By , rural Americans could access electricity as easily as urban dwellers could. Many factors explain the success of the act. It gave farmers the power to decide where and how to use electricity and explicitly provided for the installation of electricity to light their homes as well as run their machines. Not only did this make life more pleasant for farmers, but it also offered health and productivity benefits.
Fewer farmers inhaled toxic fumes from kerosene lamps, and washing machines saved hours on housework that could then be devoted to more productive tasks. Above all, however, the REA succeeded because farmers immediately saw the potential benefits of having electricity on their farms. It greatly improved productivity for dairy farmers, for example, largely due to the common use of refrigerated storage tanks and milking parlors both of which required electricity to run , which kept losses to an absolute minimum.
Gains in productivity meant that farmers made more money and were able to pay back the REA loans. In other words, the government managed to provide electricity to its rural population essentially for free. Although most farmers got access to electricity by the s, the impact of the REA continued long after that date.
In , the act was extended to permit loans to phone companies to extend their connections to rural places in the country. The act persisted in much the same form through , when new amendments restructured the direct loan programs for rural electricity, telephone cooperatives, and the energy conservation market. The act survives in a number of different ways, though. Nearly of the energy co-ops founded under the act still exist today, and still provide electricity to their members. The rapid and enormous success of the act, as part of the broader economic effects of the New Deal , is the clearest indication of its influence.
Arguably, by providing access to electricity so quickly, the act allowed the U. By investing in the development of the country, and by protecting citizens from financial ruin through the Securities Act of , the New Deal provided an economic springboard that propelled America ahead of other nations from the s onward. The REA methodology continues to be actively adapted, as well.
The success of the co-op model, which provided electrical infrastructure to Americans much more quickly than in other nations, has led many analysts in the intervening period to propose using the same model to roll out other types of infrastructure improvements.
In , for instance, the Federal Communications Commission FCC unveiled the Connect America Fund to finance extending universal Internet service to homes in rural areas of the country. Co-ops from many different states are likewise taking action to improve broadband Internet access to rural regions just as electricity was brought to those same spots almost a century ago.
For three generations of Americans of both political parties, programs like the REA have come to represent not just the inherent potential of the U. As a result, the REA continues to exert a powerful psychological influence on U. Obama White House Archives. Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. Accessed July 21, National Archives. Senate Historical Highlights.
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But loan applications from farmer-based cooperatives poured in, and REA soon realized electric cooperatives would be the entities to make rural electrification a reality. In , the REA drafted the Electric Cooperative Corporation Act, a model law that states could adopt to enable the formation and operation of not-for-profit, consumer-owned electric cooperatives.
Within four years following the close of the World War II, the number of rural electric systems in operation doubled, the number of consumers connected more than tripled and the miles of energized line grew more than five-fold. By , more than 90 percent of U. 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.
Department of Agriculture. False claims that electric cooperatives were hoarding copper wire during World War II brought cooperative leaders from different states together to defend themselves. Info Alerts Maps Calendar Reserve. Alerts In Effect Dismiss. Dismiss View all alerts. Rural Electrification Act. Last updated: August 8, Stay Connected.
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