The reasons, or rather, excuses, for this disparity ranged from claims that electricity could not be profitably provided to the lower population densities outside of cities to the elitist claim that if rural residents were provided electricity, they wouldn't know what to do with it.  In truth, the problem was not so much that rural service could not turn a profit, only that it could not do so in the relatively short time period desired by the then-existing power companies.  And though there were several attempts to set up an agency to oversee the electrification of the remaining 90% of the U.S., these efforts were usually blocked by the established electric providers.

During the 1930's, the problem of rural electrification came to the attention of Franklin D. Roosevelt.  A victim of Polio, Roosevelt frequented Warm Springs, Georgia for relief from the partial paralysis left by the disease, and purchased what later came to be known as the Little White House for a vacation retreat.  Warm Springs was one of the few communities in Georgia that had electricity; even so, according to Roosevelt, he was stunned that his first monthly bill to his cottage was higher than that of his home in New York.  Inquiring as to the higher cost, Roosevelt was told that this was due to the lower population density.  Realizing that the goal of industrialization and modernization of the United States could not occur while such disparities remained, Roosevelt became a backer of a national Rural Electrification Program that would provide loans to bring power to the remaining 90% of the country.  A bill authorizing the creation of the Rural Electrification Administration was passed in 1935 and signed by Roosevelt in a ceremony in Warm Springs.

Still, the established power companies were reluctant to provide electricity to lower population areas.  Tired of waiting for the existing power companies, rural residents then banded together and formed their own electric companies.  Known as Electric Cooperatives, each company was set up to be directly owned by each person receiving electric power.  Since each customer was to be an owner of the company, the Electric Cooperatives were designed to be non-profit, with any funds left over after electric distribution costs redistributed to the members.

In this manner the Electric Cooperatives  were born.  By our very nature we are designed to be customer oriented, with our primary concern not distant shareholders, but in providing our customers the best and most cost effective electrical service possible.  This same level of commitment exists today.  Owned by those they serve, Electric Cooperatives are not remote faceless entities, but companies made up of friends, neighbors, and relatives.  And it is this sense of ownership and personal responsibility that makes Electric Cooperatives customer service -oriented, and makes the satisfaction of our members our highest goal.