East-Central Iowa Rural Electric Cooperative, 2400 Bing Miller Ln, Urbana, IA 52345, US

T.I.P. Rural Electric s top priority is to provide reliable electricity and service to its member-owners. The company began in 1938, when Phelan Construction Company was hired to build its first line that totaled 132 miles. It took until April 27, 1939, for that line to become energized and the first T.I.P. substation, just south of Belle Plaine, provided the electricity for that line. By 1947, with the help of cooperatives like T.I.P., 79 percent of Iowa farms had electricity. Private power companies had not extended service to rural areas because they decided it could not be profitable. Located in Brooklyn, Iowa, T.I.P. has 21 substations serving 1,767 miles of line with 6,008 accounts receiving electrical service.