It’s easy to find out: Just look at your monthly bill. If the total due is always a round number – all dollars and no cents – it is probably because the amount is rounded up to the nearest dollar. To be sure, look for “Roundup Amt” in the itemized portion of the bill. The amount will be between 0 and 99 cents and will average out to about $6 a year. The extra change is pooled with other members’ contributions and administered by the Cotton Electric Charitable Foundation. If you are not an Operation Round Up participant and would like to be, give us a call. The numbers are 580-875-3351 or 800-522-3520.Click here to learn more about Operation Round Up and Cotton Electric Charitable Foundation.

Capital credit checks amounting to $300,000 were issued recently by Cotton Electric Cooperative. A refund of capital credits demonstrates how a not-for-profit electric cooperative works. Annually, money over and above the cost of operations and other necessary expenses and reserves is declared margins. When the board of trustees determines that a portion of those margins can be refunded, members who contributed to those margins receive a share.
A share of the capital credits was allocated among active and inactive members and each check was mailed to the latest known address for the member. Checks addressed to members listed here were returned to the cooperative because of incorrect or insufficient addresses.
Cotton Electric Cooperative needs help finding the people listed here. If you see a name on this list that you recognize and if you have information about a current address, please call 580-875-3351 or e-mail info@cottonelectric.com and let the co-op know.
TO CLAIM A CAPITAL CREDIT CHECK, WE REQUIRE A SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER TO VERIFY THE MEMBER'S IDENTITY.

It may seem like a contradiction, but you can save money by paying your power bill through MyChoice, Cotton Electric’s newest payment method. You can also control when you pay, how and where you make a payment – you even control how much you pay at any one time.
“MyChoice is a non-traditional payment method made possible by modern technology,” said Jeff Simpson, Cotton Electric’s vice president of finance and administration. “We can install a ‘smart meter’ for a residential, single phase account and get daily readings of energy usage at that location. That ability has opened up a new avenue for the electric industry, allowing us to establish prepaid accounts, where payment is made before power is used and deductions are made from the account according to daily usage.”
To further explain MyChoice, let’s start with the saving money part. When setting up a traditional account – where payment is made after usage – a member is usually asked to provide a deposit that may cover two months’ usage or more. Opting for a MyChoice account eliminates the need for a deposit because power is purchased before it is used.
Because there is no deposit, new members can start a MyChoice account for a fraction of the cost of starting a traditional account.
Traditional accounts have late fees when payment is not made by the due date. Disconnect and reconnect fees are assessed if a member’s payment challenges lead to a loss of power. None of those situations or fees are assessed with a MyChoice account.
Instead of a due date on a paper bill in the mail, a MyChoice member will receive a low balance notification by text message, e-mail or phone call – your choice! – letting you know when funds in the account are running low.
If the funds are depleted, service is automatically disconnected. Once the account is recharged with a minimum of $20, power is restored, usually within 30 minutes. “This is all done via the ‘smart meter,’ thus eliminating the need for disconnect and reconnect runs by Cotton Electric personnel,” explained Simpson. “No fees are generated because the meter can be operated remotely.”
The member has a variety of options for recharging the account:
Payments to MyChoice accounts can be made in any amount in one of the following ways:
•    In person during business hours, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, except holidays, at 226 N. Broadway in Walters or 1101 W. Oak in Duncan. Liberty National Bank’s Medicine Park branch also accepts cash payments for Cotton Electric accounts.
•    Over the phone during business hours. Members in the Walters area can call 580-875-3351 and in Duncan the number is 580-255-5065. The toll-free number is 800-522-3520.
•    Payments can be mailed to Cotton Electric, 226 N. Broadway, Walters, OK  73572. To ensure uninterrupted service, allow plenty of time for payment to arrive.  The co-op is not responsible for delays in delivery.
•    Online at cottonelectric.com. The website accepts payments made directly from a checking account. Credit card payments are also possible, with an additional fee. Credit card payments require up to one full business day to post to your account.
•    Via Moneygram services offered in Walmart and CVS stores in Lawton and Duncan.
A MyChoice account is very flexible and can be used in a way that suits the member. The account can be recharged as often as the member chooses with any amount of money. For example, an account may be running low a few days before payday. In addition to controlling usage, a member may want to add a few dollars to the account which will keep the power on until they can make a larger payment.
Another feature of MyChoice allows the member to track power usage on a daily basis. Each account can be accessed through MyUsage.com, which provides a wealth of information about the account. A Transaction History window shows the high and low temperatures of each day on record, in addition to daily readings of kilowatt hours used and funds deducted from the account.
Simpson offered one caution. “When paying through cottonelectric.com, the account balance will not reflect the true MyChoice balance. You must refer to MyUsage.com for your actual daily balance.”
He said MyChoice is not just for new members. “Traditional account holders can switch to MyChoice, too. Any deposit on your existing account will be credited toward any balance and the remaining amount to your MyChoice account.”
If a member finds MyChoice is not the right choice, they can switch to a traditional account at any time after paying any required deposits.

