New Deal Accomplishment: 800 electric cooperatives, serving 40 million Americans


Above: A Rural Electrification Administration (REA) poster. From the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The Enduring Legacy of the Rural America & New Deal Electric Partnership

President Franklin Roosevelt signed the Rural Electrification Act into law on May 20, 1936, in order to finance utility projects in under-served areas. Private business had no interest in providing electricity to these rural areas, so U.S. Senator George Norris (R-Neb.) propelled the electrification bill through Congress and onto FDR's desk. Rural Americans then created electric cooperatives, borrowed money from the recently-created Rural Electrification Administration (REA), at low interest, and built their own electric plants and installed poles, lines, and connections.  

By the end of 1943, as the core of the New Deal years disappeared in the shadow of World War II, the REA had provided loans to 805 electric cooperatives, serving over 1 million Americans. Fortunately, the REA was one of the New Deal programs that survived the war, and it continued to grow. By the end of 1951, for example, it had provided loans to 1,009 cooperatives, serving 3.5 million people. (Statistics from Rural Lines: The Story of the Rural Electrification Administration's First Twenty-five Years, 1935-1960, p. 55.)

When the 1936 electrification act was signed, about 90% of rural homes had no electricity. Less than 20 years later, 1953, that statistic was beginning to reverse, for example, "more than 90 percent of U.S. farms had electricity" ("History," National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA), both emphases added).

Today, there are over 800 cooperatives (some of the original cooperatives have merged with others) and they serve over 40 million Americans ("Electric Co-op Facts & Figures," NRECA). Importantly, "Most rural electrification is the product of locally owned rural electric cooperatives that got their start by borrowing funds from REA to build lines and provide service on a not-for-profit basis ("History," NRECA, emphasis added).

In numerous books and websites, many electric cooperatives proudly celebrate their FDR and REA origins.

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