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Rural Electrification Administration in Minnesota

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Black and white photograph of a Williams Electric Kitchen model, ca. 1938. Photographed by the Lee Brothers.

Williams Electric Kitchen model, ca. 1938. Photographed by Lee Brothers.

On May 11, 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 7037 to create the Rural Electrification Administration (REA), a New Deal public relief program. The program provided $1 million for federal loans to bring electric service to rural areas. It revolutionized life in rural Minnesota and across the country.

Before the REA, there were pockets of rural electric service around Minnesota. In 1914, farmers in Yellow Medicine County formed the Stony Run Light and Power Company, one of the first electric cooperatives in the country. By December of that year, twenty-six farms had power obtained from the Granite Falls central power station. Farmers on the line paid for all equipment, including poles, line, transformers, and meters, at a per-farm cost of $400 to $750. By 1921 the number of farms on the line grew to fifty. Annual fees ranged from $30 to $75, depending on power usage.

The Division of Agricultural Engineering at the University of Minnesota began a groundbreaking experiment in rural electrification in 1923. Known as the Red Wing Project, the program brought electricity to nine farms in Burnside Township near Red Wing and furnished electric agricultural and household equipment. Believed to be the first rural electrification project of its kind in the world, the study provided data on the impact of electricity on both farm economy and quality of life. Its success prompted twenty-three other states to conduct similar projects.

The 1930 census reported 185,255 farms in Minnesota with 895,349 people living on them. Of that number, 23,342 farm homes had gas or electric lighting. Most families used kerosene lanterns in the house and in outbuildings and lived without indoor plumbing. Even so, by 1934, 6.8 percent of Minnesota's farms had central station electrical service.

Commercial power companies showed reluctance to pursue rural customers due to the high cost of building power lines. They believed that rural electrification would not be profitable. Farms with central station service paid a high price for electricity. Average rates ranged from ten cents to fifteen cents, per kilowatt hour for lighting, and ten cents for farm power service, beyond the reach of many farm families in the Great Depression. As a result, less than 11 percent of American farms had electric service in 1935 compared with 90 percent of city residents.

U.S. Senator Henrik Shipstead of Minnesota understood his rural neighbors' desire for affordable electric service. He too wanted service for his cabin on Lake Irene in Douglas County and advocated in Washington for reasonable rates for rural customers in 1934. He gained the support of President Roosevelt, who created the Rural Electrification Administration. The new, temporary New Deal agency was tasked with distributing loans to meet the demand for electric service on farms.

The lack of support from commercial power companies prompted groups of farmers to work together to organize electric cooperatives. Each co-op's board of directors drew up articles of incorporation and bylaws and registered with the State of Minnesota. The REA encouraged the inclusion of women directors, but only Beltrami Electric Cooperative in Bemidji and Wild Rice Electric Cooperative in Mahnomen had female members on their original boards.

Once established, the co-ops applied for long-term loans from the REA. The funding covered the construction of generating plants, transmission lines, and wiring of homes and outbuildings. Farmers could use the money to purchase milking machines, cream separators, bale lifters, and other electric equipment and tools. The loans also covered the installation of indoor plumbing and the purchase of such labor-saving household items as refrigerators, washing machines, and electric irons.

In spite of these benefits, many farmers were reluctant to join a cooperative. At the height of the Great Depression, many could not afford the price of shares at two to five dollars each plus the monthly charge for electricity. Some worried that the government would hold them personally liable for the loan. Others lacked confidence in the relatively new technology or thought it unnecessary to their operations.

On September 13, 1935, the Meeker Cooperative Light and Power Association (MCLPA) became the first REA co-op organized in Minnesota. Nearly seven hundred farmers signed up at five dollars per share within twenty-seven days of incorporation. The following February the co-op received a $450,000 loan, and by November 28 of that year it powered up the first REA lines in the state. Taking a cue from an electrified farm project set up in the eastern United States, the MCLPA went on to establish a demonstration farm on the property of Charles Ness. Appliance and farm equipment manufacturers furnished sixty-seven pieces of equipment for the purpose of sharing the benefits of electricity with local farmers. The Ness family hosted 2,000 people at the farm during its grand opening on June 12, 1937. Within two years, more than 34,000 people had visited the farm from around the United States and abroad.

