THE SALT RIVER ELECTRIC STORY

In the 1930's, fewer than 750,000 of the nations 7 million farmers had electric service, because private power companies felt it would be too costly to provide electricity to the rural areas of our nation.

In May 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed an executive order that created a federal agency called the Rural Electrification Administration or REA, which assisted states in providing electricity to people in rural areas.

In 1937, after the REA was created, a group of local civic leaders from Bullitt, Nelson, Spencer, and Washington counties formed Salt River Rural Electric Cooperative Corporation, today known as Salt River Electric. Over the next few years, the founders and original Board of Directors of Salt River Electric worked diligently through out the surrounding counties bringing "the gift of light" to farmers and the rural population of our region.

The practice of bringing power to co-op members of Salt River Electric is as important today as it was in 1937. The availability of electricity has changed the lives of many rural Americans across this nation, and Salt River Electric is proud to have been a part of lighting the way for a better way of life for our members.

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