View source for Rural Utilities Service

{{Organization
|OrganizationName=Rural Utilities Service
|OrganizationType=Executive Departments (Sub-organization)
|Mission=The Rural Utilities Service (RUS) aims to improve the quality of life in rural America by providing leadership, funding, and technical assistance for the development of infrastructure related to electric power, telecommunications, and water and waste disposal systems. RUS works to ensure that rural communities have access to modern, reliable utilities services comparable to those in urban areas.
|ParentOrganization=Department of Agriculture (USDA)
|CreationLegislation=Rural Electrification Act of 1936; Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994
|Employees=400
|Budget=$6B (FY 2024, including loans and grants)
|OrganizationExecutive=Administrator
|Services=Electric program loans and grants; Telecommunications loans and grants; Water and environmental programs; Broadband initiatives
|Regulations=Administers federal regulations related to rural utility infrastructure loans and grants
|HeadquartersLocation=38.88704, -77.0294
|HeadquartersAddress=1400 Independence Ave SW, Washington, DC 20250, USA
|Website=https://www.rd.usda.gov/about-rd/agencies/rural-utilities-service
}}
{{Infobox government agency
| name = Rural Utilities Service
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| 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>
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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 &#124; 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
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| 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
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| image2    = Trempealeau-Electric-Cooperative-Arcadia-Wis.jpg
| alt2      =

| caption2  = Farmer watching a lineman at work in [[Trempealeau County, Wisconsin]] (c. 1936)

}}

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, 1933–1937'', pages 491–92, 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]]