Another early Minnesota REA co-op, the Douglas County Cooperative Light and Power Association (later the Runestone Electric Association), was incorporated in November 1935. Farmers paid $2.50 per share to join. On July 1, 1936, the co-op received a $50,000 REA loan at 2 percent interest to build fifty-six miles of power lines. Electricity reached the first forty-five farms – and Senator Shipstead's cottage – in September 1937.

The initial success of the program prompted Congress to pass the Rural Electrification Act on May 20, 1936. This measure made the REA a permanent agency. Three years later the REA became part of the Department of Agriculture.

By 1939 the cost to construct one mile of rural power line dropped from about $2,000 to $600, spurring the rapid expansion of rural electrification. The 1940 U.S. Agricultural Census reported that 30 percent of farms in Minnesota had electricity. Just five years later, that number grew to 79.7 percent. The Census Bureau stopped including statistics on farms with electricity in 1959, and by 1963, 99 percent of all farms in the United States reportedly had power.

Rural electrification has had a huge impact on Minnesota's farm economy and the rural standard of living. Electricity found many uses on farms that helped to increase productivity, raise farm income, and boost the local economy. Electric motors drove milking machines, making it easier for farmers to manage larger herds and increase milk production. Motor-powered pumps enabled irrigation, which helped to increase crop yields and encouraged crop diversification. Electric lighting improved poultry operations by contributing to a significant increase in egg production. Better illumination on the farm helped to prevent accidents.

Farm families enjoyed more leisure time and physical comfort. Electric lighting made it possible to read, sew, and do other activities at night. Brighter light helped to prevent eyestrain and had a positive effect on residents' mental health. Indoor plumbing with hot and cold running water saved time spent hauling water from a hand pump and eliminated cold, dark trips to an outhouse. Electric ranges meant less time spent chopping wood. Electric refrigeration ended the need for cutting and hauling ice and provided safer food storage. Clothes washers and electric irons made laundry day less labor-intensive. Electric radios and telephones connected once-isolated farm families with the wider world.

The government abolished the Rural Electrification Administration in 1994, and the Rural Utilities Service took over the REA's functions. Forty-five electric distribution co-ops continue to serve Minnesota's rural areas.

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1776–1976, 200 Years of Independence; 1936–1976, 40 Years of Light and Power for Rural America: Rural Electrification Program Booklet. Minneapolis: Minnesota Association of Electric Cooperatives, [1976].

A/.052
Floyd B. Olson Papers, 1923–1974
Manuscript Collection, Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul
Description: Correspondence, press releases, speeches, clippings, campaign literature, and other materials. Includes information on the Farmer-Labor party, natural resource conservation, agriculture, labor unions, and other topics.

A/.S336
Henrik Shipstead Papers, 1913–1953
Manuscript Collection, Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul
Description: Correspondence, speeches, scrapbooks, clippings, news releases and related materials concerning Shipstead's career as U.S. senator from Minnesota (1923–1947), including his early sponsorship of rural electrification.

Beall, Robert T. "Rural Electrification." In Yearbook of Agriculture, 790–809. Washington, DC: United States Department of Agriculture, 1940.

McBride, Brandon. “Rural Electrification Celebrates 80 Years of Rural Productivity” USDA (blog). United States Department of Agriculture. May 11, 2015.
http://blogs.usda.gov/2015/05/11/rural-electrification-celebrates-80-years-of-rural-productivity/

Meeker County Light and Power Association.
http://www.meeker.coop/

Minnesota Association of Cooperatives Association Records, 1943–1996.
Manuscript Collection, Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul
http://www2.mnhs.org/library/findaids/00200.xml
Description: Correspondence and subject files, organizational records, executive director's files, and printed material reflecting organization, membership, and activities of a trade association established in 1946 to promote the interests of cooperative associations.

