The people's voice. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1939-1969, 1945-07-20
POWER co. PLANS
c0NST RUCTI0N
OF "SPITE line"

Reprinted below are an excerpt
from a story in Texas Coop Power,
the official publication of REA coop
eratives in Texas, and a story writ
ten for the Farmers Union News by
Freda Johnson director of education
of the Farmers Union of Madison
county These stories show clearly,
the tactics employed by the private
power companies to defeat rural cleo
trification efforts in their fight to
retain their monopolies.
The first story reprinted is from
Texas:
Reports of widespread "spite line"
activity by private utility companies
in many sections of the state were
being received as this issue of Texas
Coop Power went to press.
Easing of restrictions by WPB on
rural power line construction appears
to have been the starting signal for
extensive raiding of Coop territories
by some private power companies.
Utility representatives were re-
ported to be approaching Coop mem
bers who have been signed up with
cooperative for years, but unable to
obtain service because of wartime re-
strictions, and asking them to take
service from a private utility instead.
Farmers Lose When Spite
Lines Succeed
Such tactics by the power COM
panes have aroused strong resent
ment from coop officials and MEM
bers. Real losers, however, in every
case where spite line activities sue
coed are the farmers living back off
the main travelled roads.
Utilities have never sought to give
complete area coverage, only running
their lines into the thickly settled
rural sections: Where this is done,
it becomes impossibel for the co-ops
to go in and serve the remainder of
the territory, and farmers in the thin
ner areas are virtually barred from
ever receiving electric service from
any source.
The Madison County story follows
GROUP ACTION BRINGS
POWER LINE TO FARMERS
Montana Power Refused to Help
During the late fall of 1929 a dele
cation of nine farmers living in our
district asked the 1ocal manager of
the Montana Power Company to ex-
tend the power line five miles west
of town to give service to the fifteen
farmers in that immediate locality |
When he refused, committee of five |
was chosen to go to Butte to inter-
view the Butte office. In Butte, they |
were told, of course, the company |
would build the line and for them |
to go to the local manager and he
would tell them what could be done.
When the committee returned the
local manager told them the cost
would be $1,000 a mile. Since most
of them lived from 8 to 5 miles from
town they Immediately lost interest
in the power line.
r. E. A.
In 1888, these farmers were inter-
viewed by worker for REA and
many of them signed and paid the S. |
fee. In 1899 the appli-
cation was submitted to ST. Louis and
refused because the application and
maps did not give sufficient informa-
ton In 1910 the new REA manager
recalled the application and maps, cor
rected them and in October 1941 the
application was approved. Then Pearl
Harbor came and it wasn't till No
vember Is, 1914 that regulations were
sufficiently relaxed that REA could
build this line. The REA board called
a meeting of the board and asked
that representatives from our district
be present. The meeting was held
the last Saturday in January, 1915.
Not An Easy Job
1t was at this point that we began
to realize that getting power was not
2 simple matter. On Monday, fol-
lowing the REA meeting, the Mon
tana Power called group of farmers
together at farm home and promised
them service within short time.
This was impossible because certain
government regulations required ap-
proval of proposed lines. First it was
necessary to visit each farmer in the
district and to list the animal units"
on his ranch, what electrical equip
ment he owned or intended to buy
These lists must be approved by the
County AAA Board, tSate WPB, then
forwarded to Washington, d. c. for
final approval Our application
reached Washington, February Z, 1915
and was approved about February 27,
1916.