In the 1930's few rural homes in Ohio had electricity. Only one in five had electric line service, for which they paid an average of 9 cents a kilowatt-hour. He had a single drop bulb in the center of the main room. Of the first $5.5 million dollars loaned by the REA to cooperatives, $5 million was invested in Ohio.
The story of Logan County's electric cooperative
June 1935
The general plan took shape on June 25, 1935. After encountering significant enthusiasm in public discussions, E.G. Denmead, Ed Duckworth, Samuel Lovett, Ralph Wade, C.C. Prall and Melvin Sidesinger met and developed the petition which would be carried by each man to every farm in Monroe Township.
Dec. 1935
On December 16, 1935, the Logan County Co-operative Power and Light Association was incorporated
Jan. 1936
January 1936, only 258 of the 2,450 farm in Logan County had central station power
January 4, 1936, a loan contract for $225,000 was executed by Administrator Morris L. Cooke at the Rural Electrification Administration at Washington, D.C. to construct 215 miles of electric distribution lines and to serve over 860 farms in Logan County
Feb. 1936
February 25, 1936, contracts were finalized with the city of Bellefontaine to provide the electricity needed to serve the new rural areas of Logan County
Oct. 1936
On Wednesday, Oct 21, 1936, at 1:30pm, electricity was turned on for the first time. Misses Fannie and Mollie Yoder, who resided along the Ludlow Road (between Cooper Road and Five Points), were the first to receive current from the newly installed line to their residence
1936
Of the initial 860 members who signed up, 655 wanted electricity for a washing machine, 608 to get radios, 544 wanted well pumps, 231 planned to purchase refrigerators, and 98 wanted motors to help with farm chores.
1968
The cooperative joined with the other rural electric cooperatives in Ohio to form a generation cooperative, Buckeye Power, Inc.
1985
The cooperative's office was moved to 1587 County Road 32 North, Bellefontaine
General Managers
Emerson Garling
Russell Ryder
Max Huffman
Ken Keylor
Bill Clevenger
Doug Miller
Rick Petty
Joe Waltz
Tim Street