With the stroke of his pen, and a unique vision for our country’s recovery from the Great Depression, Franklin D. Roosevelt signed an executive order in 1935 that established the Rural Electrification Administration.

As an integral part of his “New Deal,” the administration provided low-interest loans to groups of rural Americans who wanted to form local member-owned electric companies called “cooperatives.”

These cooperatives had one purpose — to get much-needed electricity into the unserved rural farming areas where, at the time, “for profit” utilities had refused to extend electric service.

Three years later, on July 16, 1938, a few local visionaries successfully incorporated the Forsyth County Electric Membership Corporation in Cumming. It was one of the first EMCs in the state.

Then on June 22, 1939, the first switch was thrown to energize 168 miles of power line that served about 750 homes in Forsyth and portions of three other neighboring counties.

They all received electric power for the first time. By December 1940, the service area had grown to more than 1,500 members. In August 1950, the members unanimously voted to change the name of the Cooperative to Sawnee Electric Membership Corporation.

The name “Sawnee” was chosen because of the proximity to beautiful Sawnee Mountain, near downtown Cumming.

For more than 78 years, Sawnee’s mission to provide reliable electric service at affordable rates has never wavered. Sawnee exists “to serve the changing needs of members by enhancing the quality of life through active support of community developments and identifying and serving the member’s energy needs.”

The Sawnee EMC board of directors and staff will continue to remember their heritage and perform under the best sense of cooperative values and beliefs.

My how things have changed …

Sawnee EMC, a not-for-profit electric cooperative, now provides electricity to more than 165,600 accounts within its seven-county service territory.

As outlined in the Georgia Territorial Electric Service Act, which was passed by the Georgia Legislature in 1973, Sawnee EMC serves parts of seven counties including Forsyth, Cherokee, Dawson, Fulton, Gwinnett, Hall and Lumpkin.

Sawnee is the 11th largest cooperative in the United States and maintains more than 10,546 miles of distribution line. Each day, Sawnee EMC staff members field about 1,200 phone calls and Sawnee’s control center is staffed and in operation 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Sawnee operates an Advanced Metering Infrastructure system. This modern, two-way meter-reading system, uses a series of towers and collectors to monitor and read its electric meters.

These meters give Sawnee members the ability to view their detailed energy data to better assist them in managing and evaluating their daily electric use. (www.sawnee.com/usage) This innovative system also provides many other cost-saving benefits to the members.

Members can view, and take advantage of, many Sawnee EMC services at its corporate Web site located at www.sawnee.com.

Tasks such as paying a bill online, starting and stopping service, free energy evaluations can be done on the website.

Members can also learn about free services and rebates offered by Sawnee, as well as education programs for youth, Operation Round Up, Green Power EMC, and Solar.

For members on-the-go, there is also a FREE mobile app for their mobile devices.

Finally, as a value-added service, Sawnee EMC also offers low natural gas rates through their relationship with True Natural Gas.