CEO
Every year I have worked at WIN Energy REMC, I have had something to look forward to, and this year it’s our 85th anniversary. Thanks to a group of determined rural residents eager to bring electricity to their homes and farms, “lights came on in the country” in 1939. Neighboring investor-owned utilities could see no profit in serving our rural areas, so local farmers and rural residents worked together to form Knox County REMC and Sullivan County REMC. The two merged in 1997 to form what is now known as WIN Energy REMC.
It may be hard to imagine, but just 85 years ago, rural citizens were used to life without electricity. The 1930s was a time of great hardship for those living outside city limits. The day began and ended in accordance with the sun, and almost every chore required backbreaking labor. Luckily, President Franklin D. Roosevelt understood the hardships that rural residents faced and saw an easy solution — rural electric cooperatives. On May 11, 1935, President Roosevelt signed an executive order establishing the Rural Electrification Administration (REA). The REA provided loans and other assistance so rural cooperatives could build and run their own electrical distribution systems.
Other than President Roosevelt’s promise of federal aid in the form of low-interest loans and engineering expertise, rural Americans didn’t have much help bringing electricity to their homes and farms. Rural residents worked together and did it themselves.
Electricity changed life in rural America. Electricity made lights, running water, and food storage possible. Today, electricity has brought us color television, cell phones, and electric vehicles.
In today’s world, electric cooperatives have spread throughout the country, from north to south and east to west. In Indiana alone, we have 38 electric cooperatives. Co-op lines run across 47 states and serve over 42 million people. As we begin our 85th year of service, I know there is so much more to look forward to in the future of our cooperative. Cheers to 85 years!
