Rural Utilities Service

The RUS administers the following programs:

• Water and Environmental: provides financial assistance for drinking water, sanitary sewer, solid waste and storm drainage facilities in rural areas and communities with a population of 10,000 or less.
• Electric Programs: help maintain, expand, upgrade and modernize the rural electric infrastructure. It also supports demand-side management, energy efficiency and conservation programs, and on- and off-grid renewable energy systems.
• Telecommunications: helps deploy the rural telecommunications infrastructure.

A total of 890 rural electric and 800 rural telecommunications utilities in 47 states, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, the Marshall Islands, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Federated States of Micronesia have received financial assistance. Approximately 7,200 rural communities are served through financial assistance received from water and waste loans and grants.{{cite web|title=Rural Utilities Service|url=https://www.federalregister.gov/agencies/rural-utilities-service|website=Federal Register|access-date=3 March 2016}}

In 2023, RUS was in charge of the ReConnect Program; this Biden administration program is overseen by the Agriculture Department{{Cite web|url=https://www.usda.gov/media/press-releases/2023/08/21/biden-harris-administration-announces-nearly-700-million-connect|title=Biden-Harris Administration Announces Nearly $700 Million to Connect People in Remote and Rural Areas to High-Speed Internet | USDA|website=www.usda.gov}} to expand broadband Internet access to rural parts of America, including the Marshall Islands.

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| caption1 = One of the posters designed by Lester Beall in the 1930s to promote the Rural Electrification Administration of the U.S. Department of Agriculture

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The RUS originated with the Rural Electrification Administration (REA), one of the agencies created under the New Deal in 1935 to promote rural electrification. The REA was created by executive order on May 11, 1935, by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.{{cite web |url= https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/executive-order-7037-establishing-the-rural-electrification-administration |title= Franklin D. Roosevelt: Executive Order 7037 Establishing the Rural Electrification Administration, May 11, 1935 |author1=Peters, Gerhard |author2=Woolley, John T |publisher = University of California - Santa Barbara |work= The American Presidency Project |access-date=February 10, 2021}} Enacted the following year, the Rural Electrification Act provided federal loans for the installation of electrical distribution systems to serve rural areas of the United States.

In the 1930s, the U.S. lagged behind Europe in providing electricity to rural areas. In 1934, less than 11% of U.S. farms had electricity. That same year, in France and Germany, nearly 90% of farms had electricity.

Backed by the 1936 Rural Electrification Act the REA gave loans and other help to rural organizations setting up their own power systems and was one of the New Deal's most successful programs.{{cite web|last1=McChesney|first1=Paul|last2=Podesta|first2=John|title=Let There Be Wi-Fi|date=2 January 2006 |url=https://washingtonmonthly.com/magazine/januaryfebruary-2006/let-there-be-wi-fi|publisher=Washington Monthly|access-date=3 March 2016|ref=washingtonmonthly}} By 1937, hundreds of new municipal power utilities were created nationwide. In 1939, 288,000 households had their electricity provided by rural electric cooperatives. Most of these electric co-ops had applied for and received loans from REA. By 1942, nearly 50% of US farms had electricity, and by 1952 almost all US farms had electricity.FDR: The New Deal Years, 1933–1937, pages 491–92, by Kenneth S. Davis. Published by Random House, 1986

In 1949, the REA became authorized to provide loans to rural telephone cooperatives.{{cite web|title=History of Rural Telecommunications|url=https://www.ntca.org/ruraliscool/history-rural-telecommunications|website=The Rural Broadband Association|access-date=3 March 2016}}

Under the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 the REA was absorbed by the Rural Utilities Service (RUS).{{cite encyclopedia |author=Laurence Malone |title=Rural Electrification Administration |encyclopedia=EH.Net Encyclopedia |editor=Robert Whaples |editor-link=Robert Whaples |publisher=Economic History Association |date=March 16, 2008 |access-date=July 31, 2016 |url=https://eh.net/encyclopedia/rural-electrification-administration/}}

• Distance Learning and Telemedicine Grant and Loan Program

{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category|Rural Utilities Service}}

• {{Official website|https://www.rd.usda.gov/about-rd/agencies/rural-utilities-service}}

{{ES Government}}

{{USDA agencies}}

{{New Deal}}

{{Electricity grid modernization}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Government agencies established in 1935

Category:1935 establishments in the United States

Category:Energy in the United States

Category:Rural development in the United States

Category:New Deal agencies

Category:United States Department of Agriculture agencies

Category:Federal assistance in the United States

Category:Rural electrification in the United States