![]() ![]() ![]() Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, the USDA, its Agencies, offices, and employees, and institutions participating in or administering USDA programs are prohibited from discriminating based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity (including gender expression), sexual orientation, disability, age, marital status, family/parental status, income derived from a public assistance program, political beliefs, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity, in any program or activity conducted or funded by USDA (not all bases apply to all programs). In accordance with Federal civil rights law and U.S. Thus, while cooperative leaders look back with thankfulness and pride on Clarke-Washington EMC’s years of dedicated service, they are also looking ahead toward brighter days and even higher levels of service.Ĭlarke-Washington EMC is an equal opportunity provider and employer. No longer is the cooperative a vision in the minds of progressive and farsighted community leaders, it is now an established and proven system, serving us well. Looking to the future, Clarke-Washington EMC is poised and ready to serve the increasing demands for electrical service, which our growing area seems sure to need. The cooperative has been in the forefront of many efforts to help assure that the residents of this area have every available program to enhance their comfort and safety. Throughout its 86 year history, Clarke-Washington EMC leaders have not been content just to provide electricity and the higher living standards and conveniences it makes possible. Back then, most families had a single drop cord in each room, and that was all the electricity they used. The first year of operation, each Clarke-Washington EMC members average use was only 30-kilowatt hours per month. Today, rural residents in every part of the Clarke-Washington EMC service area have access to electricity, and with it the same living conveniences which their city neighbors enjoy, and they’re using more and more electricity every year. Clarke-Washington EMC has one of the best outage records of any cooperative in the area, despite the many heavily forested sections of its service area. Lines are kept clear with an extensive right of way clearance and tree-trimming program and, as demand grows, lines are upgraded and capacity is increased to effectively handle the extra load. The entire distribution system continues to utilize the latest state-of-the-art equipment. “Service First,” has always been the prime objective of Clarke-Washington EMC, and the cooperative continues every possible effort to serve its members while providing them with all the electricity they want and need, when and where they want it, dependably and at the lowest possible rates. This work plan is being implemented without an increase in rates. A building was rented and the records were moved in a shoebox.Ĭlarke-Washington EMC is presently engaged in a work plan, which involves upgrades and improvements to provide better service all over the system. At a special meeting, June 1, 1938, the board of trustees voted to move the office from Coffeeville to Jackson, because Jackson was a more central location. The cooperative had no headquarters facility, and it was first operated out of the Coffeeville home of C.R. Initially, the cooperative served just 83 members with 79.2 miles of line, but it began to grow rapidly, and by January of 1938, there were 165 member-customers receiving power from the cooperative. The first pole was set just south of Salipta, near Beckham’s Landing in July of 1937, and soon the first lines were energized. The $65,000 loan enabled the fledgling cooperative to start installing lines and other facilities necessary to begin serving its members. 5, 1936, Clarke-Washington EMC received the first Rural Electric Administration loan in the state of Alabama for building rural electric lines. It was a tough job and many people were suspicious of the whole idea and didn’t want to risk $5 in such a venture, but gradually they began to visualize what it would mean to them and interest started picking up. These leaders traveled the muddy and dusty roads of Clarke and Washington counties talking to people about the cooperative and asking them to pay a $5 membership fee and sign up for electricity. ![]() During the next few months, these men and other community leaders reunited to help with the project. Their first challenge was to get people to sign up for membership in the cooperative. ![]()
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