The Value of Cooperative Membership

Changing the calendar to a new year is a good opportunity to reflect on the successes and challenges of 2025 and determine the best course for making progress in 2026. At Victory Electric Cooperative, our focus on providing the best value to our member-owners guides us as we set goals and targets for the coming year and beyond. The cooperative difference means we prioritize the needs and interests of our member-owners as we make decisions that will move us forward.

What makes a cooperative different from other businesses?

• Member ownership
• Not-for-profit organization
• Community focus

Because you receive electric service from Victory Electric, you are a member-owner, not simply a customer paying for a service. That means you share in the ownership, maintenance and prosperity of the cooperative. 

Victory Electric sets rates to cover costs, repay loans and maintain emergency reserves. As a not-for-profit organization, we do not generate profits. After operating expenses are subtracted from the revenue, any excess revenue, called margins, is allocated to members as capital credits. Your share in the margins that Victory Electric earns is a valuable benefit of your cooperative membership.

Capital credits reflect your ownership in the cooperative. The allocation of capital credits is based on your rate class and the amount you contribute to margins based on the electricity purchased during the previous year. As we consider the financial benefits of cooperative membership, it’s also important to look at the values and guiding principles that cooperatives have in common.

Rural electric cooperatives across the United States vary in size and serve diverse communities. Regardless of their location or membership, all cooperatives operate according to seven shared principles that guide our actions, increase the value of membership and strengthen community ties: voluntary and open membership; democratic member control; members’ economic participation; autonomy and independence; education, training and information; cooperation among cooperatives; and concern for community. 

“Concern for community” means working for the sustainable development of the communities we serve through policies supported by our membership. As a community-driven, not-for-profit cooperative, we can respond to the needs of our member-owners here in southwest Kansas, not distant shareholders. We support local communities and work with local agencies and organizations on initiatives that bring value to our member-owners.

As we consider the value your cooperative membership provides, our top priority is delivering safe, reliable electricity at competitive rates. Cooperatives provide real value for your membership in multiple ways to benefit individual members and the local economy. By focusing on people rather than profit, cooperatives ensure that the needs and interests of our members always come first. Victory Electric is committed to giving value to our member-owners and supporting the continued progress of our communities into 2026 and beyond.