After Thomas Edison’s invention of the incandescent lamp in 1879, the use of
electricity spread quickly across America. By the early 20th century most cities
had electricity and it was quickly spreading to small town America, but not to
the rural areas. The prevailing belief of the power industry was that it
was not profitable to serve rural areas.
Finally, in the 1920s, 20 farms in Minnesota formed the rural electrification
demonstration project and electrified their farms through six miles of
distribution line. This project showed that agricultural production increased
sharply and that overall operating costs dropped with increased use of
electricity. It was not until 1936 that the Rural Electrification Act was passed
by Congress and signed into law by President Roosevelt. The Act established the
REA (Rural Electrification Administration) as an Independent Agency to provide
loans for rural electrification. With loan money available, groups of people in
rural areas took matters into their own hands. Rural people all over the United
States organized non-profit consumer owned electric cooperatives to handle the
business of electrifying the countryside.
By 1980 about 99 percent of rural America had electricity. Today the rural
electrification program is a working example of self-help and economic and
community development. Through the efforts of America’s 1000 rural electric
cooperatives, aided by the funding and services of REA, rural America is now
electrified.
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