The Rural Electrification Administration (REA) was an agency of the United States federal government created on 11 May 1935 through efforts of the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The REA's task was to promote electrification in rural areas, which in the 1930s rarely were provided with electricity due to the unwillingness of power companies to serve farmsteads. America lagged immensely behind European countries in the field of rural electrification. Private electricity utilities argued that the government had no right to compete with or regulate private enterprise, despite many of these utilities having refused to extend their lines to rural areas, claiming lack of potential profitability as the reason. The fact that private power companies set rural rates that were four times as high as city rates made this claim a self-fulfilling prophecy. Few farmers could afford the excessive power bills.[1] In fact, under the REA program, no direct government competition to private enterprise took place. Instead, REA made loans available to local electrification cooperatives, which operated the lines and distributed the electricity. By 1939 the REA served 288,000 households with electricity, prompting private business to extend their services into the countryside as well, and to lower their rates. By the end of the decade, forty percent of rural homes had power, up from around 10% in 1930. May 11 is the 131st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (132nd in leap years). ... 1935 (MCMXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar). ... The presidential seal was first used in 1880 by President Rutherford B. Hayes and last modified in 1959 by adding the 50th star for Hawaii. ... Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882–April 12, 1945), 32nd President of the United States, the longest-serving holder of the office and the only man to be elected President more than twice, was one of the central figures of 20th century history. ... Electrification refers to changing a thing or system to operate using electricity. ... Sign in a rural area in Dalarna, Sweden Qichun, a rural town in Hubei province, China An artists rendering of an aerial view of the Maryland countryside: Jane Frank (Jane Schenthal Frank, 1918-1986), Aerial Series: Ploughed Fields, Maryland, 1974, acrylic and mixed materials on apertured double canvas, 52... Face The 1930s (years from 1930–1939) were described as an abrupt shift to more radical and conservative lifestyles, as countries were struggling to find a solution to the Great Depression, also known in Europe as the World Depression. ... Lightning strikes during a night-time thunderstorm. ... It has been suggested that Definitions of capitalism be merged into this article or section. ... Year 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1930 (MCMXXX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display 1930 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

As the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) it is still a federal government agency of the U.S. government, charged with providing public utilities (electricity, telephone, water, sewer) to rural areas through public-private partnerships. It is part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Coincidently, rus is Latin for "countryside". An agency is a department of a local or national government responsible for the oversight and administration of a specific function, such as a customs agency or a space agency. ... ... A public utility is a company that maintains the infrastructure for a public service. ... Lightning strikes during a night-time thunderstorm. ... This article or section includes a list of works cited or a list of external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ... Impact from a water drop causes an upward rebound jet surrounded by circular capillary waves. ... A sewer is an artificial conduit or system of conduits used to remove sewage (human liquid waste) and to provide drainage. ... Sign in a rural area in Dalarna, Sweden Qichun, a rural town in Hubei province, China An artists rendering of an aerial view of the Maryland countryside: Jane Frank (Jane Schenthal Frank, 1918-1986), Aerial Series: Ploughed Fields, Maryland, 1974, acrylic and mixed materials on apertured double canvas, 52... Public-private partnership (PPP) is a system in which a government service or private business venture is funded and operated through a partnership of government and one or more private sector companies. ... The United States Department of Agriculture (also called the Agriculture Department, or USDA) is a United States Federal Executive Department (or Cabinet Department). ... Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in Latium, the region immediately surrounding Rome. ...

Mission

The Rural Utilities Service (RUS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture plays a key role in improving the quality of life in rural America; its means of doing this is through administering electrification, telecommunications, and water and waste programs in a manner that is forward looking, financially responsible, and oriented toward customer needs.

Structure

The RUS is one of three agencies (the other two are Rural Business-Cooperative Service and the Rural Housing Service) within the Rural Development Bureau of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The administrators of these three agencies report to the undersecretary for rural development. The RUS administrator, who makes the primary policy and program decisions for the agency, is assisted by a borrower and program support staff that includes a financial services staff, an administrative liaison staff, and a program accounting services division. Because of the financial nature of the agency's work, the administrator and associated staff work closely with two other agencies that are not part of the USDA: the Federal Financing Bank (FFB) and the Rural Telephone Bank (RTB). These banks provide the funds for many of the loan programs administered by the RUS.

The program functions of the RUS are divided among three operating units—water and waste, electric, and telecommunications—each of which is led by an assistant administrator. The administrator and his support staff concentrate on the financial details of individual RUS projects, and these three operating units provide the engineering and technical personnel needed to plan and execute the projects.

Related federal legislation

• 1944 - Rural Electrification Act Amendments PL 78-425, 78-563
• 1949 - Rural Electrification Act Amendments PL 81-423
• 1961 - Area Redevelopment Act PL 87-27
• 1961 - Housing Act PL 87-90
• 1962 - Rural Electrification Act Amendments PL 87-862
• 1965 - Appalachian Regional Development Act PL 89-4
• 1965 - Department of Housing and Urban Development PL 89-174
• 1966 - Demonstration Cities and Metropolitan Development Act PL 89-754
• 1972 - Rural Development Act PL 92-419

1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ... FDR (Center) signs the Rural Electrification Act with Representative John Rankin (Left) and Senator William Norris (right) The Rural Electrification Act of 1936 provided federal funding for installation of electrical distribution systems to serve rural areas of the United States. ... 1949 (MCMXLIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1949 calendar). ... 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1961 calendar). ... 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1961 calendar). ... Year 1962 (MCMLXII) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1965 calendar). ... 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1965 calendar). ... The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, often abbreviated HUD, is a Cabinet department of the United States government. ... 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1966 calendar). ... Year 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• Article on the REA from EH.NET's Encyclopedia
• Rural Development Utilities Programs. Retrieved on 2005-11-23.