Your Cooperative – Adams Rural Electric Cooperative, Inc.
On July 1, 1940, 65 concerned citizens from Adams, Brown, and Scioto counties held the first organizational meeting of what was to become Adams Rural Electric Cooperative, Inc. Starting from scratch, they formed the corporation, elected officers, hired the first employee, attorney, and construction supervisor. They then traveled throughout the area and signed up 543 members. The first REA loan approval for Adams Rural Electric was received in February 1941 to begin construction on the 217 miles of line it would require to serve the 543 members. The first stakes were driven around Marble Furnace.
Headlines in the People’s Defender the week of December 3, 1942 read, “REA TO THROW SWITCH THIS WEEK”. The importance of this headline is that it was the people cooperating with each other toward a common goal, to provide electric service to the rural areas, which made it possible. Common people working together to bring about a better way of life; from the original 65 incorporators, we have grown to include more than 8,000 service locations. Those first 217 miles of line have been extended to more than 1320. There is a vast difference in the usage also; in the 1940’s the average consumer used approximately 60 Kwh per month, that average now is approximately 1050 Kwh per month. Times have changed, costs have increased, progress has improved our mode of living and also has taken its toll, but the basis is still the same; when people cooperate with each other great things can be accomplished.
Adams REC has a Board of Trustees made up of nine (9) cooperative members who have been voted in by cooperative members, to make financial and governing decisions for the cooperative.
Adams REC service area covers parts of five (5) counties. As you drive through the rural areas of Adams, Brown, Scioto, Highland, and Pike counties that are served by your cooperative, take a look at the power lines strung across the fields, through the trees, down the valleys, and up the hills; then remember that it was not the big companies that accomplished this, it was common people working in cooperation toward a goal. Each member/owner of Adams Rural Electric Cooperative, Inc., is a part of that accomplishment.
Adams REC has installed a new metering system called Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI). The AMI system assists the cooperative in many areas, especially outage management. It has the capability of notifying the cooperative when power is off at a location. We can also get a reading from the meters within a few seconds right from our office, and some of the AMI meters can be remotely disconnected/reconnected rather than making a trip out in the field. These are valuable cost cutting and time saving measures.
We began installing the new meters in June of 2016. The last meters were set in mid-November, 2017. The installation was completely performed by cooperative personnel. This new system is one of the final pieces of the new technologies that Adams REC has invested in over the last five years, including digital mapping, outage management, vehicle tracking, and new communications radio systems. As well as being the final piece, it is also the most expensive, costing over $1 million for the project.
Our goal at Adams Rural Electric for 2022 is the same as it was in 1940, and that is to provide safe and affordable electric power to our members.