An Overview of Our History

Even though power company lines connected the urban centers of Gettysburg, York and Shippensburg in the early days, nearby rural areas were left in the dark. Private power companies did not consider it profitable to provide electricity to rural areas. For rural residents, the cost of getting central station electrical service -- if they could even obtain it -- was prohibitive. The cost of the kilowatt-hours for rural residents was also higher than for urban dwellers. Working together, local farmers and others created an electric cooperative to supply themselves with power.

July 18, 1940
A handful of farmers meet at the Gettysburg Farm Bureau office to explore the formation of  a co-op.

August 21, 1940
Adams Electric Cooperative is incorporated. More than 2,000 people sign up to become members and pay $5 each as their share in the new member-owned, non-profit electric cooperative.

October 1940
Adams Electric receives its first REA loan and begins to construct its system. Private power companies try various methods of preventing the formation of the co-op.

January 30, 1941
The "Battle of the Pole Holes" occurs in the Big Springs area of Cumberland County. This nonviolent battle pits local residents against Pennsylvania Power and Light Company. Residents desiring electric service from the emerging co-op refill utility pole holes as soon as PP&L crews dig them in order to prevent construction.

(Picture: Richard Beamish, former state utility commissioner, threw the switches that supplied power both to Gettysburg and Shippensburg Adams Electric members for the first time on May 3, 1941.)

May 3, 1941
Substations at Gettysburg and Shippensburg bring power to Adams Electric members for the first time.

August 8, 1942
First official annual meeting with a quorum of members present held at Caledonia State Park.

1964
Adams Electric makes its first patronage capital retirement of $51,782.

July 1966
Adams Electric board urges Pennsylvania legislature to assume protection of their lawfully developed service territories.

October 1966
The first issue of Penn Lines, the monthly news magazine sent to co-op members in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, is published.

July 30, 1975
Governor Milton Shapp signs Territorial Protection Act that prevents duplication of service territories among the state's utilities.

January 7, 1982
SCATCOM is incorporated for-profit corporations to provide cable television service to south-central Pennsylvania. SCATCOM is sold in February 1987.

February 1985
Project Helping Hand is started to assist members who are having trouble paying their electric bills.

October 1986
The co-op installs load control units for a coordinated load management system at Gettysburg substation. By 2005, more than 10,000 members volunteer to have load control receivers installed.

1990
Adams Electric celebrates its 50th anniversary with the dedication of a historical plaque honoring rural electric cooperatives (shown at left).

1994
The first patronage capital retirement of $1 million is made by the co-op.

December 1996
The Electricity Generation Customer Choice and Competition Act is signed into law by Governor Tom Ridge, deregulating power supply in Pennsylvania.

December 8, 1998
Adams Utility Services Co. (AUSCO) acquires Aero Oil. The name is changed to Aero Energy soon after.

1999
This is the first full year of power supply deregulation in Pennsylvania.

2003
Director David Cowan is elected to a two-year term as president of NRECA.

2006
CEO/General Manager Daniel Murray retires after providing Adams Electric with 20 years of service. Steve Rasmussen takes over in February as the fifth CEO/general manager of the co-op.

March 2008
Adams Electric introduces the nation to the first plug-in hybrid electric bucket truck.