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The United States Rural Utilities Service (RUS) administers programs that provide infrastructure or infrastructure improvements to rural communities. These include water and waste treatment, electric power, and telecommunications services. It is an operating unit of the USDA Rural Development agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). It was created in 1935 as the Rural Electrification Administration (REA), a New Deal agency promoting rural electrification.
The Rural Electrification Act of 1936, enacted on May 20, 1936, provided federal loans for the installation of electrical distribution systems to serve isolated rural areas of the United States.
A utility cooperative is a type of cooperative that is tasked with the delivery of a public utility such as electricity, water or telecommunications to its members. Profits are either reinvested for infrastructure or distributed to members in the form of "patronage" or "capital credits", which are dividends paid on a member's investment in the cooperative.
Verendrye Electric Cooperative is a public utility cooperative based in Velva, North Dakota, but also has a service center in Minot. It serves rural consumers across a seven-county area in north central North Dakota, but the bulk of its service area lies within Ward and McHenry counties. Verendrye Electric receives power from the Central Power Electric Cooperative – in fact, Verendrye took the lead in establishing Central Power in 1949 after having to deal with a 30% rate hike from its previous power supplier in 1948.
Central Power Electric Cooperative is a North Dakota-based electrical generation and transmission cooperative founded in 1949 and which is based in Minot, North Dakota. Central Power purchases power from Basin Electric Power Cooperative to serve its six-member rural electric cooperatives. It also built the William J. Neal Station near Voltaire, ND in 1951 to meet its members' needs, with the power being delivered over the lines of the Otter Tail Power Company. When Central Power joined Basin Electric, Neal Station was transferred to Basin as a condition of membership. In its later years, Neal Station was modified to burn sunflower seed hulls in addition to lignite coal, but had been decommissioned and removed by the early 2000s.
Northern Plains Electric Cooperative is a public utility cooperative based in Carrington and Cando, North Dakota. It serves as the electric distribution utility in a portion of east central North Dakota. It receives power from the Central Power Electric Cooperative.
Dakota Valley Electric Cooperative is a public utility cooperative based in Milnor and Edgeley, North Dakota. It serves as the electric distribution utility in a portion of southeast North Dakota. It receives power from the Central Power Electric Cooperative.
Capital Electric Cooperative is a public utility cooperative based in Bismarck, North Dakota. It serves customers throughout rural Burleigh County and portions of Sheridan and Emmons Counties. It is a member of, and receives power from the Central Power Electric Cooperative.
McLean Electric Cooperative is a public utility cooperative based in Garrison, North Dakota. It serves rural consumers in McLean County and portions of Sheridan and Mountrail counties. It receives power from the Central Power Electric Cooperative.
Minnkota Power Cooperative is an electrical generation and transmission cooperative based in Grand Forks, North Dakota. It wholesales electric power to rural electric cooperatives in North Dakota and Minnesota.
Nodak Electric Cooperative is a public utility cooperative based in Grand Forks, North Dakota, and provides electricity to rural customers and small towns across a portion of northeast North Dakota, and is a member of Minnkota Power Cooperative.
Oliver-Mercer Electric Cooperative is a public utility cooperative based in Hazen, North Dakota. It serves as the electric distribution utility in a portion of south central North Dakota. Oliver-Mercer Electric receives power from Basin Electric Power Cooperative and from the Western Area Power Administration.
The Midwest Reliability Organization (MRO) began operations on January 1, 2005, as the successor to the Mid-continent Area Power Pool (MAPP), which was formed in 1965. MRO is one of six regional entities under North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) authority. NERC and the regional reliability councils were formed following the Northeast Blackout of 1965. MRO's offices are located in St. Paul, Minnesota. MRO members include municipal utilities, cooperatives, investor-owned utilities, a federal power marketing agency, Canadian Crown Corporations, and independent power producers.
West Florida Electric Cooperative, Inc. (WFEC) is a not-for-profit rural electric utility cooperative headquartered in Graceville, Florida. It is a member of the Florida Electric Cooperatives Association, the National Rural Electric Association, PowerSouth Energy Cooperative and the Touchstone Energy Cooperatives alliance.
First Electric Cooperative is a non-profit rural electric utility cooperative headquartered in Jacksonville, Arkansas. The cooperative was organized April 26, 1937, as the first electric cooperative in Arkansas under the federal Rural Electrification Act of 1935. The cooperative energized its first lines April 15, 1938, near Jacksonville with three employees and 150 members.
The National Electrification Administration is a government-owned and controlled corporation (GOCC) attached to the Department of Energy of the Philippines tasked in the full implementation of the rural electrification program (REP) and reinforce the technical capability and financial viability of the 121 rural electric cooperatives (ECs).
Willie Wiredhand is the cartoon mascot of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, created in 1950 and still in use by co-op electricity companies. His head is a lightbulb socket, his body is a wire, and his hips and legs are a two-pronged power plug. Willie was created as a rival for the corporate Reddy Kilowatt, which led to a lawsuit in 1956 alleging trademark infringement; the case was resolved in Willie Wiredhand's favor and Willie was granted his own trademark in 1957.
Meriwether Lewis Electric Cooperative is a non-profit, member owned utility cooperative that provides electric power service and internet services to rural communities in western Middle Tennessee. It is a 501(c)(12) organization, and is headquartered in Centerville, Tennessee. It was established in 1939 under the Tennessee Electric Cooperative Act of 1939, and also holds a government-granted monopoly on electric power distribution within its service area, which includes Hickman, Houston, Humphreys, Lewis, and Perry counties. It is named after American explorer Meriwether Lewis, who is buried in its service area. MLEC is a part of the Touchstone Energy cooperative federation.
References
- ↑ Interior Department Appropriations for 1953, Hearings Before the Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations, House of Representatives, Eighty-second Congress, Second Session · Part 1, p. 1639
- ↑ Coverage map, North Dakota Association of Rural Elecctric Cooperatives, NADAREC-members
- ↑ "Electrifying Rural America". www.richmondfed.org. Richmond Fed. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
