives to notify former members to contact SSVEC to claim their patronage capital refund check.

What happens to these checks if no one claims them?
With a bylaws change in 1984, SSVEC's members established the SSVEC Foundation. It is a tax-exempt, educational, charitable institution funded by unclaimed patronage capital and by donations. Prior to 1984 any monies that could not be returned to the members escheated (reverted) to the State of Arizona. The bylaws vote in 1984 changed this and now the money is used through the Foundation to benefit our service area. SSVEC directors serve as the trustees of the SSVEC Foundation. The Foundation yearly funds the expenses for the Washington Youth Tour winners, the Youth Engineering and Science Fair awards and scholarships at high schools in SSVEC's service territory. In addition, each fall the Foundation considers requests from groups and organizations within SSVEC's service area for donations. Requests are screened to determine whether they meet the goal of furthering educational opportunity for youth in the communities SSVEC serves.