The more electrified farms there are, 

 among which these expenses may be 

 divided, the lower the cost will be for 

 ench farm. 



A rural electrification project is essen- 

 tially one or more electric distributing 

 lines, in a more or less compact area, 

 carrying power and light from a source 

 of supply to each of a number of farm 

 homes and other farm buildings. 



In general, a rural power and light 

 project which stands alone, distant from 

 any existing electric service lines, should 

 embrace not less than 25 miles of lines. 

 Where it can be made an extension of 

 existing lines, however, a much smaller 

 project may be feasible. 



Such standards are only approximate. 

 Your plans and the extent to which the 

 Government can help to further your 

 plans depend quite largely on: 



How much electricity you and your 



neighbors can use. 

 How much this electricity will cost 



at wholesale. 

 How much the line which will bring 



this electricity to you will cost. 

 How low the charges or rates which 

 you and your neighbors will pay 

 for the electricity can be made at 

 the outset, while providing enough 

 revenue to insure that the system 

 will pay its way. 



First Steps Are Easy 



REA does not have and does not plan 

 to have any state or regional organiza- 

 tions. All correspondence relating to 

 inquiries and projects will be with the 

 headquarters in Washington. All author- 

 izations for project loans will come from 

 Washington. 



Until your application has been sub- 

 mitted to us and looked over, it is not 

 necessary to employ an engineer or other 

 expert for preliminary work. 



It is not necessary to incorporate your 

 organization or group when first making 

 application for a loan, nor is it necessary 

 to incur any other material expenses. 



Above all, do not stand on ceremony 

 either in seeking information from REA 

 or in telling REA about your needs and 

 hopes. Write out the necessary informa- 

 tion requested at the end of this article 

 and send it in. Send with it, if you wish, 

 a simple letter to Morris L. Cooke, REA 

 Administrator, 2000 Massachusetts Ave- 

 nue, Washington, D. C, about your prob- 

 lem. If you want further information 

 about any point, just ask for it. 



If you live in an area where self- 

 supporting electric power and light lines 

 are feasible, and if you and your neigh- 

 bors can start a sound project that will 

 satisfy REA conditions, electricity for 

 the farm may be obtained: 



(1) Through your nearest private 

 power company. 



(2) Through your state, county, local 



18 



LEE COUNTY WINS AGAIN — Fourth Successive State Championship on Group of Five Hol- 

 stein Heifers. Right to left: Clarence Hatland, vocational Ag. teacher at Walnut who had two 

 of the three 4-H Club eihibitors; Farm Adviser Charles E. Yale of Lee county; Donald Par- 

 sons. Walnut; C. B. Keigwin, Jr., Walnut (5th from right); Harry Bulfer, SubleHe. The three 

 boys mentioned own the five heifers. 



power district if there is one in your 

 neighborhood, or nearby city-owned elec- 

 tric plant which perhaps can and will ex- 

 tend its electric distributing lines to 

 serve you and your neighbors. 



(3) Through your farmers' coopera- 

 tive, mutual or other group, or an or- 

 ganization of this type which might be 

 created under the laws of your state. 



(4) REA may itself build the lines to 

 bring electricity to you from the nearest 

 source if satisfactory arrangements can- 

 not be made for you to get it through 

 another agency. 



REA realizes that most of the electric 

 light and power industry in the United 

 States is operated by private interests. 

 Of course, then the private power and 

 light companies are in a position to co- 

 operate in carrying out a large part of 

 the REA program. They are being en- 

 couraged by REA to do this. Some of 

 the first project applications to be con- 

 sidered by REA came from private util- 

 ities. Invitations have been sent out by 

 REA both to operating and holding com- 

 panies to present additional plans. 



If you have a private utility near you 

 which you have not consulted and with 

 which you feel you might do business, 

 we suggest that you approach its local 

 manager or other company official and 

 find out if the company is able and will- 

 ing to help you. You will want to know 

 particularly under what conditions the 

 company might extend its lines to serve 

 your neighborhood. REA also would like 

 to know about this. 



The same cooperation that is being 

 extended to the private power companies 

 which are interested is being given also 

 to public organizations. Prominent among 

 these are the municipally owned power 

 p.nd light plants and the public utility 

 districts or other public bodies which 

 can own and operate lines in rural areas. 



Some cities for many years have had 



successful municipal power plants. Some 

 of these plants can, and plan to, extend 

 electric service inta rural territory. One 

 of them may help you. The utility or 

 power districts and similar organiza- 

 tions are being formed in many parts 

 of the country to provide rural service. 



Dealing with us at REA through a 

 farm cooperative offers advantages in 

 some instances. 



Sometimes existing utility companies 

 which seem to be the logical organiza- 

 tions to make desired extensions of dis- 

 tribution lines, have in the past declined 

 to do so or were willing to do so only 

 on terms which would not produce the 

 necessary business. 



When utilities remain unwilling to 

 serve an area on satisfactory terms it 

 will be feasible for cooperative associa- 

 tions of potential users to promote their 

 own distributing companies, probably 

 buying their energy at wholesale from 

 an existing generating company. From 

 the source of supply on they might as- 

 sume as cooperatives all the costs of 

 extension, maintenance, metering, book- 

 keeping and sales promotion. Or they 

 might make a deal with the utility com- 

 pany to service the rural line for them. 



Soundness Required 



The sole motive of the REA in dealing 

 with cooperatives, as with other organ- 

 izations, is to get rural lines extended. 

 Its insistence upon "sound" cooperatives 

 is limited entirely to financial soundness 

 in their relation to REA. Where REA 

 loans money to a cooperative enterprise 

 it will require above all assurance of the 

 cooperative's ability to operate the proj- 

 ect. Beyond this REA will require mere- 

 ly that the cooperative be so organized 

 as to guarantee its continued existence 

 for the life of the contract, and that its 

 business be so conducted as to assure 

 (Continued on page 20) 



I. A. A. RRCOKI) 



II 



60 



