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TO RECOGNIZE AND HONOR THE SIGNIFICANT SERVICE OF YORK ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE OF YORK COUNTY AND TO CONGRATULATE THE ORGANIZATION ON ITS SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY OF PROVIDING ELECTRICITY IN THE PALMETTO STATE.
Whereas, for seventy-five years, York Electric Cooperative has served its membership with excellence. One of twenty nonprofit, consumer-owned, electric-distribution systems serving the rural and suburban areas of South Carolina, York Electric Cooperative was organized by a group of farmers and businessmen in York County who realized that the only way to bring power to the area would be to do it themselves; and
Whereas, in the early 1930s, electricity in South Carolina was confined to towns and cities where power suppliers could sell current to large groups of customers over small areas of land, but York Electric's capacity to supply dependable and affordable electric power also opened the rural areas of the county to commerce and industry, creating new and diverse businesses, jobs, products, and services; and
Whereas, in 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt passed an executive order creating the Rural Electrification Administration, which today, as part of the United States Department of Agriculture, is known as the Rural Utilities Service; and
Whereas, many consumers in the Palmetto State became interested in organizing electric-supply systems through nonprofit electric cooperatives. In 1939, Governor Olin Johnston signed the South Carolina Rural Electrification Act. County agents from the Clemson Extension Service, instrumental in forming most of the co-ops in the State, explained that it was possible for consumers to own their own company through the cooperative system; and
Whereas, in March of 1941, York Electric Cooperative received its charter and began serving five hundred fifty-three members. Seventy-five years later, York Electric serves over fifty thousand accounts delivered across over three thousand seven hundred miles of line; and
Whereas, although the cooperative's core mission is to provide safe, reliable, affordable electric service to its membership, it also has become an economic engine for development and job creation. By working with state and county governments, York Electric has helped attract quality industrial projects; and
Whereas, York Electric has shown a strong commitment to community through programs like Operation Round Up, which rounds up members' monthly bills to the nearest dollar for distribution to local charities, and through the Washington Youth Tour, in which York Electric sponsors two high school students to attend an informative educational meeting in our nation's capital; and
Whereas, the South Carolina General Assembly appreciates the three quarters of a century that York Electric Cooperative has provided safe and reliable electricity, productivity, and opportunity to the citizens of South Carolina, and the members look forward to its continued prosperity and growth in the days ahead. Now, therefore,
Be it resolved by the House of Representatives, the Senate concurring:
That the members of the South Carolina General Assembly, by this resolution, recognize and honor the significant service of York Electric Cooperative and congratulate the organization on its seventy-fifth anniversary of providing electricity in the Palmetto State.
Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be provided to York Electric Cooperative.
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