These companies refused to extend their lines into rural areas and actively lobbied against efforts to bring power to the countryside. Whenever a community tried to manage power generation on its own, it was often sabotaged by utility companies. For them, rural electrification threatened their utility monopolies and profit margins.
Side Note: During this time, out west in the Gold Rush, mining companies independently electrified nearby towns to establish the infrastructure needed for powering the mines. This was a particularly savvy business move because many of the mining companies were extracting coal, which was used to generate electricity.
The breaking point – the Great Depression
Soon after the stock market crash of 1929 devastated America, the early 1930s suffered a historic drought (The Dust Bowl). Many farming communities struggled to survive. As crop prices plummeted, many people left the farms to seek work in the city, leaving farmers and sharecroppers with even less help than before. For many, the lack of electricity symbolized their isolation and economic disadvantage, while urban centers thrived with the conveniences of modern technology. Farmers petitioned to get power to their community from the city, but they were rejected by the IOUs, who did not want to pay for it. By the 1930s, the divide between urban and rural America had become impossible to ignore. The Great Depression hit farmers particularly hard. Farmers who
A cartogram of electricity usage in 1921 by General Electric.
could afford electricity on their farms could outproduce their neighbors. Many farmers used horses and mules to operate a grinding mill, while wealthier
farmers could produce much more in the same amount of time simply by flicking a switch to run a motorized mill.
we get technical
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