Minnesota Rural Electric Association.
http://www.mrea.org/

Nass, David. "Bringing Electricity to Minnesota's Farms." Roots 16, no. 1 (Fall 1987): 29–33.

National Academy of Engineering. Electrification History 2 – Rural Electrification.
http://www.greatachievements.org/?id=2990

National Rural Electric Cooperative Association. Rebecca R. Wise, ed. Rural Electric Fact Book. Washington, DC: [1965].

Nelson, Lowry. American Farm Life. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1954.

OH141
Oral History Collection, Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul
http://collections.mnhs.org/cms/display.php?irn=11125269
Description: Oral history interview with Myron R. Allen, conducted by James E. Fogerty and Duane P. Swanson, July 18, 1975.

Pamphlets relating to electric utilities in Minnesota, 1911–
Pamphlet Collection, Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul
Description: Pamphlets and printed ephemera relating to electric utilities, rural electrification, electrical cooperatives, and related topics.

Runestone Electric Association. REA's History.
http://www.runestoneelectric.com/about_history.cfm

"Rural Electrification Administration." Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Encyclopedia.com.
http://www.encyclopedia.com/reference/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/rural-electrification-administration

Severson, Harold. Bright Lights for a Dark Countryside: the Story of the Electric Power Revolution in Minnesota. Kenyon, Minnesota: Harold Severson, 1977.

——— . The Night They Turned on the Lights. [N.p.]: Midwest Historical Features, 1962.

Stewart, A. A., J. M. Larons, and J. Romness. The Red Wing Project on Utilization of Electricity in Agriculture. St. Paul: University of Minnesota, Division of Agricultural Engineering, 1927.
http://conservancy.umn.edu/handle/11299/48685

United States Department of Agriculture. Briefing on the Status of Rural America. http://www.usda.gov/documents/Briefing_on_the_Status_of_Rural_America_Low_Res_Cover_update_map.pdf

United States Department of Agriculture. Census of Agriculture Historical Archive.
http://agcensus.mannlib.cornell.edu/AgCensus/homepage.do

Urdahl, Dean, and Mary Alice Holm. Leading the Way . . . Lighting the Way, Meeker Cooperative Light and Power Association: Seventy-Fifth Anniversary. Litchfield, MN: Meeker Cooperative Light and Power, 2010.

