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Rural Utilities Service
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{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2023}} {{Short description|USDA electrical, water, telecomm agency}} {{redirect-distinguish|The Rural Broadband Association|NTCA - The Rural Broadband Association}} {{Infobox government agency | name = Rural Utilities Service | seal = | logo = | formed = | jurisdiction = | employees = | budget = | chief1_name = [[Andrew Berke]] | chief1_position = Administrator<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rd.usda.gov/about-rd/leadership/administrators/andrew-berke |title=Andrew Berke |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221012193524/https://www.rd.usda.gov/about-rd/leadership/administrators/andrew-berke |archive-date=12 Oct 2022 |website=Rural Development Website |publisher=U.S. Department of Agriculture |access-date=12 October 2022}}</ref> | chief2_name = | chief2_position = | chief3_name = | chief3_position = | chief4_name = | chief4_position = | chief5_name = | chief5_position = | chief6_name = | chief6_position = | chief7_name = | chief7_position = | chief8_name = | chief8_position = | chief9_name = | chief9_position = | parent_department = [[United States Department of Agriculture]] | website = {{URL|https://www.rd.usda.gov/about-rd/agencies/rural-utilities-service|rd.usda.gov/rural-utilities-service}} | native_name = | native_name_a = | native_name_r = | seal_size = | seal_caption = | logo_size = | logo_caption = | image = | image_size = | image_caption = | preceding1 = | preceding2 = | preceding3 = | preceding4 = | preceding5 = | preceding6 = | dissolved = | superseding1 = | superseding2 = | superseding3 = | superseding4 = | superseding5 = | superseding6 = | headquarters = [[Washington, DC]] | latd = | longd = | latm = | lats = | latNS = | longm = | longs = | longEW = | region_code = | motto = | minister1_name = | minister1_pfo = | minister2_name = | minister2_pfo = | minister3_name = | minister3_pfo = | minister4_name = | minister4_pfo = | minister5_name = | minister5_pfo = | minister6_name = | minister6_pfo = | minister7_name = | minister7_pfo = | deputyminister1_name = | deputyminister1_pfo = | deputyminister2_name = | deputyminister2_pfo = | deputyminister3_name = | deputyminister3_pfo = | deputyminister4_name = | deputyminister4_pfo = | deputyminister5_name = | deputyminister5_pfo = | deputyminister6_name = | deputyminister6_pfo = | deputyminister7_name = | deputyminister7_pfo = | parent_agency = [[USDA Rural Development]] | child1_agency = | child2_agency = | child3_agency = | child4_agency = | child5_agency = | child6_agency = | child7_agency = | child8_agency = | child9_agency = | child10_agency = | child11_agency = | child12_agency = | child13_agency = | child14_agency = | child15_agency = | child16_agency = | child17_agency = | child18_agency = | child19_agency = | child20_agency = | child31_agency = | child22_agency = | child23_agency = | child24_agency = | child25_agency = | keydocument1 = | keydocument2 = | keydocument3 = | keydocument4 = | keydocument5 = | keydocument6 = | map = | map_size = | map_caption = | footnotes = | type = | service = | agency_type = | subbox = | italic title = no | child = | embed = | seal_alt = | logo_alt = | image_alt = | status = | minister_type = | minister8_name = | minister8_pfo = | deputyminister_type = | deputyminister8_name = | deputyminister8_pfo = | parent_agency_type = | child21_agency = | agency_id = | map_alt = | map_type = | map_dot_mark = | map_dot_label = | relief = | image_map = }} The United States '''Rural Utilities Service''' ('''RUS''') administers programs that provide infrastructure or infrastructure improvements to [[Rural America|rural communities]]. These include water and waste treatment, electric power, and telecommunications services.<ref name="rus">{{cite web|title=Rural Utilities Service|url=http://www.rd.usda.gov/about-rd/agencies/rural-utilities-service|website=USDA|access-date=3 March 2016}}</ref> It is an operating unit of the [[USDA Rural Development]] agency of the [[United States Department of Agriculture]] (USDA). It was created in 1935 as the '''Rural Electrification Administration''' ('''REA'''), a [[New Deal]] agency promoting rural electrification. ==Overview== 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.<ref name="rus"/> * Electric Programs: help maintain, expand, upgrade and modernize the rural electric infrastructure. It also supports demand-side management, [[Efficient energy use|energy efficiency]] and conservation programs, and on- and off-grid renewable energy systems.<ref name="rus"/> * Telecommunications: helps deploy the rural telecommunications infrastructure.<ref name="rus"/> ==Financial assistance== A total of 890 rural electric and 800 rural telecommunications utilities in 47 states, [[Puerto Rico]], the [[United States Virgin Islands|Virgin Islands]], [[Guam]], [[Marshall Islands|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.<ref>{{cite web|title=Rural Utilities Service|url=https://www.federalregister.gov/agencies/rural-utilities-service|website=Federal Register|access-date=3 March 2016}}</ref> In 2023, RUS was in charge of the ReConnect Program; this Biden administration program is overseen by the Agriculture Department<ref>{{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}}</ref> to expand broadband Internet access to rural parts of America, including the [[Marshall Islands]]. == Rural Electrification Administration == {{multiple image <!-- Essential parameters --> | align = right | direction = vertical | width = 220 <!-- Image 1 --> | image1 = Light - Rural electrification administration - Beall. LCCN2010646236.jpg | alt1 = | 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 <!-- Image 2 --> | image2 = Trempealeau-Electric-Cooperative-Arcadia-Wis.jpg | alt2 = | caption2 = Farmer watching a lineman at work in [[Trempealeau County, Wisconsin]] (c. 1936) }} 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 [[s:Executive Order 7037|executive order]] on May 11, 1935, by President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]].<ref>{{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}}</ref> Enacted the following year, the [[Rural Electrification Act]] provided federal loans for the installation of [[electrical distribution]] systems to serve [[Rural America|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.<ref>{{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}}</ref> 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.<ref>''FDR: The New Deal Years, 1933β1937'', pages 491β92, by Kenneth S. Davis. Published by Random House, 1986</ref> In 1949, the REA became authorized to provide loans to rural telephone cooperatives.<ref>{{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}}</ref> Under the [[Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994]] the REA was absorbed by the Rural Utilities Service (RUS).<ref>{{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/}}</ref> ==See also== *[[Distance Learning and Telemedicine Grant and Loan Program]] ==References== {{Reflist}} ==External links== {{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:Utility cooperatives 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]]
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