02-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, October 3, 1998
Pennsylvania Rural
Electric Association
Serves 600,000 Residents
The Pennsylvania Rural
Electric Association (PREA),
based in Harrisburg, Pa., is the
service organization for the non
profit, consumer-owned rural
electric cooperatives in
Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
Currently, the 13 co-ops in
Pennsylvania and one in new
Jersey provide electric service to
more than 600,000 rural resi
dents, businesses and indus
tries. Pennsylvania's co-ops own
and maintain about 12.5 percent
of the electric distribution lines
in the state, covering nearly
one-third of the Commonwealth's
land area in 41 counties. These
lines represent one of the largest
non-governmental investments
in rural infrastructure in the
state and are an essential com
ponent of business and industry.
PREA's 14-member board of
directors one director elected
from each of its member cooper
atives conducts the associa
tion's business to best serve the
consumers members of the op
ops.
PREA works jointly with
Allegheny Electric Cooperative,
Inc., a generation and transmis
sion cooperative that provides
wholesale power to the 14 co
ops.
HISTORY
As late as the 1930'5, only six
Lancaster Farming
CAP $ 3.50
Available At
Lancaster Farming,
1 East Main St., Ephrata, PA
Shipping & Handling $2.50
Add't Cap Shipping ® 500 Each
Phone 717-626-1164 $$
FOR sale;
PEANUT
HULLS
For
bedding
Most effective
as bedding for all
kinds of beef and
dairy - “
„ hor
out of every 100 rural
Pennsylvanians knew the mira
cle of the electric light bulb in
their homes, The reason
establishing power companies in
Pennsylvania and New Jersey
had decided that running elec
tric lines into rural areas would
not make them a profit.
As a rule, power companies
charged farmers $2,000 to
$3,000 per mile to build lines to
their homes and then charged
electric rates higher than those
in the cities. Since the average
gross income of a farm family of
the period was just $l,BOO per
year, most couldn't afford elec
tric service.
In many areas, power was
not available at any cost. For a
time it seemed the profit needs
greed of stockholder-con
trolled private power companies
would condemn most of
Pennsylvania's and New
Jersey's rural population to live
forever with kerosene lamps and
hand pumps.
But rural leaders and a hand
ful of politicians were not ready
to accept the status quo. They
began working to demonstrate
that electric power could be pro
vided to rural areas at a reason
able cost and began developing a
business structure to make that
delivery possible.
Larger tilt cylinder, more
rollback power for improved
digging and loading capability!
More hydraulic flow (14 3 gpm)
for faster cycle times, better
attachment performance!
In 1931, New York Governor
Franklin D. Roosevelt estab
lished the Power authority of
the State of New York (PASNY)
to develop water power on the
St. Lawrence River. PASNY pro
duced the first study on the
actual costs of electric distribu
tion and helped demonstrate the
practicality of providing electric
ity to rural area.
The first official federal
action in the process leading to
rural electrification came in
1933 with the formation of the
Tennessee Valley Authority
(TVA). The act enabling the TVA
authorized the construction of
transmission lines to serve
farms and small villages "not
otherwise supplied with electric
ity at reasonable rates" and gave
preference in the sale of power
to "cooperative organizations of
citizens or farmers."
In 1935, armed with studies
showing both the economic fea
sibility and the benefits of pro
viding electricity to rural areas,
then-President Roosevelt signed
an executive order forming the
Rural Electrification
Administration (REA).
The REA program was ini
tially intended as an induce
ment to the private power com
panies to begin serving rural
areas. But even with the incen
tives provided by 2 percent REA
loans, the private power suppli
ers showed little interest in
building the necessary lines. By
the end of 1935, it was clear that
the private power companies
weren't serious about acting on
the government's offer to electri
fy the countryside. Most of th^
43 5 HP Kubota diesel engine
for improved performance!
Faster travel speed (6 6 mph)
for quick cycle times'
Higher Rated Operating
Capacity (1,350 lbs) for more
lifting, carrying ability!
Strong one-piece tailgate
design resists damage!
See One Of These Local Dealers Today!
Quarryville, PA
GRUMELLI’s
FARM SERV.
717-786-7318
Lebanon, PA
EVERGREEN
TRACTOR CO.
717-866-2585
1-800-441-4450
Mifflinburg, PA
BS & B REPAIR
717-966-3756
loan applications and inquiries
REA received came from farm
co-ops. REA now realized that
farmers and their rural neigh
bors were willing to take electri
fication into their own hands on
a cooperative basis.
Farmers had long experience
with cooperatives. In fact, the
co-op was the business structur
al rural people adopted when
confronted with a task too large
for any family to handle itself.
It was natural then that
rural leaders chose to form
another kind of co-op to provide
themselves and their neighbors
with electricity. Since extending
central station electric service
required very specialized engi
neering skills, many in Congress
were convinced rural electrifica
tion would never be accom
plished without REA receiving
regular appropriations and full
status. So in 1936, one year and
20 days after REA had been cre
ated, Congress passed legisla
tion making REA a permanent
government agency. In 1939,
REA become part of the U.S.
Department of Agriculture.
On October 20, 1994, a
sweeping reorganization of the
Ag Department took place. As a
result, after 59 years of exis
tence, REA was officially dis
banded. Most REA functions
were transferred to a new Rural
Utilities Service (RUS).
Top Performance. -
Top Value.
Harrisburg, PA
HIGHWAY
EQUIPMENT
717-564-3031
Lititz, PA
717-625-2800
Muncy, PA
BEST LINE
LEASING, INC.
717-546-8422
800-321 -2378
MILK
Where's your mustache? “
Reading, PA
CSI
ENTERPRISES
INC.
610-926-4400
Bethlehem, PA
610-868-1481
Martinsburg, PA
BURCHFIELDS,
INC.
814-793-2194
But the mission of rural elec
triciation continues. Today,
about 1,000 electric cooperatives
across the United States provide
power to more than 25 million
consumer members. Each co-op
is a locally owned, taxpaying
business incorporated under the
laws of its individual state.
Rural electric cooperatives
have been delivering low-cost
electric service to Pennsylvania
and New Jersey rural residents
since 1936, when the
Steamburg Electric Cooperative
Association (later consolidated
into Northwestern Rural
Electric Cooperative) was estab
lished in Erie and Crawford
counties.
The 14 rural electric cooper
atives that today comprise
PREA were organized between
1936 and 1941. By the time the
Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor
on December 7,1941, all of them
had gone through the pangs of
becoming organized, of getting
their first loans, of making
arrangements for power supply
at least on a short-term basis
and had begun construction of
lines to reach their unserved
neighbors.
With the outbreak of WWII,
the co-ops realized they need a
statewide organization to speak
for them as one voice on legisla
tive issues. The co-ops created
PREA in February 1942.
Chambersburg, PA
CLUGSTON
AG & TURF INC
717-263-4103
bobcat'