It’s a Bright Idea to Be a Co-op Member

May 1, 2022

Wells Rural Electric Company shares 2021 financial highlights

By Garrett Hylton

Wells Rural Electric Company (WREC)’s mission is to improve the quality of life in the communities it serves and provide safe, reliable, affordable, and environmentally responsible electricity to its members.

One of the key functions in accomplishing that mission is making sure the cooperative operates in a consistent, financially responsible manner. For the sake of transparency, WREC is publishing key 2021 financial information on this page and a comparison from the previous year.

Each year, WREC undergoes an independent audit to ensure the cooperative and its employees are fulfilling financial obligations. After a thorough review of last year’s financial records, the cooperative’s auditing firm—Bolinger, Segars, Gilbert & Moss, based in Lubbock, Texas—reported a flawless audit to WREC’s Board of Directors. The yearly audit is an essential part of making sure your cooperative is following the right processes and procedures to manage its operations and resources.

As a not-for-profit cooperative, WREC is not driven by returning money to investors. However, it is important the company’s rates and revenues perform well enough to produce a healthy margin necessary to operate the company.

When WREC does well, the board returns margins to members in the form of capital credits (you can learn more about capital credits on page 8). This year, the board approved returning $621,428 to members through capital credits, continuing a streak of returning capital credits to members that spans more than three decades.

WREC’s performance in 2021 was similar to 2020. Despite hard times brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, WREC has kept its year-over-year consistency.

A lot of decisions and planning are required to maintain the cooperative’s financial health. The yearly audit and year-over-year comparison are two great signs WREC remains on the right track.

Wells Rural Electric Company’s 2021 Financial Highlights

  • Margins – $3,571,027
  • Assets – $65,645,854
  • Income – $44,904,323
  • Liabilities – $65,645,854
  • Expenses – $41,333,296

2020 and 2021 Financial Comparison: graph showing comparison between assets, income, expenses, liabilities, and margins for 2020 and 2021