Throwback Thursday: July 1970

On July 7, 1970, Basin Electric received a $100,000 grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for a regional program to address the critical shortage of adequate rural housing in the Dakotas and Upper Missouri Basin. Basin Electric contributed an additional $57,000, bringing the two-year pilot project budget to $157,000.

From the July 1970 REPORT story, “Basin Electric receives HUD Grant of $100,000 for Rural Housing Project,” page 3:

 “The program is a demonstration project – to demonstrate how the rural electric systems can provide the leadership and act as a catalyst in involving local public and private officials and groups in the rural community development process, specifically emphasizing housing for rural people.

 …The program is expected to give a high priority to housing on the Indian reservations of the two Dakotas where it is estimated that 60% of the reservation population live in sub-standard housing. More than 6,000 new housing units are needed on the reservations, according to surveys. Nearly all Indian land in the Dakota is included in the service areas of Basin Electric and member cooperatives.”

Download a PDF to read the full story, on page 3: REPORT July 1970

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“The potential of this program appears so great and the reaction to it so substantial…that we are optimistic about the future.” Excerpt from 1971 HUD report. Read more in the February 1971 REPORT story, “Co-ops Exert Leadership in Rural Housing Projects,” page 3.
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A community that benefitted from the Rural Housing Project.

From the February 1973 REPORT story, “Second National Rural Housing Conference…the need for a new national conscience.”

 “Basin Electric’s People’s Housing Program was observed by the conference as one of the most successful housing programs in America. An illustration of this success is the many visits by housing people from various parts of the country to take a firsthand look at PHP’s methods. PHP is one more example of how the REC’s in the Upper Great Plains have been leaders in making significant progress in providing for the needs of the residents of the region.”

 Download a PDF to read the full story, on page 6: REPORT February 1973

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Basin Electric attended the Second National Rural Housing Conference in Washington D.C. in November 1972. Read more in the February 1973 REPORT story, “Second National Rural Housing Conference…the need for a new national conscience,” page 6.
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A panel of "HUD Programs, Problems and Constraints," with People's Housing Program field director William Schott.

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