During the 1930's, most of the rural United States did not have electric service. Approximately 90 percent of the country's farmers, ranchers, and rural residents could not get central station electricity. The existing providers of electricity felt that it wasn't practical and not profitable enough to extend electric lines into these areas.

In 1935, by Executive Order of President Roosevelt, the Rural Electrification Administration (REA) was established. In the Rural Electrification Act of 1936, Congress authorized funds to begin the huge task of bringing electricity to the countryside.

It wasn't until rural electric cooperatives were formed that the actual job of electrifying the rural areas began in earnest. Farmers, ranchers, and rural residents joined together and formed cooperatives in order to form a corporation that could borrow money from the REA and build an electric supply

system. It wasn't until rural electric cooperatives were formed that the actual job of electrifying the rural areas began in earnest. Farmers, ranchers, and rural residents joined together and formed cooperatives in order to form a corporation that could borrow money from the REA and build an electric supply system.

During the early 1940s, two groups of ranchers in northeastern Wyoming saw the need for central station electricity. As the result of their organizational efforts, Tri-County Electric Association and Sheridan-Johnson Rural Electrification Association were incorporated and began the business of building lines and obtaining an electrical supply in 1945.

In 1996, after months of analysis and study, the member/owners of Tri-County Electric and Sheridan-Johnson REA voted overwhelmingly to merge their electric cooperatives because of the operational savings that could be realized through a combined organization

Today, Powder River Energy serves 12,100 members and 28,700 meters in a 16,200 square mile area of northeastern Wyoming and southern Montana.