Eligible members of Covington Electric Cooperative will collectively receive $1 million in capital credit refunds in May, CEC president and general manager Ed Short said last night.

Short addressed coop members at the organization’s annual meeting last night.

“Individual refunds will be determined on a pro-rata basis based on the number of kilowatt hours you have purchased from CEC, he said. “You will receive a credit on your bill or a check after May 1, 2012.”

Short also told members that, barring anything unforeseen, they should expect stable rates.

“CEC used a zero power cost adjustment for all of 2011,” he said. “The power cost adjustment went to zero on the January, 2011 bills. Unusual weather resulted in increased sales in the first quarter of 2011. These sales provided above-budget margins early in the year, and these early margins helped provide stable rates fore all of 2011.

“Having stable rates is not to say that your bill was not high,” he said. “Most all bills were somewhat high because we used a large number of kilowatt hours in the first half of 2011, but by year end and after a rather mild November and December, sales for the year of 2011 were down 3.26 percent vs. 2010.”

Because of the mild winter weather, he said, sales thus far this year are down some 23 percent.

He said the cooperative’s supplier, PowerSouth, continues to plan for future needs.

“The projected baseload needs in the 2016 time frame are still being obtained from multiple sources through contracts, renewables and nuclear,” he said. “Plans are proceeding with the nuclear option in Georgia.

Personally, I still feel this country needs to proceed with a standardized nuclear program. The so-called green energy is good, but thus far, it is very expensive and not always available.”

Gary Harris of Dozier and Ken Nichols of Andalusia were re-elected as trustees of Covington Electric Cooperative’s board during Thursday’s annual meeting.