Manpower and material shortages slowed REA efforts during World War II. However, afterward the number of rural cooperatives doubled, customers tripled, and power lines expanded five times. By 1953, the rural frontier was 90% electrified. Today, 99% of rural Americans receive affordable, reliable electricity, mostly from rural electric cooperatives (National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, 2023).
"The speed shown in electrification of the nation's rural area is a striking example of American progress."
-Charles Oakes, President, Edison Electric Institute (The Farmer's Weekly Review, 7 July 1948)
"This visualization shows the rapid spread of America's Electric Cooperatives as they brought light to rural places." (National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, 2016)
(The Farmer's Weekly Review, 7 July 1948)
(Wallaces' Farmer, 21 Jan. 1950)
(Lancaster Farming, 26 Oct. 1956)
"[Rural electric cooperatives] brought electricity to rural America. The progression of that is probably one of the largest modern marvels that has ever happened to the United States."
-Craig Codner, Butler County REC General Manager (Personal Interview, 16 Feb. 2023)
Transformative Effects
With the flip of a switch, electricity illuminated the rural frontier, which dazzled residents, revitalized the economy, and improved life.
"It was a never-ending delight to see how happy and excited people were when they first turned on a switch and saw their own electric light."
-Ernest Neal, Iowa farmer, Co-op Organizer, 1934 (Intouch, Butler County REC, Aug. 2011)
99-year-old Anna Mae Bahlmann (Personal Interview, 25 Jan. 2023)
Farmers welcomed electricity as their new "hired hand," which modernized the rural economy by saving time, labor, and money. Additionally, rural electricity improved farmer health and safety, as well as prolonged product shelf life. However, it also triggered an unintended population shift, as unemployed farm laborers moved to cities for jobs.
(Wallaces' Farmer, 7 Aug. 1948)
(A Guide for Members of Cooperatives, Rural Electric Administration, 1939)
"Electric bulk tanks kept milk at a cool consistent temperature, reducing spoilage before it was shipped to the creamery." (South Dakota Agricultural Heritage Museum, 8 Nov. 1955)
"Electric ventilation improved the air quality in barns for the livestock and farmers." (South Dakota Agricultural Heritage Museum, 8 Jan. 1959)
The introduction of electric appliances revolutionized farmwives' lives, too, by saving nearly forty hours per week on household chores, which freed them to take jobs outside the home and pursue leisure activities, like watching television (Berger, 2019).
(Wallaces' Farmer, 7 Aug. 1948)
(A Guide for Members of Cooperatives, Rural Electric Administration, 1939)
"Fair Tent" (Butler County REC Archives, 1961)
"Electric refrigerators were at the top of the 'must have' list when rural families finally received electricity." (Indiana Connection, N.d.)
Rural Vitality
Today, electricity is considered essential and almost 900 cooperatives nationwide power 56% of the U.S. landmass, while keeping rates affordable, providing jobs, and investing in communities throughout the rural frontier (National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, 2022).
"Rural cooperatives provide electricity to industrial parks that provide good jobs, it's more than selling electricity, it is providing a good living for people to live in our communities."
-Duane Rieckenberg, Butler County REC Board President (Personal Interview, 16 Feb. 2023)
(Electric Co-op Facts and Figures, National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, 28 April 2022)
Modern rural electric cooperatives are constantly evolving to meet the ever-changing needs of their customers through advocacy and leadership of energy innovations, such as development of alternative energy sources and improved broadband access – actions that support rural vitality today and in the future.
"Today, Congress can demonstrate the vision that its predecessors showed decades ago by connecting every American with the 21st Century equivalent of electricity—broadband."
-Federal Broadband Infrastructure Coalition letter to Congress (National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, 28 June 2021)
(Electric Co-op Facts and Figures, National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, 28 April 2022)
"NRECA is asking Congress to fund broadband service that provides rural communities with the bandwidth they will need to thrive well into the future." (Keres, USDA, 2021)
"RECs provide community support and leadership in small towns as those towns seek to expand existing economic opportunity and attempt to attract new economic opportunity. In a sense RECs provide two forms of energy: electricity and people power that make a real difference in communities across the United States."
-Tom Vilsack, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture (Personal Interview, 15 March 2023)
