Electrifying Illinois Farms 



I HAVE just returned from a trip 

 through central, western, and 

 northern IlUnois gathering infor- 

 mation about rural electrification. I 

 went to those counties where there 

 apparently is greatest activity in elec- 

 trifying farms. 



I talked with public utility officials, 

 engineers, linemen and other utility 

 employees, with farmers who have 

 been using electricity for a number 

 of years, with others who would like 

 to have it, and with still others who 

 were recently connected or have 

 signed contracts for service. 



I secured a fund of facts and news 

 that should be of interest to Illinois 

 Farm Bureau members, for every- 

 where I found farmers enthusiastic 

 or at least inquisitive about this sub- 

 ject. 



I also came to certain conclusions 

 based on a necessarily limited ex- 

 cursion into this broad field which I 

 shall attempt to set down as clearly 

 and accurately as I can. 



First, your chances of getting elec- 

 tricity from a public utility company 

 at reasonable cost depends somewhat 

 on where your farm is located. Some 

 companies are more able and perhaps 

 interested in serving you than others. 



Secondly, it's going to cost you 

 something to get electricity, a mini- 

 mum of $4 to $8 a month or more 

 depending on how much you use, plus 

 the cost of wiring your house and 

 buildings, and plus the cost of motors, 

 appliances, bathroom and water 

 pumping and piping equipment if you 

 want them. You can't get away from 

 these costs even if you and your 

 neighbors organize a co-operative, 

 borrow money at three per cent from 

 the REA, build your own lines, and 

 buy electricity wholesale through a 

 master meter from the nearest com- 

 pany. Don't overlook the fact that it 

 costs something to operate your pres- 

 ent lamps, gas engines, etc. 



Third, farmers have far more uses 

 for electricity than city people. Pump- 

 ing water, washing clothes, refriger- 

 ation, grinding feed, cooking with an 

 electric range, heating water, brood- 

 ing baby chicks, and elevating grain 

 are among the more Important uses 

 in addition to lighting. 



Fourth, it isn't economically prac- 

 ticable to extend electricity to farms 

 for lighting alone. 



Fifth, most, if not all, public utility 

 companies, in my judgment, are 

 genuinely interested in extending and 

 promoting rural electrification because 



By the Editor 



Modern tnsfallafion with transformer and meter 

 on the same pole. 



with sustained farm buying power 

 rural customers, in time, promise to 

 be a source of profit to them. 



Sixth, public utility companies oper- 

 ated economifially and soundly, as 

 many are, can provide rural customers 

 with electric service at reasonable 



rates, IF they will. Through organiza- 

 tion farmers can insist and are justified 

 in insisting that this be done. 



This last conclusion is based on the 

 fact that present companies have ail 

 the richer territory, the cities and 

 towns and industries, sewed up. They 

 have this lucrative back log of income 

 and they have the necessary engineers, 

 linemen, and other skilled labor avail- 

 able to service rural lines at very little 

 extra expense. 



Seventh, to extend electricity to 

 farms with greatest economy, you need 

 close to 100 per cent co-operation of 

 £ll the residents on the road. There 

 ought to be at least three to the mile, 

 and four is better. - 



Eighth, where private companies 

 don't want to, are not financially able 

 to extend service to farms, or demand 

 too high a rate, there is no good 

 leason why farmers should not or- 

 ganize co-operatives and build their 

 own lines. Farmers can succeed 

 in this venture as they have in others. 

 It won't be easy and there will be 

 problems. But it can be done. Elec- 

 tricity can be purchased from the 

 large public utility companies, from 

 municipal plants, or generated in 

 farmer-owned plants. 



Now, what are some of the problems 

 the utility companies and municipal 

 plants are up against in serving farms? 



I went to Dunlap in Peoria county 

 and spent nearly half a day with Wm. 

 C. Tegtmeier, president and principal 

 owner of the Suburban Electric Util- 

 ities Company. Tegtmeier has been in 

 the utility business in Iowa and Illi- 

 nois about 30 years. He knows all the 



Thit electrically charged fence hat proved effective in turning hogs !n Boone County. 

 Requires about 4 KW per month. 



DECEMBER. 1935 



