The Rural Electrification Act was one of many New Deal proposals by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to remedy high unemployment during the Great Depression.

Representative John E. Rankin[4] and Senator George William Norris[5] were supporters of the Rural Electrification Act, which was signed into law by Roosevelt on May 20, 1936.

REA cooperatives used a 6900-volt distribution network (soon changed to the present-day 12,470/7200V 4-wire Y system), which could support much longer runs (up to about 40 mi (64 km)).

The electricians added wiring to houses and barns to utilize the newly available power provided by the line crews.

Wiring was performed using type NM (nonmetallic sheathed cable), insulated with asbestos-reinforced rubber covered with jute and tar.