Related Images

Black and white photograph of a Williams Electric Kitchen model, ca. 1938. Photographed by the Lee Brothers.
Black and white photograph of a Williams Electric Kitchen model, ca. 1938. Photographed by the Lee Brothers.
Black and white photograph of a "Thor" brand electric washing machine, ca. 1930s. Photographed by Lee Brothers.
Black and white photograph of a "Thor" brand electric washing machine, ca. 1930s. Photographed by Lee Brothers.
Black and white photograph of Linda Benitt at the refrigerator in her kitchen, Dakota County, 1944.
Black and white photograph of Linda Benitt at the refrigerator in her kitchen, Dakota County, 1944.
Black and white photograph of a woman using an electric mixer, 1938. Photographed by the Minneapolis Star Journal.
Black and white photograph of a woman using an electric mixer, 1938. Photographed by the Minneapolis Star Journal.
Black and white photograph of a woman on a farm ironing, ca. 1925.
Black and white photograph of a woman on a farm ironing, ca. 1925.
Black and white photograph of the Meeker County farm of the Charles Ness family, 1947.
Black and white photograph of the Meeker County farm of the Charles Ness family, 1947.
Black and white photograph of the Rural Cooperative Power Association, Maple Lake, ca. 1950.
Black and white photograph of the Rural Cooperative Power Association, Maple Lake, ca. 1950.
Black and white photograph of the Rural Cooperative Power Association Generating Plant, Maple Lake, ca. 1950.
Black and white photograph of the Rural Cooperative Power Association Generating Plant, Maple Lake, ca. 1950.
Black and white photograph of the Rural Cooperative Power Association at Elk River, 1960.
Black and white photograph of the Rural Cooperative Power Association at Elk River, 1960.
Black and white photograph of an electric refrigerator, 1931.
Black and white photograph of an electric refrigerator, 1931.
Black and white photograph of a woman standing by an electric stove, 1940. Photographed by the Minneapolis Star Journal.
Black and white photograph of a woman standing by an electric stove, 1940. Photographed by the Minneapolis Star Journal.
Black and white photograph of W. A. Benitt with electric pump at the windmill, 1938.
Black and white photograph of W. A. Benitt with electric pump at the windmill, 1938.
Black and white photograph of a farmer adjusting a milking machine on a Dakota County dairy farm, 1939. Photographed by Arthur Rothstein, Farm Security Administration.
Black and white photograph of a farmer adjusting a milking machine on a Dakota County dairy farm, 1939. Photographed by Arthur Rothstein, Farm Security Administration.
Black and white photograph of a man operating electric fanning mill, W. A. Benitt farm, Dakota County, 1939.
Black and white photograph of a man operating electric fanning mill, W. A. Benitt farm, Dakota County, 1939.
Color image of a Philco model 37-84 electric table radio with arched cathedral-style case, ca. 1930–1939.
Color image of a Philco model 37-84 electric table radio with arched cathedral-style case, ca. 1930–1939.
Color image of a General Electric two-slice toaster and cord, ca. 1930s
Color image of a General Electric two-slice toaster and cord, ca. 1930s
Color image of a Selwyn Chief iron made by the Selwyn Engineering Company of St. Paul, ca. 1930s.
Color image of a Selwyn Chief iron made by the Selwyn Engineering Company of St. Paul, ca. 1930s.

Turning Point

On May 11, 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs Executive Order 7037 to create the Rural Electrification Administration (REA), greatly improving life in rural America.

Chronology

1914

The Stony Run Light and Power Company is organized in Yellow Medicine County by twenty-seven farmers. It is one of the first electric cooperatives in the United States.

September 1923

The Committee on the Relation of Electricity to Agriculture is formed to study the potential of electricity on agriculture in Minnesota.

November 1923

The Red Wing Project, an experimental program to determine the economic impact of electrification on farms is approved. Eight farms in the Burnside community near Red Wing are chosen for the project. A ninth farm is added later.

December 24, 1923

Electricity is delivered to the Red Wing farms. According to the project report, "It is believed that this was the first experimental rural electric line in the world . . . Twenty-three other states are now conducting investigations of a similar nature."

May 11, 1935

The Rural Electrification Administration (REA), a New Deal program, is created by President Roosevelt’s Executive Order 7037 The temporary program administers loans that enable groups of farmers to create cooperatives for rural area electrical service.

September 13, 1935

Meeker Cooperative Light & Power Association is formed, the first REA co-op established in Minnesota.

May 20, 1936

Congress passes the Rural Electrification Act, authorizing the REA to make low-interest loans to farmers to create electric coops that will bring electricity to farms.

November 28, 1936

The first REA power lines in Minnesota are energized in Meeker County, bringing electricity to the first 300 farms.

1937

350 cooperatives are in operation, bringing power to 1.2 million farms in 45 states.

1939

REA is reorganized into a division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Late 1930s

The cost to build 1 mile of electrical line in rural areas drops from approximately $1,800 to $583.

1940

Less than one-third of Minnesota farms have electric power.

1944

Congress passes the Dept. of Agriculture Organic Act (also known as the Pace Act), which extends the REA's loan authority, lowers interest rates to 2 percent, and extends the payback period to thirty-five years.

1963

99 percent of Minnesota farms have electric service.

1994

The REA is abolished and the Rural Utilities Service takes over the program's functions.