REA EXPANSION PROGRAM 

 SLOWED BY SHORTAGES 



CONFRONTING the manager of a 

 central Illinois rural electric co-op 

 recently, a farmer asked why the co-op 

 hadn't yet started the power line out 

 his way. 



"The war's over," he said. "What 

 are we waiting for?" 



Natural impatience and irritation at 

 delays and shortages darted from each 

 of his words. His attitude could be 

 recognized as a painful eagerness to 

 electrify his farm despite all obstacles, 

 an attitude shared by thousands of Illi- 

 nois farmers. 



But his wishes had become more 

 insistent during the past few years. 

 And who could blame him. The war 

 had made great demands on his energies 

 and even now the demand for food 

 continued to appear limitless. Besides 

 the help situation seemed no better. 



Yes, he knew what electricity meant. 

 Too well, he knew. Hadn't he seen 

 what it could do on his neighbors' 

 farms? Wasn't he pretty well con- 

 vinced it was about equivalent to another 

 man on the place. 



But the manager was sorry. No, he 

 couldn't order his men to get a line 

 to the farm right now. No, he 

 couldn't promise it would be done next 

 year. Well, perhaps in 1948. But he 

 made no promises. 



The manager invited the farmer to 

 sit down for a few moments. He had 

 something he wanted to explain. 



What did the manager have to say? 



Well, we asked Manager A. E. Becker 

 of the Menard Electric Co-operative at 

 Petersburg just how he would explain 

 the snail's pace in REA expansion in 

 spite of the fact that thousands of po- 

 tential consumers are clamoring for 

 service. 



"First of all," Becker said, "farmers 

 waiting patiently for service should 

 know that their co-ops and the state 

 association of managers of electric co- 

 operatives have done their utmost to 

 expand their facilities in order to serve 

 as many farm families as possible." 



Present applications in Illinois, he 

 explained, call for a $10,000,000 ex- 

 pansion program, but the greatest ob- 

 stacle to speedy fulfillment of this pro- 

 gram is lack of materials. The painful 

 bottleneck in poles is now being bro- 

 ken, but even so, dealers taking orders 

 for poles in lots are not promising de- 

 livery in less than one year. 



The general strike situation also has 

 brought about a severe shortage of 

 transformers and insulators to the point 

 where it appears that very little will be 

 accomplished in 1946, he said. 



High costs also give us cause to 

 ponder and proceed cautiously, Becker 

 said. For instance, in the last seven 

 months we have let 14 contracts but 

 only four have been approved because 

 of the high figures given in the bids. 



As a result, the state electric co-ops 

 have set up committees to meet with 

 contractors and labor organizations in 

 an attempt to thresh out some of the 

 differences and complaints on high bids. 



Electrical service furnished to this farm by 

 a Rural Electrification Administration co- 

 operative eliminates most of the drudgery 

 at millclng time. 



"As for the poles and other equip- 

 ment some of our co-ops have on hand 

 at the present time," Becker explained, 

 "most of it is earmarked for mainte- 

 nance. During the war much of our 

 normal maintenance was deferred. We 

 must take care of it as soon as possible. 

 No one will deny that our first duty 

 is to protect the service to our old 

 members." 



Like the Menard co-op, Becker said, 

 many are undergoing adjustment with 

 the installation of transformers to han- 

 dle the added load caused by expan- 

 sion. Lack of materials for this in- 

 stallation is also causing some head- 

 aches. 



Virtually all of the dozen or more 

 Illinois electric co-op managers asked 

 were as glum about the near future as 

 Becker. A few thought they might be 

 able to accomplish considerable work 

 in the next year or two, but most said 

 it would take at least three years to 

 catch up with present applications and 

 some believed it would take as many as 

 five years. 



ILLINOIS ELECTRIC CO-OPS TO 

 MEET IN SPRINGFIELD SEPT. 4-6 



The fifth annual meeting of the Asso- 

 ciation of Illinois Electric Coojjeratives 

 will be held Sept. 4-5-6 at the Hotel 

 Abraham Lincoln in Springfield. 



An open meeting is being planned for 

 Sept. 5 to which all Farm Bureau direc- 

 tors and leaders, farm and home ad- 

 visers will be invited. 



Among the speakers scheduled to ad- 

 dress the meeting are lAA President 

 Charles B. Shuman, REA Administrator 

 Claude Wickard, and Illinois Director of 

 Agriculture Arnold P. Benson. 



REA coiMtrvctlon and maintenance men are doing their best with what mirterials they 

 have available te maintain and expand electrical service to as many Illinois farms as 



possible. 



In areas of mixed grain farminj; and 



livestock farming, as well as in the more 

 strictly livestock areas, livestock farms with 

 well-handled livestock always earn more 

 than the average farms. 



It 



L A. A. RECORD 



