Energy · 1936
Rural electrification
Public programs string lines to farms private utilities skipped.
The US Rural Electrification Act of 1936 financed cooperatives that raised farm electrification from about 10% to about 90% by the early 1950s. Similar programs later brought power to rural Europe, the Soviet Union, China and India.
What it built on 2
Related measurements
The dashed line marks when it first worked.
US households with electric power Latest: 99 % of households (2005) Source: Our World in Data
Share of people with electricity Latest: 91.9 % (2024) Source: Our World in Data
Energy use per person Latest: 20.3k kWh (2025) Source: Our World in Data