The CWEC Electrified Rural Iola in 1939

The CWEC Electrified Rural Iola in 1939. . , Side 1 , The Central Wisconsin Electric Cooperative celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2012. It dates to Peter M. Johnson, Ed A. Leer, William Selmer, and Erick Solberg – all of rural Iola – and K. M. Sannes of rural Scandinavia signing articles of incorporation on May 6, 1937, establishing the Waupaca Electric Cooperative. In September, 1938, a Rural Electrification Administration $151,000 construction loan was approved. About 40 miles of distribution lines were surveyed and staked in early 1939; the first utility pole was set on May 25. , In November, 1938, the cooperative had hired its first employee, Louis Rasmussen as construction superintendent. The former Olson Motor Sales garage situated at this South Main St. location was leased as its operating location in December. Membership applications from 147 locations along 139 miles of lines had been accepted and built when service delivery began at the Louie Myers farm on Oct. 3, 1939; 83 in the vicinity of Iola and Scandinavia were energized that first day. Another 276 miles of lines were constructed to serve 376 additional locations, mostly in southwest Shawano and southeast Marathon counties. , Side 2 , The Central Wisconsin Electric Cooperative resulted on when the Waupaca Electric Coop and the Marathon-Portage electric Coop merged on Sept. 3, 1948. Their combined service membership was 1,748; 1,486 farms, 227 non-farms, and 35 commercial and public buildings. As the cooperative expanded, it was compelled to acquire and occupy the former Phil Neidert Chrysler-Plymouth dealership’s Depot Street building in January, 1952, its location for the next 59 years. , By 2009 CWEC’s Iola location was bursting at the seams: the cooperative had grown from 2,000 members, 15 employees, and 4 million kilowatt-hours annual sales in 1952, to 8,300 meter locations, 30 employees, and 100 million kilowatt-hours annual sales. With the service area by then spread over northwest Waupaca, northeast Portage, southeast Marathon and southwest Shawano counties, a new more centralized facility was built near Rosholt. Ground was broken at that new location on June 24, 2010: it was inaugurated for the cooperative’s annual meeting on April 9, 2011.