In May 1935, a letter of application was sent to the newly formed Rural Electrification Administration requesting that a Charter be granted for the Rayle Electric Association.  In early summer of the same year, REA approved the Charter, and thus was born the eighth rural electric company in the US, and the first in Georgia.

The first meeting of members took place on Feb. 5, 1936.  The entire membership, consisting of five members was in attendance.  They were – S. L. Richardson, E.W. Armour, H. L. Arnold, A. H. Barnett, and W. P. Callaway.  By-laws and a $1 membership fee were adopted, and a $12,000 loan from REA was executed.  Construction of the first 11.2 miles of electric distribution lines from Washington to Rayle was approved.

Also, the first officers of the fledgling co-op were elected. Mr. E. W. Armour, who served as President from 1936-1972 was elected, as well as Mr. H. L. Arnold as Vice-President, and A. H. Barnett as Secretary-Treasurer.

In 1939, the name of the co-op was changed to its present name, The Rayle Electric Membership Corporation.

By 1951, there were 4,829 members and 1,488 miles of line had been constructed.

In 1954, construction on the present headquarters facility in Washington was begun. The building was occupied by April 1, 1956.

Many years and many members have accumulated since those early formative days. Today, Rayle EMC has over 13,900 consumers and 3,229 miles of line, delivering affordable, and reliable electricity service to our member-owner’s homes and businesses.