An electric co-operative in South Carolina is rounding up bills to the next highest dollar to help fund local community projects.
Founded in 1940, Berkeley Electric Cooperative would round up a bill of $55.75 to $56.00, with the additional $0.25 going to the Operation Round Up Fund. Bills are rounded up from a penny to 99 cents, but never more than one dollar.
The fund is administered by the Berkeley Electric Cooperative Trust, a board of volunteer directors made up of community leaders from the three counties served by the co-operative.
The funds can be used for home repairs, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) or building of wheel chair ramps for medical necessity. A member can receive up to $3,000 within a three-year period for such projects.
Overall the co-op rounds up each participating customer’s bill by $6 per year, which amounts to around $408,000 a year.
They can see how the money is spent on their monthly billing statement as well as on their year-end statement.
While customers are automatically signed up to the Operation Round Up programme as soon as they join the co-op, they can choose to opt out at any time by contacting their local district office.
Berkeley Electric Cooperative now serves over 95,000 customers in Berkeley, Charleston and Dorchester counties with over 5,000 miles of line connecting them all together, being the largest electric co-operative in South Carolina.
Since being launched in 1992 the programme has raised $7.6m.
