Wiring rural America - the lesson of rural electrification

This isn't the first time the federal government has tried to wire rural America.

The economic recovery act provides $7.2 billion to help get broadband to underserved locales, especially rural areas. Similarly, back in the 1930s, the federal Rural Electrification Agency helped get power lines to rural communities.

Nick Muntean, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Texas-Austin, looks at the historical comparisons between the rural electrification movement and current efforts to get rural America online. His report appears in The Daily Yonder, Rural Strategies' online news journal.

Among the findings I found most interesting:

- The 1930s utlities companies considered their job finished because they had run electrcity to rural residents who could afford to pay for constructing the lines. Yet  90 percent of rural residents still didn't have electrical power. Where would America be today in economic production and quality of life if some public entity hadn't pushed for greater distribution of electricity to more Americans? Who decides when we're finished with broadband distribution, corporations or communities?

- The main focus of the Rural Electrification Agency was getting the cost of service down, not just making electricity available. After all, what good does theoretical access to the power grid mean if you can't afford to pay the light bill (or the broadband bill)?

- There were few immediate economic advantages of getting electricty to more rural users. Most of the benefits of electrification came from personal conveniences (an electric iron, for example, instead of one heated on a wood stovel; electric lights vs. lanterns) and new technology like radios. If economics had been the only concern, we might still be waiting for electricity in rural America.

In the long run, I think electrifying rural America was good for everyone, not just rural residents. It offered Americans more choices about geography and lifestyle, and it established links between city and country people. As the nation considers next steps in broadband deployment, I hope we'll remember that we're all in this together. Thank goodness folks had that vision for rural America when the topic was electrification.

-- Tim Marema