The rural electrification story begins in the mid 1920's when only 3.2% of our nation's farm homes were electrified. Private power companies concentrated on urban communities and were not interested in rural electrification because the rural areas did not promise favorable returns on investment. Thus, a widespread unfulfilled need for electricity developed throughout the rural regions of the country.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt established an agency under Executive Order 7037, signed May 11, 1935, known as the "Rural Electrification Administration" to initiate, formulate, administer and supervise a program of approved projects with respect to the generation, transmission, and distribution of electric energy in rural areas. Once the Rural Electrification Administration was established, the people of the Northern Neck became actively interested in bringing electric power to the area. For this reason, the Northern Neck Electric Cooperative was organized.

The Cooperative provides electric service to portions of Stafford , King George , Westmoreland , Richmond , Northumberland , and Lancaster Counties as indicated on the map, above. Territorial boundaries are established by the Virginia State Corporation Commission . Currently, the Cooperative serves 756 members in Stafford County, 2,504 members in King George County, 5,493 members in Westmoreland County, 2,278 members in Richmond County, 5,054 members in Northumberland County, and 2,205 members in Lancaster County, for a total of 18,290 members served.