The Rural Electrification Amendment to Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal was passed by Congress in 1936. After farmers and ranchers in southeastern Oklahoma were unable to secure electrical service from any other source, the cooperative was organized as the Interstate Cooperative Electric and Power Company. Ten pioneering men founded this organization by selling two thousand $5.00 shares of stock door-to-door to rural dwellers eager to electrify their homes.

Having 2000 paid stockholders in the company, the directors negotiated the first financial loan with the Rural Electrification Administration in March of 1938. This loan consisted of $135,000 to construct 125 miles of line serving approximately 470 customers in Coal, Hughes and Pontotoc counties.

Due to new provisions in the Rural Electric Cooperative Act, the Interstate Cooperative Electric and Power Company was converted to a non-profit, membership corporation called People's Electric Cooperative. This motion was passed on July 29, 1939. All $5.00 shares of stock were then transferred into $5.00 memberships, which is the same cost of membership today.

Having provided services for nearly 70 years, People's Electric Cooperative, located at 1600 North Country Club Road in Ada, has grown to meet the needs of its rural members in 11 counties which include Pontotoc, Seminole, Hughes, Pittsburg, Coal, Atoka, Johnston, Murray, Carter, Garvin and McClain. This service area, extending 43 miles east, 36 miles west, 36 miles north and 37 miles south of Ada, contains 4,600 miles of distribution line. People's Electric Cooperative, a distribution cooperative, receives electricity generated and transmitted from Western Farmers Electric Cooperative in Anadarko, Oklahoma. PEC then distributes it to 18,700 locations, which equates to 4.1 meters per mile of line. PEC employs 55 full time and 59 part time employees, and has an annual payroll of approximately $3,500,000.