Rural Electrification Administration
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Rural Electrification Adminsitration was created by FDR on May 11, 1935 as a temporary agency. This eventually led to the Rural Electrification Act of 1936. It was a federal program created to provide electricity homes and farms in rural areas which were previously without electricty because the power companies thought it was too expensive to run power lines out to these buildings in the countyside. The government aided the power companies so that the lines could be run and power supplied to the people.

1) What were the effects of this program on the people?

The Rural Electrification Administration gave the people who lived in the country the luxury of electricity like many people in the cities and suburbs had. Only 10% of rural homes had electricity in 1930. This rose to 25% by 1939 and by the end on the decade 90% of the people in rural areas were supplied with electricity.

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2) What were the effects of this program on the economy?
The US government aided power companies to run electrical power lines out to these rural areas because originally the power companies believed that it was too expensive to run these lines out and they wouldnt make enough money on it. Little did they know that these farmers would need more power than someone who lived in the city so it all balanced out.

Now that the farmers had electricity, they needed to purchase electric appliances. This drew in local merchants and increased sales prompting other private businesses to branch out. The Electric Home and Farm Authority was set up to help farmers buy their appliances which otherwise they may not of been able to afford. They helped to get the farmers reasonable prices on these appliances and even allowed them to be purchased on loans through the EHFA. This made it easier on the farmers and they bought more appliances which in turn helped the local economy.

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