A representative of RESCO told the Hastings Utility Advisory Board that the cooperative recently retired and paid capital credits to members and that Hastings Utilities will receive a series of cash payments and capital-credit retirements tied to prior equipment purchases.

Dave (RESCO representative) described the cooperative’s background and the recent board decision to accelerate capital-credit retirements. He said RESCO increased the cash portion of annual patronage payments from 20% to 30% and compressed retirements from a 10-year cycle to a 7-year cycle. He detailed the payments the city can expect and the historical totals from purchases of transformers, conductors and other materials during 2019–2024.

Dave summarized the amounts in multiple places in his presentation: “Since 2019, just on the cash side of that, you know, bearing in mind that, you know, the, the buy in, if you will, was $500. What's already been returned to the city in cash is a little over $108,000 And when you combine that with the capital credits, it's over half a million.” He also outlined scheduled cash payments and future capital credit annuitization years.

Dave and board members discussed that membership shares are refundable and that RESCO competes with other suppliers; RESCO’s role is to aggregate buying power for small utilities and return excess margins to members.

Ending
Board members thanked the RESCO representative and noted the payments will be incorporated into the utility's financial planning; staff said they will continue standard competitive bidding for equipment purchases and keep membership arrangements under review.