The coastland times with which is combined the pilot and herald of Belhaven and Swan Quarter. [volume] (Manteo, N.C.) 1959-1973, 1960-05-13
SILVER JUBILEE OF
REA POINTS UP ITS
VALUE IN COASTLAND
Woodstock In BeIhaven Is Lare-
est, Followed by Cape Hat
teras aand Ocracoke

Twenty-Five years ago this
month, Franklin D. Roosevelt sign
ed the bill whivh authorized the
formation of the Rural Electrified
ton Administration. The Silver
Jubilee of Rural Identification is
being observed in recognition of
the great improvements which have
been made in rural America dur
ing the past quarter century be-
cause of REA.
AS late as 1910 most of the
rural areas of Washington, Hyde
and Beaufort Counties were with
out electric power. Local people
decided to take advantage Of the
opportunity which Congress had
made available through the Rural
Electrification Administration.
Organization work was begun
and on November 5, 1941, the Ger
tificate of incorporation for Wood
stock Electric Membership Corpora
ton was issued. The original sign
ers of the certificate were: L. C.
Wharton; William w. Bullock; D.
R. Paul; A. E. Midgette; Mrs. E.
J. Clayton Mrs. ]. H. Respess; ].
H. Allen; Harry Adams and Frank
Fortescue. These people, along with
many others, worked hard in or
ganizing the cooperative.
Beginning Delayed
World War II delayed the actual
beginning of the operation of the
cooperative, but on December Is,
1914, Woodstock ENC served its
first members. From ia members
in 1914 to over 2750 members to-
day is tremendous growth. And
these members are people and or
ganization from all walks of life.
There are about 1900 farmers and
965 from many other occupations.
In addition, there are 129 rural
businesses other than farms and
81 schools and churches.
Woodstock serves the most
sparsely settled areas and thus has
less than 5 meters per mile of
line. But whether in thickly settled
areas or sparsely settled areas,
when the farmers and their farni-
lies received electric service they
found many uses for it and they
are finding new uses for it each
day.
At the present, 81 ,505,000 has
been borrowed from REA by Wood
stock ETC. With this borrowed
capital over $40 miles of line have
been built in Washington, Hyde and
Beaufort Counties.
This capital also was used for
substations, transformers, meters,
service equipment, and office equip
ment, all of which are necessary for
the operation of an electric coop
erative.
Loan Being Repaid
Although Woodstock was in OPP
Grafton 8 years before a margin
was realized, $270,000 has been re-
paid on the loan which includes
$4,000 repaid ahead of schedule.
In addition, $212,895.00 has been
paid in interest. These payments
mean that the members who use
the system are paying for it and
they now own debt-free approx
matly 20e6 of the total assets Of
the system.
The operation of this business,
which is now valued at 81, 424, O00.-
90, is a big job and requires IA
full-time employees and some part
time help, who receive an annual
payroll of slightly more than $780,
900. Most of the employees are
themselves members of the COOP
erative, and their payroll is spent
locally.
More than 10000 men, women,
and children in this area receive
their electricity from Woodstock
ENC, their own cooperative. Elec-
tricity has provided these people
an easier life and higher stand
ard Of living. It is estimated that
these same people have spent more
than $5,000,000 in the local business
areas for electrical wiring, appli-
ances, and equipment since they
first received electricity. These
purchases have stimulated the To-
cal economy and helped prove that
rural identification is good for
everyone, whether he lives in town
or in the country.
What is in store for the future
With new uses for electricity being
developed each day the potential
growth of the cooperative is be-
See JUBILEE, Page Five