OCR Text |
Show 289 thereunder, including the uniform system.184 But this obliga- tion applies only "so far as may be practicable."185 Rural Electrification Administration.-In 1936, Con- gress established this agency to make loans for rural electrifica- tion.186 Under the general direction and supervision of the Secretary of Agriculture, the Administrator is empowered to make loans:187 for the purpose of financing the construction and opera- tion of generating plants, electric transmission and dis- tribution lines or systems for the furnishing of electric energy to persons in rural areas who are not receiving central station service * * *. "Rural area" is defined as "any area of the United States not included within the boundaries of any city, village, or borough having a population in excess of fifteen hundred inhabitants, and such term shall be deemed to include both the farm and the nonfarm population thereof."188 Loans may be made to persons, corporations, public bodies, and cooperatives, but preference must be given to "States, Ter- ritories, and subdivisions and agencies thereof, municipalities, peoples utility districts, and cooperative, nonprofit, or limited dividend associations."189 Loans are made at an interest rate of 2% with a maximum amortization period of 35 years.190 Loans have been made under this legislation for construction of hydroelectric plants, some of them licensed under the Fed- eral Power Act.191 184 § 303, 49 Stat. 855,16 U. S. O. 825(t>). 185 Id. 188 Act of May 20,1936, 49 Stat. 1363, 7 U. S. C. 901 et seq. Authorizations for loans by REA amounted to $1,830,318,858 as of June 30, 1949. Cus- tomers connected as of that date totaled 2,778,180. H. Rep. 2908, 81st Cong., 2d sess., p. 4 (1950). lsTAct of May 20, 1936, § 4, 49 Stat. 1363, 1365, as amended, 7 U. S. C. 904 (Supp. III). 188 § 13, 49 Stat. 1367, 7 U. S, C. 913. 188 § 4, 49 Stat. 1365, as amended, 7 U. S. C. 904 (Supp. III). 190 Act of September 21, 1944, §§ 502 (b), 503, 58 Stat. 734, 739, 740, see 7 U. S. C. 904, 905. 191 See, e. g., Re Dairyland Power Cooperative, Flambeau River Project, Wisconsin, Project No. 1960. See also H. Rep. No. 2908, 81st Cong., 2d sess., p. 26 (1950). |