Co-op leads the way to rural electrification

Rural Bladen County residents are often the last to receive technology, such as broadband internet, that the rest of more populated regions enjoy.

State grants to internet providers are working to change that, but few residents may appreciate the efforts in play to bring rural communities in line with the rest of the region. North Carolina has a history of praiseworthy projects began early in the 1900s.

On April 17, 1937, the first switch was thrown at the Eason-Tarboro substation, jumpstarting rural electrification efforts in North Carolina.

As part his New Deal, President Franklin D. Roosevelt created the Rural Electrification Administration (REA) in May 1935 with the dual goals of helping rural areas get electricity and providing work to the unemployed.

High startup costs and anticipated low returns on investments, made existing electric companies unenthusiastic about entering rural markets, so communities turned to cooperative ventures instead.

North Carolina’s first co-op–the Edgecombe-Martin County Electric Membership Corporation, or EMC-EMC, was formed by residents in the northeastern part of the state. After receiving a $32,000 loan in June 1936, work quickly began to bring electricity to the region. From the time that first switch was thrown, the Eason-Tarboro substation, which is still in operation today, brought rural communities into a new era.

Before the EMC-EMC, North Carolinians had long been interested in rural electrification. The state actually established its own Rural Electrification Authority in April 1935, one month before Roosevelt’s REA. North Carolina’s progressive attitude toward rural electrification helped to make the EMC-EMC more than a flash in the pan.

Source: North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.