Anyone requesting electric service, who has not had service in their name with the Cooperative, will need to complete and submit a Member Application.

Federal law and the cooperative's bylaws require all consumers be members of the cooperative.  The membership fee is $50 and must be paid prior to receiving electrical service.  If  you discontinue service, the membership fee will be applied to your final bill.

A security deposit may be required for service at each location. The Cooperative will assess a deposit based on a person's credit risk by using a credit evaluation service. The credit check will not affect a person's credit history. If a deposit is required, the amount will be equal to two times the monthly average history, provided that 12 months valid history exists.  If valid history does not exist, the deposit amount shall be $225.  Existing deposit amounts may be modified based on 12 month usage history if service is disconnected for non-payment or refunded towards the account balance if the account is inactive. The deposit will be applied to the account after monthly bills have been paid on time for 12 consecutive months.  Security deposits are paid interest, which is accrued each month and applied every October or when deposit is refunded. 

As a not-for-profit cooperative, our rates are designed simply to cover the costs of wholesale power, transmission and distribution related costs plus provide adequate margin.

The whole premise of electric rates in a cooperative is one of fairness. Beltrami Electric Cooperative (BEC) uses consulting engineering firms to assist in studying the impact that each member group has on incurring the cost components. Rates are then set to recover expenses to serve each group.

In an electric cooperative, the ultimate authority on all issues belongs to the member elected board of directors. The staff and consulting engineers must present the studies and proposed rate to the member’s representatives for approval, including service rates.