There was very little fanfare and not much of a crowd. There was no media frenzy and the balloons stayed in the car because the Oklahoma wind was just too blustery.
It was a quiet but significant moment for Operation Round Up and theCotton Electric Charitable Foundation. When cooperative officials gathered recently to witness the presentation of a $3,500 CECF grant to Meridian Volunteer Fire Department, they saw the contributions Cotton Electric members have made to area communities pass the half-million dollar mark.
To be exact, with the disbursal of $20,110 in grants after the first quarter of 2011, the total amount distributed since 2004 is $507,382.54.
Funds supporting the program were collected, literally, pennies at a time. More than 80 percent of Cotton Electric’s members participate in Operation Round Up. Their power bills are rounded up to the nearest dollar, which means an individual monthly contribution may be as small as a penny or as large as 99 cents.
The change is pooled into a fund administered by the charitable foundation, composed of Cotton Electric members serving as president, vice president and secretary-treasurer. They are Richard Dixon, Keith Hooker and Carly Douglass, respectively. The group is rounded out by co-op CEO Warren Langford and Charles Spencer, president of the board of trustees.
The CECF board gathers quarterly to consider applications for grants. The first four grants were issued in September 2004. Since then, 217 grants have been issued in amounts ranging from $100 to $10,000.
The grants have been made to a variety of applicants including youth shelters, veterans’ facilities, churches, civic clubs and townships. The funds have been used to purchase such things as school and administrative supplies, medical equipment, uniforms, bunker gear and large appliances. Several facilities have made much-needed structural improvements thanks to CECF grants.
Contributions to 31 volunteer fire departments throughout the Cotton Electric service area have totaled $161,139. CECF board members feel VFDs provide a vital service to rural Oklahoma, where the majority of CEC’s members reside and work.
The VFDs have used the funds for station renovation and truck enhancement and to purchase protective clothing. Equipment purchased with CECF funds includes hand-held communication devices and Hurst cutters for Jaws of Life.
Contributions to area communities and organizations supporting them have totaled $86,296.55. From Velma to Elgin to Chattanooga to Temple and many points between and beyond, funds have benefitted things like animal shelters, cemeteries, arts councils and fair associations.
Programs benefitting young and old have received CECF grants. Youth-oriented projects have received $65,648.11, while another $40,304.28 has gone directly to schools. Grants for groups helping senior citizens have totaled $15,499. Civic groups and churches have sponsored individuals with special needs, receiving $36,750 in CECF grants.
Public safety issues like disaster relief, 211 call centers and installing security cameras have had help from $40,699 in grants. Groups providing services such as family counseling, hospice care and food closets have received $61,046.60 from CECF.
The grants are more than just money to the recipients. They are a vote of approval for the groups working for the benefit of their community.
Ben Cheek, Meridian VFD chief, put it this way: “We appreciate the fact that Cotton Electric members contribute to Operation Round Up. It’s like we have a symbiotic relationship: We serve the community and we are supported by the community.”
The small change from members of Cotton Electric has made a big difference in the area in which they live.