Marco’s Strong Partnership with LCEC

Many of todays’ Floridians probably would have a hard time picturing a Florida that once lacked some of the most basic of services. One of those services we take for granted today in places around Collier and Lee Counties entails a modern and well-designed electrical distribution system to provide us with the energy to run our daily lives.

It was on May 11, 1935, that President Franklin Roosevelt created, by Executive Order, the Rural Electrification Administration (REA). That power was granted to him as part of the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1935 in response to the Great Depression. That action helped to bring electricity to rural America, including every farm and resident not served by many of the large investor-owned utilities that did not find it economically feasible to offer those services.

The REA provided the ability for many smaller electric cooperatives to be formed to help “light up” the remainder of the American landscape and bring the most basic services to those in the rural areas of our nation. The agency itself provided government subsidized loans to private companies, public agencies or cooperatives for the construction of electrical infrastructure for a distribution system in rural areas.  Needless to say, it also put people to work to create the infrastructure, something that was desperately needed in those times.

Lee County Electric Cooperative (LCEC) was formed 81 years ago, initially to service the areas of North Fort Myers, Sanibel and Captiva. Over the next eight decades, LCEC grew to become one of the largest electric cooperatives in the nation. Marco Island began receiving service around 1953 when LCEC began servicing Everglades City, retiring the old Collier County run plant and replacing it with a new transmission line. At the same time, the transmission line from Carnestown was extended to Marco Island, beginning the long relationship between Marco Island and LCEC.

At the June 21 Marco Island City Council meeting, Tricia Dorn, the longtime Key Accounts Representative for LCEC, came before council to present two checks as part of LCEC’s 2020-2021 Equity Distribution program. She presented checks totaling $23,975.10, one for the Marco Utility Department, and the other for the city’s general operations, both large consumers of electricity.

“LCEC has been a great partner with emergency services during some of our most challenging events, such as tropical storms and during hurricanes, working with us to help minimize the disruption of essential services and providing a safe environment which citizens could return to,” commented Fire Chief Chris Byrne.