Matanuska Electric posts its list of $451,000 in unclaimed capital credits

More than $451,000 in capital credits is waiting to be claimed by current and former Matanuska Electric Association members, with one member owed roughly $15,000.

MEA published its updated list on Sept. 1. The credits date back to 1997. The average unclaimed amount is about $57.

The 46-page list is on MEA's capital credits page. It carries no dollar figures, only a footnote, "Amount is less than $10," marked against about one name in eight.

MEA said there is "more than $451,000 currently waiting to be claimed by current and former MEA members." Members or family members on the list can call Member Services at 907-761-9300 to verify account information, update an address, and have a check reissued. The co-op's offices operate from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. MEA says payments go uncollected "often because a former member has moved and MEA no longer has a current mailing address." Where the member has died, credits go to the estate, capped at $2,500, and need a death certificate, notarized forms and probate paperwork.

Capital credits are the margins MEA allocates back to the members who furnished them through their patronage, meaning their electricity purchases. The co-op's bylaws require notice to each patron of the amount credited, and the board retires credits, its term for paying them out, when the board determines finances allow. MEA has retired credits every year since 2018, about $12.4 million in all. MEA serves about 58,000 members across the Mat-Su and Eagle River.

Every page of the list is headed with an Aug. 14 escheat date, when unclaimed property can pass to the state. MEA says a member may ask for a check to be reissued at any time, no matter how long ago it was written.