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 


 


        


Rural Electric Plans Started in April, 1937 Tom Moran Carried Project Trough


It will be three years next April 


since Tom Moran, farmer of the Tipton community, conceived the idea of securing electricity for use of his farmer friends. Te idea took growth immediately and as a result about 1,427 farm houses of Jackson, Kiowa, and Tillman counties in Oklahoma and Wilbarger and Foard counties in Texas are now being served over an area of 569 miles. It all was made possible through


the Rural Electrification Administration with headquarters in Washington. Grants and extensions have been made to the original project


until at the present time the Southwest Rural Electric Association has received a total of $535,000 for 569 miles of lines and with 1,427 members. Te first meeting for those interested in the electrification possibilities was held with representatives from three counties, Jackson, Tillman and Kiowa. Te meeting was in Tipton and was presided over by Frank C. Higginbotham, secretary of the Oklahoma municipal league. During the next few weeks Moran spent considerable time


working on the project, securing easements from the farmers and getting them interested in the work. Moran encountered both encouragement and difficulty as the


project got underway. Some of the farmers were skeptical of the plan, some believed that the cost would be too much, some were enthusiastic over the prospects of securing electricity. Another problem which caused much difficulty also was where


to secure power. It was after several conferences with Mayor Bert Holt and the city council that Moran secured a contract with the city of Altus to furnish power for the electric line. Not only does Altus at the present time furnish power for this particular line, but the town also will furnish additional power


 


when lines now being arranged for are completed. The original project for which Moran worked asked for


$300,000 for 32 miles of electric lines. Te federal government has granted $150,000 with which the 158 miles were completed and energized with approximately 400 customers being served. A second loan in the sum of $153,000 also was approved.Tis


was to supply a 160-mile line. Tis line principally is in Jackson county, continuing north from Ozark through the Friendship community, to Blair, west and south to Victory. It also includes an area in Tillman county. Later in the year two additional grants were approved by the


federal government for use in this connection, one for $89,000 and the second for $156,000. Te first was primarily for lines in Wilbarger and Foard counties in Texas, while the latter sum consists primarily of extensions throughout Jackson, Kiowa, and Tillman counties, work on which is well underway, and portions of which have been completed. Farmers who are members of the co-operative formed through


the Rural Electrification Administration were required to make a deposit of only $5, to take service for a period of 12 months at a minimum cost of $3 per month and to give easment for the right- of-way for the line. As long as the city of Altus is able to furnish electrical current


and is interested in making a contract, all current will come from the Altus plant, Moran said. Power for the lines and customers in Texas will be furnished


by a station near Vernon but all customers in Oklahoma are being served by the municipally owned plant in Altus.


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