Plans are underway for the 2024 Annual Meeting of the Pella Cooperative Electric Association. The directors and employees of the cooperative are on the job to provide a critical service that improves the quality of life for our members. The Annual Meeting is a great place to meet the folks who work on your behalf, and we hope you will join us. The meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, April 2 at Pella Christian High School.
The cooperative ended 2023 in a financially sound and fiscally responsible position. Net margins for the year were $809,239, which were sufficient to meet all the financial requirements specified within our loan covenants. One of our seven cooperative principles is members' economic participation. Members contribute equitably to, and democratically control, the capital of the cooperative. One of the responsibilities of your board of directors is to determine when it is financially appropriate to return that capital back to the members. We're pleased to report that the board of directors returned $134,926 in capital credits during 2023. Through the years, the cooperative has returned more than $5 million in capital credits to our members.
Reliability is always a top priority for the Cooperative. Our reliability factor was 99.97% for 2023, and the average member experienced 160 minutes of outage time for the entire year. The majority of our outage time during 2023 was the direct result of transmission line failures along HWY 163 between Pella and Monroe. If you have driven HWY 163 recently, you have likely noticed that Mid-American Energy is rebuilding that transmission line. It is a much-needed improvement and will boost reliability for our members who receive power from the Otley and West Pella substations. We appreciate MidAmerican Energy's efforts to work with the cooperative to enhance reliability for our members. Whether it is partnering with other utilities or performing maintenance on our own power lines, our line crew works diligently to ensure your cooperative is providing a high level of service reliability.
Maintaining the poles, wires, and equipment is only part of the equation to providing reliable service. It is important that we continue to use a diverse energy mix that includes adequate baseload generation. Innovations in renewable energy have led to decreases in costs, making renewable energy more feasible, accessible, and scalable. The value of renewable energy remains limited, however, because it is not always dispatchable. The sun does not always shine, and the wind does not always blow. Our responsibility is to provide electricity 24/7 to our membership. Iowa's electric cooperatives must rely on an "all of the above" energy strategy that includes natural gas, coal, hydropower, wind, and solar resources to meet the demands of an increasingly electrified society. Your cooperative leaders along with our power supplier, Central Iowa Power Cooperative, continue to work with regulators and policymakers to stress the importance of a diverse energy mix.
Pella Cooperative Electric Association functions most effectively with committed and informed leadership. Your board of directors is democratically elected to represent your interests and provide long-term vision while staying true to our guiding cooperative principles. One of the most important things you can do as a member is participate in the election with your board of directors. This year members will vote for two directors located in District 2 and At-Large positions. Be looking for your ballot to arrive by mail soon, and please return it by March 22. It's important to note that there will be no in-person voting at the Annual Meeting.
Please make plans to join us at the 2024 Annual Meeting on Tuesday, April 2 to hear more about these topics and other important issues facing your cooperative. The meal starts at 5:30 in the evening with the business meeting to follow at 7:00. Once again this year, we will give away some great door prizes at the conclusion of the meeting. We look forward to seeing you there.