We have just celebrated the 75^th anniversary of one of the most significant economic stimulus plans ever created in the United States. The signing of the Rural Electrification Act in 1935 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt signaled the awakening of a public servant unequaled in impact upon the lives of most Mississippians. Although EMEPA wasn’t established until 1938, the potential was already growing in the minds of a few visionaries in our communities. Likely, those people would be known by many of you as ancestors or neighbors.

The farms and homes that received central station power grew exponentially from those early days. This growth was guided by a policy that left no one out of the reach of power. Electricity provided the ability to convert back breaking monotonous work into something accomplished by the flip of a switch. What appeared to be a luxury in the early days became a necessity for today’s life style.

We like to call this quality of life. No longer do we give much attention to the engineering marvel of the “flip of the switch.” Only during major storms are we forced to reflect upon the absence of such a powerful servant. A neighbor told me the story recently about the worst whipping he ever received as a child; it was the lure and fascination of flipping a switch on the wall that could actually cause a light on a drop cord in the middle of the room to glow. And darkness was no longer a boundary for that family.

The concept of economic stimulus leads us to think of how many jobs we can create and how much money we can put back into circulation. It turns our thoughts to the stock exchanges and the interest rates charged by banks or earned by our investments. But the stimulus created by the REA Act did something entirely different. It made us more productive, but it stimulated hope and vision. It gave us time to enjoy life. We could live more comfortable lives and consider the gifts we are endowed with. It brought the world into our homes and opened the minds of the children.

Electricity provided better sanitation, clean and abundant water and more effective communication. Some of you will remember the first black and white television sets you ever watched. I can remember watching the old broadcast emblems on those sets and the hum of the transmitter as the stations signed on and off for the day. By the way, there was only one station to watch and then only when you could receive the signal. And I can still remember my grandfather sitting in front of the old Emerson radio “watching” the fights broadcast on Friday nights. He would sit intently glaring into that blank front on the old box and listen to the gifted radio announcers describe the fights in such terms that you could imagine you were there. He was not to be interrupted during this weekly indulgence.

It was a simpler time, but let’s refrain from describing them as “good ole days.” Firm and important memories but we live in the greatest time man has ever known and to a huge extent it is due to the economic stimulus provided by the extension of electricity into our homes and businesses. We must not slip back into a time when electricity becomes a luxury only for the wealthy or those living in selected places. 

While many Mississippi electricity consumers pay power bills to companies that answer to far-away stockholders who demand a healthy profit every quarter, local members call the shots at electric co-ops like ours. Co-ops aren’t under pressure to keep rates high enough to generate big profits. Instead, co-ops try to keep your bill as low as possible while providing high-quality service.

And unlike the boards of directors of investor-owned utilities who keep an eye on generating profits for people living far away, your co-op’s directors (fellow members, by the way) have only one thing in mind: keeping lights on safely, reliably and keeping costs affordable in our local community. That’s why you elected them. And that’s what’s so great about co-ops.

You may know the history of the electric cooperative movement, how seven decades ago rural residents banded together to bring the conveniences of electricity to their communities when investor-owned utilities would not extend service. The associations they formed, on the same democratic principles as this great nation, are as strong and relevant today as they were back then.

But co-ops are not just products of a proud past. These days, Americans from all walks of life have come to recognize the co-op approach—members working together to achieve price and service benefits—can work for other needs just as effectively as it delivered affordable power to rural Americans.

The seven principles upon which electric co-ops were founded—voluntary and open membership, democratic member control and members’ economic participation, among others—are as meaningful today as they were when electric co-ops began in the 1930s.

Leadership at East Mississippi Electric Power Association shares the same concerns as you, our members. We are accessible. You can give us a call or send us an e-mail and know someone here is listening. And at our annual meeting on Saturday, October 2, you can participate in the governance of your electric cooperative.

In these days of economic turmoil, folks who receive electricity from co-ops are lucky. As locally owned and operated businesses, electric co-ops understand the people they serve. Directors and employees at your co-op share the same values and have the same pride of place as you do because it is our community, too. We act like neighbors because we are neighbors.

That’s the cooperative difference.