News Release

Steve Thompson (202) 720-2446
sathomps@rdmail.rural.usda.gov
Dan Campbell (202) 720-6483
dan.campbell@usda.gov

USDA MARKS 65TH ANNIVERSARY OF RURAL ELECTRIFICATION ACT WITH $354 MILLION TO EXPAND RURAL POWER SYSTEMS

WASHINGTON, May 1, 2000--In a ceremony celebrating the 65th anniversary of the signing of the Rural Electrification Act, Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman today awarded $354.4 million in loans to help improve electrical service in rural areas of the country. This fiscal year USDA has loaned more than $1 billion to help provide new or improved electric service to more than 149,000 rural Americans.

"In the 65 years since USDA's rural electric program was launched, this vital program has invested more than $56 billion to make rural America a better place to live and work," Glickman said. "Bringing modern electrical service to rural America was one the nation's most important achievements of the 20th Century. The challenge for the 21st Century is to ensure that America's rural utility infrastructure keeps pace with increasing demand of rural power users."

The new loans announced today were awarded to:

Alabama Electric Cooperative Inc., Andalusia, Ala., which was awarded a $269.9 million loan to construct 495 megawatts of generating capacity and 17 miles of transmission line. The co-op provides electrical power to 16 distribution co-ops, four municipal systems and one industrial distributor in Alabama and Florida.
South Mississippi Electric Power Association, Hattiesburg, Miss., received a $58.6 million loan to construct 73 miles of transmission line and new substations and switching stations. The cooperative provides electric power to 11 distribution members, all in Mississippi.
Blue Grass Energy Cooperative Corporation, Nicholasville, Ky., received a $25.8 million loan to connect 3,600 consumers and construct 183 miles of distribution lines. The co-op maintains 3,400 miles of electrical lines and serves 32,000 consumers.

Nearly half of all electric lines in the United States were financed by the Rural Electrification Administration of USDA and its successor agency, the Rural Utilities Service (RUS). In addition to maintaining and expanding rural electrical service, RUS is heavily involved in financing modern digital telecommunications systems and other infrastructure necessary to providing state-of-the-art digital communications to rural areas and safe drinking water and environmentally sound wastewater systems.

Glickman and RUS Acting Administrator Chris McLean, were joined at the ceremony by former Agriculture Secretary Bob Bergland. Louisan Mamer, who worked for the Rural Electrification Administration (REA) from its inauguration in 1935 until 1980, received a Lifetime Achievement Award.

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