Today In Mississippi

Looking back 60 years, we
realize electricity’s impact

By Michael Callahan
Electric Power Associations of Mississippi Executive Vice President/CEO

We have a copy of most every issue of Today in Mississippi published since January 1948, when it was called Mississippi Rural Light and Power. What an eye opener it is to look back through those early issues, now crumbling with age.

Because I work for electric power associations, I suspect I appreciate my own electric service more than most folks do. I understand the effort it takes to get electricity into homes and businesses. And when storms knock out power, I know how hard crews work to get it back on.

Yet the stories in the earliest issues of this publication still serve as a sobering reminder of how fortunate we all are today, and how easy our life is compared to our forebears who didn’t have electricity in their homes.

As electric power associations began electrifying rural communities in the 1930s, the door opened not only to labor-saving appliances but to such necessities as running water, indoor bathrooms, safer food-preservation methods and rural telephones.

Despite the promise of these life-changing benefits, some rural folks were reluctant to sign up for electricity from their electric power association. They knew nothing about electricity and some even feared it.

One of the goals of Mississippi Rural Light and Power was to teach electric power association members about electricity. When their neighbors saw them using electricity safely and the lifestyle improvements it brought, they would want it in their homes, too.

The advertisements in those old issues are an education in themselves. Manufacturers ran ads for refrigerators, freezers, water heaters, washing machines, water pumps and other electrical appliances. Suddenly, rural people didn’t have to scrub clothes clean on a washboard anymore. There was a better way.

Rural electrification heated up the market for these items and stoked sales for decades, to the delight of local merchants who prospered as a result.

Also, as electric power association members used more electricity, their electric cooperative’s operating cost per member dropped, keeping the price of power to members as low as possible.

Although this publication promoted the use of electricity, it encouraged wise use, even 60 years ago. It taught consumers how to reduce their power bills by using electricity more efficiently.

Consumers also learned about legislation affecting rural electrification (for better or worse) in these pages. And they were encouraged to get involved in their electric cooperative.

You can learn more about rural electrification’s impact on rural Mississippi in this issue. Maybe, when we consider how electric service really affects our lives, we won’t take it for granted anymore.

PAST EDITORIALS Consumers also learned about legislation affecting rural electrification (for better or worse) in these pages. And they were encouraged to get involved in their electric cooperative.
You can learn more about rural electrification’s impact on rural Mississippi in this issue. Maybe, when we consider how electric service really affects our lives, we won’t take it for granted anymore.

Electric Power Associations of Mississippi
P.O. Box 3300 Ridgeland, Mississippi 39158-3300 phone 601.605.8600 fax 601.605.8601