With October being National Co-op Month, it is a great time to look back at the history of Marshall County REMC and how the co-op was founded when neighbors worked together to bring electricity to our rural community.
In the 1930s, electricity was commonplace in cities but largely unavailable in rural areas. At that time, the provision of power to rural areas was not thought to be economically feasible. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt fortunately understood the importance of bringing electricity to the rural areas and on May 11, 1935, established the Rural Electrification Administration to take on the issue of funding for rural electrification projects.
On June 14, 1935, a small group of farmers with a dream of electrifying the countryside met in the office of the Marshall County Farm Bureau at 118 W. LaPorte St. in Plymouth to discuss the possibility of setting up an organization to take advantage of the Rural Electric Membership Corporation Act (Bill #454), which had been approved on March 9, 1935, by the Indiana Legislature.
With the passage of the REMC bill, the process to bring power to thousands of rural farms, homes and businesses began. Sponsored by the Farm Bureau, the bill was the first of its kind in the nation. Gov. Paul V. McNutt signed the bill into law on March 9, 1935.
When the small group of farmers met for the initial meeting, a motion was made by L.M. Chase, seconded by Rea Ward and voted upon to form the corporation that became known as Marshall County Rural Electric Membership Corporation. George Weissert was elected president, Chase was elected vice president and Andrew Metheny was named secretary-treasurer.
Once Marshall County REMC had been formed, it needed access to funds to begin the construction of the poles, lines, etc. Fortunately, the Rural Electrification Act (REA) was passed in 1936 which provided federal loans for the installation of electrical distribution systems to serve the rural areas of the United States.
On Nov. 10, 1936, a Rural Electrification Act (REA) loan in the amount of $185,000 was received by Marshall County REMC. This loan gave the financial backing needed to get the project off the ground. The first pole was set on the southwest corner of U.S. 30 and King Road on Sept. 30, 1937. After a lot of hard work, on April 30, 1938, Roy Jacoby’s home was the first to be energized.
In the first year, 25 miles of line was installed bringing power to 50 members for the first time. In those early years rural residents were interested in getting electricity to run a single light in each room, plus enough to run a few small appliances. At that time, the minimum charge was $2.50 per month with many worrying they would not use enough electricity to justify the $2.50 charge.
Today, Marshall County REMC serves roughly 6,000 members with over 7,200 electric meters. Currently there are approximately 1,058 miles of line with roughly 6.81 customers per mile. The average monthly electric use per member is 1,200 kWh.
Although Marshall County REMC started out providing electricity, our impact on our members and community has grown. Marshall County REMC provides energy efficiency rebates, youth programs, safety education and our most recent project to bring broadband to rural Marshall County. As Marshall County REMC plans for the future, you can be confident that our commitment is to better serve our members and community.
