Nearly 8,000 Matanuska Electric users have unclaimed cash waiting

What you need to know:

• Nearly 8,000 Mat-Su and Eagle River residents and businesses have about $451,520 in unclaimed capital credit payouts from Matanuska Electric Association. The average unclaimed credit is $57.31, while one is worth $15,000.
• The payouts come from MEA members’ accumulated equity, which is periodically converted to cash by the co-op’s board. Checks that go uncashed remain available indefinitely, even if the recipient is no longer an MEA member.
• MEA’s 2026 unclaimed-credit list contains more than 7,700 names. People on the list can contact MEA Member Services at 907-761-9300.
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PALMER — Nearly 8,000 residents or businesses in Mat-Su and Eagle River have unclaimed cash waiting in an electric company credit account, and utility officials want them to claim it.

The waiting cash is from unclaimed capital credit payouts from the Matanuska Electric Association cooperative, which are created when the co-op's finances are strong enough to convert members' accumulated equity into cash, according to an MEA fact sheet.

MEA releases a refreshed list of individuals and businesses that have unclaimed capital credit checks each year. The 2026 list includes more than 7,700 names and is available on MEA's website.

The average unclaimed credit is $57.31, MEA officials said in an email, and one user has $15,000 waiting. All told, MEA is holding about $451,520 in unclaimed payouts, officials said.

Converted credits are typically first used by MEA to pay off receiving members' delinquent or uncollectible bills, the sheet states. Payouts under $25 are applied to an upcoming bill, and anything higher is mailed as a check.

MEA operates as a member-owned co-op and puts a share of the annual money it holds after expenses into each member's account based on how much electricity the member used. The money builds up as a kind of ownership stake rather than a bill credit, the fact sheet states.

When the utility's board of directors decides MEA can afford it, some of those credits are converted to cash and mailed out as payout checks to some or all members, depending on the year, the sheet states.

Checks that never get cashed end up in an unclaimed account, where they sit — sometimes for years — until a member comes forward.

The last payout release was in 2024 and included about $1.3 million paid out to individuals or businesses that were members in 1989. Payouts in 2023 and 2022 went to members from 1988, and payouts approved in 2021 were split, with half going to those who were members in 1987 and 1988 and half going to everyone else. No payouts were approved in 2025 or this year, according to the fact sheet.

Individuals who find their names on the list can contact MEA Member Services at 907-761-9300. Individuals representing the estate of a deceased member who has an unclaimed credit payout can claim the credit, up to $2,500. Credits do not expire, and an individual does not need to be a current member to receive the payout.

-- Contact Amy Bushatz at contact@matsusentinel.com