DREMC plans annual membership meeting for August 17

Founded during the era of the Great Depression and Roosevelt’s New Deal, the Duck River Electric Membership Corporation celebrates the idea of a rural individualism and a not-for-profit electric grid. | **FILE PHOTOS**

SHELBYVILLE — We take it for granted but life here in Lynchburg would look very different without electricity. Founded during the Great Depression, Duck River Electric piggybacked of the establishment of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) in 1933.

Spurred by President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Rural Electrification Administration (REA) under the New Deal, Bedford County farmers decided to build their own power grid to light up local farms and the Bedford County Electric Membership Corporation was born. A year later it spread to Moore, Marshall, Coffee, and Franklin counties and became the Duck River Electric Membership Corporation (DREMC). Once Maury and Giles counties were added, DREMC spread over 2,500 square miles from Columbia to Sewanee.

2024 meeting happens in Shelbyville

The 2024 Annual Membership Meeting of Duck River Electric Membership Corporation (DREMC) will be held on Saturday, August 17 at Harris Middle School. Member registration opens at 8:30 a.m., and the meeting will begin at 9:30 a.m.

Locals can learn about the electric cooperative as DREMC’s board officers and interim president and CEO share updates relative to system growth and accomplishments over the past fiscal year that impact the communities served by Duck River Electric including Lynchburg, Chapel Hill, Columbia, Decherd, Lewisburg, Manchester, Sewanee, and Shelbyville.

The first 300 DREMC members to register at the meeting will receive attendance gifts and have the opportunity to win prizes, including the grand prize valued at more than $1,000. At the meeting, attendees are invited to visit with friends, neighbors and the DREMC team while enjoying refreshments.

Harris Middle School is located at 570 Eagle Boulevard in Shelbyville. For more details, contact the Lynchburg office at 931-759-7344. •

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