DEFINITE headway in extending 

 electric service to farms 

 throughout northern lUinois is 

 reported by companies operating in this 

 territory. 



Line building slowed down during 

 February when most of the roads were 

 snow-bound, but now workmen are at 

 it again putting in poles and stringing 

 wire. 



The Illinois Northern Utility Com- 

 pany reports that 376 new customers 

 had signed by Apr.l 1. It was possible 

 to give service to only 93 of this num- 

 ber who were located along cxistinji 

 lines. As soon as weather conditions 

 permitted, the construction crews be- 

 gan building the longer extensions re- 

 quired to serve customers farther re- 

 moved. At present the crews are about 

 100 miles of line behind schedule, but 

 are catching up at the rate of two 

 miles per day. 



In order to speed construction, this 

 Company has acquired an earth-boring 

 and pole-setting machine which enables 

 a crew to work about twice as fast as 

 formerly. The machine has been in 

 service since April 15 and has been dig- 

 ging an average of 60 holes and setting 

 as many poles every four hours. This 

 is equivalent to about two miles of line. 



Signing New Customers 



While the construction crews of the 

 Company are busy extending lines to 

 new customers, the rural service de- 

 partment has been sending out repre- 

 sentatives to interest other farmers in 

 electric service and to assist both pros- 

 pective and present customers in mat- 

 ters pertaining to the use of electricity 

 on the farm. Since the first of the year, 

 the Company has added three new men 

 to its staff bringing the total number 

 to eight field men and two supervisors. 

 W. E. Ciould, formerly agricultural 



Electrify More Farms 

 in Northern Illinois ^ 



One Company Expects to Connect 800 Farms 



by End of Year 



agent in Johnson county, Illinois, was 

 recently employed by this Company. 

 Its program for 1936 provides for con- 

 struction of approximately 200 miles of 

 rural lines and the extension of service 

 to 600 additional farms. During the 

 first three months of the year, 376 

 farmers had already signed for service 

 representing almost two-thirds of the 

 quota for 1936. The number connected 

 may go to 800 or more by next Jan. i. 



Farmers who obtain service must 

 agree to pay monthly minimum bills 

 amounting to one-sixtieth of the invest- 

 ment which the Company makes to 

 serve them. This feature of the rates — 

 called the Sixty-Months' Plan — ^makes 

 it possible for a group of farmers to de- 

 cide among themselves how much each 

 one will agree to pay per month. A 

 farmer's minimum monthly bill may be 

 as low as $4.00 under this plan. 



For example, three farmers may want 

 service requiring the building of one 

 mile of line. On the average, this mile 

 of line, including transformers and 

 service wires, would cost $900. Under 

 the Sixty-Months' Plan the Company 

 would build the line upon agreement 

 by the three farmers to pay one-six- 

 tieth of the cost of the line, or a total 

 of $15 per month. Each farmer could 

 pay $5.00 per month, or one man could 

 pay $4.00, another $5.00, and the third 

 man $6.00 to make up the $15.00 per 



month. At the end of sixty-months' 

 service, the customer's minimum 

 monthly biU will be determined solely 

 by the size of the transformer required 

 to serve him. For the average custom- 

 er, the minimum monthly bill will be- 

 come $4, the Company says. For 100 

 kilowatt-hours of electricity the aver- 

 age requirement for lighting and op- 

 erating a refrigerator, radio, washing 

 machine and water pump — a customer 

 would pay $5. 



See Electricity On 

 30,000 More Farms 



With the hope of solving problems 

 dealing with the extension of cleetric 

 service to farms, the I. A. A. co-oper- 

 ated in a series of district conferences 

 held throughout the State during April. 

 The meetings were scheduled by Prof. 

 Lehman, University of Illinois, College 

 of Agriculture. The Rural Electrification 

 Administration, State Commerce Com- 

 mission, utility companies, and municipal 

 light- plants were also represented. 



Meetings were held at Mt. Sterling, 

 Carlinville, Belleville, Champaign, Gales- 

 burg, Polo, Ottawa, Olney, Harrisburg, 

 and Anna. Paul E. Mathias or G. W. 

 Baxter attended most of the meetings. 

 It is believed that electric service can be 

 extended to 30,000 more Illinois farms in 

 the next four or five years. 



Earl C. Smith, president of the I. A. 

 A., spoke at a recent I. A. A. district 

 conference in Jacksonville where soil 

 conservation and rural electrification 

 were the principal subjects considered. 

 An REA representative appeared on the 

 program. 



Digs Holes . . . Sets Poles 



Th!i earth-boring and pole-taH!ng machine e lables construction crews to double their normal 

 speed in building rural electric lines. 



Reports from Ohio state that the first 



co-operative rural electrification as- 

 sociation to get under way has fixed 

 rates of |2 50 per month minimum 

 for the first 35 kwh of electricity, 

 five cents per kwh for the next 35 kwh, 

 three cents for the next 140 kwh, and 

 1% cents for all over 200 kwh. The co- 

 operative is buying electricity wholesale 

 at eight mills per kwh. Workmen are 

 busy setting poles and stringing wires. 



RECORD 



MAY, 1936 



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