History | Cullman Electric Cooperative

President Franklin D. Roosevelt visited Georgia for polio therapy, where he noticed his electric bill was over three times higher than it was in New York. He commissioned the help of four Congressmen, including Lister Hill and John Sparkman of Alabama. They helped create the Tennessee Valley Authority in 1933 and Rural Electrification Administration in 1935. In 1935, the Alabama Cooperative Act of 1935 made it legal for farmers to organize non-profit cooperatives. The relief was coming to a nation where people who lived outside of bustling cities had to endure life without electricity.

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Fourteen Cullman County farmers were turned down for electricity. These farmers spearheaded the effort to electrify rural Cullman County. Refusing to give up, the 14 farmers drove their own wagons and Ford Model As house to house over the countryside, collecting the $5 membership fees from other farmers.

Word spread of the farmers’ efforts and Alabama Power sued the 14 organizers of Cullman EC to stop its organization. Attorney William E. James defended Cullman EC, allowing the co-op to become a reality. Cullman EC’s first loan of $105,000 was approved, and the 14 men met in Mr. James’ office on May 25, 1936, to make the formation of Cullman EC official.

The 14 farmers, now the co-op’s first board of directors, decided to hire their first employee, Gladys Graham, who took care of all the inside duties from secretarial to cashiering. Later the co-op hired M.C. Lovvorn to hang transformers, install meters, and take care of power outages.

Cullman EC energized its first lines just east of the city of Cullman on Aug. 4, 1936, picking up 350 customers with 30 miles of line. Cullman EC was the second co-op in the state to incorporate but was the first one to energize its lines.

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