A recent Alabama Supreme Court decision has handed an important victory to electric cooperatives defending their patronage capital practices in the state. The court affirmed the trial court’s dismissal in Recherche LLC v....more
The federal courts of appeals have generally recognized that electric cooperatives can retire patronage capital to their members through means other than annual cash payments. For example, the US Court of Appeals for the...more
Pennsylvania’s REA Energy Cooperative, Inc. obtained dismissal of a putative class action lawsuit last year, a decision that was recently confirmed by the US District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. The...more
Cooperatives facing patronage capital lawsuits have recently enjoyed a series of favorable court opinions. Over the past few months, the Eleventh Circuit and state and federal courts in Florida have all dismissed claims for...more