Capital credits are accumulated based on the customer-member’s electric usage and the amount they paid for electricity during the time they had SMECO electric service in their name. Each member’s capital credit balance is unique and the final refund amount is determined by their capital credit balance. Some members accumulate more capital credits than others because they use more electricity or had service for a longer time.
Capital Credit Beneficiary FAQ
The capital credits for the deceased member cannot be transferred to an active account.
Each SMECO member has just one capital credit account even though they may have had multiple electric accounts.
The ownership of the property has no bearing on capital credits, and it does not matter who actually paid the SMECO bills. The capital credits belong to the person whose name was on the SMECO electric account.
When someone notifies SMECO that the member is deceased, SMECO will mail a letter to the beneficiary explaining how to claim the capital credit funds. The beneficiary will be required to provide a death certificate and a copy of the front and back of a government-issued photo ID. Fill out the Beneficiary Request Form to claim the funds.
The actual amount to be distributed will be calculated at the time the beneficiary submits a claim for the capital credit funds. At the end of each year, SMECO allocates funds to members, so capital credits accumulate from year to year. When capital credits are disbursed in a lump sum payment, they are discounted based on the year the funds were allocated.
No, beneficiaries aren’t financially liable for your outstanding payments.
Yes, you can submit a new form to identify a different beneficiary. A new form will supersede any previous forms.
We only need one form per member (not per electric account).
Lump sum payments are not issued to the surviving member of a joint account. If two members (married or not married) have a joint account and one member passes away, the capital credit funds will remain in the surviving member's capital credit account. The surviving member will receive capital credits when general refunds are distributed. The surviving member can name a beneficiary when he/she is the sole account holder.