Hydro responded to demands from residents of farms and hamlets for a fair share of the "public power" that was being distributed to municipalities in southwestern Ontario in 1910. It extended its transmission lines along the back concessions of the region, developed new agrarian applications for electricity, and devised a rural rate schedule capable of attracting new customers and encouraging electrical consumption. Provincial government funds were allocated to Hydro for rural development in the 1920s and moderate growth was maintained until World War II interrupted the rural construction...