In 1983, Parker Waite willed himself not to panic as he struggled 130 feet beneath the surface of Maine's Penobscot Bay to untangle an undersea cable that would connect the tiny, remote island of Isle au Haut to the electric grid for the first time.

Instead, it has become a testament to Yankee ingenuity, powering a unique way of life for more than 40 years for lobstermen, summer house owners, hikers and a small group of children who ride their bikes to buy ice cream at the general store and attend classes in a one-room schoolhouse from kindergarten through eighth grade.

“It's a beautiful place to live in so many ways," says Hannah Carnes, the town clerk and librarian who works at a Town Hall that has served the community for more than a century and is now used as a meeting house, dance floor, basketball court and craft show space.

“I appreciate the solitude and the rhythm of the seasons," she says. “In summer, it's such a vibrant place with all kinds of events, like a Fourth of July parade, square dances and talent shows.

“In the winter, it's a much slower pace, a reflective time for the 50 or so of us who live here year-round. It's the kind of place where you really feel that sense of community. You know there's always someone willing to help you."

While Isle au Haut may seem a bit like the island that time forgot, its residents aren't content to live in the past when it comes to electricity.

The co-op also has discovered the benefits of tapping into NRECA's larger co-op community beyond the shores of its 6-mile-long, 3-mile-wide island.

In 2023, a year after the co-op joined NRECA, two larger island co-ops—Block Island Utility District in Rhode Island and Fox Islands Electric Cooperative in Maine—donated some small, badly needed 2,400-volt transformers to Isle au Haut.

This year, Cherokee Electric Cooperative in Alabama switched to an automated meter system and donated 300 traditional meters to the co-op, which has been installing them to provide more accurate data about how much power its members are using.

Embracing the island ethos of recycling, the co-op is now on the hunt for a used bucket truck to replace its aging vehicle.

“We have benefited enormously from our membership in NRECA," says George Cogan, the president of the co-op's board of directors and a seasonal resident of Isle au Haut. “One of the quiet strengths of the rural electric cooperative network is the generosity of fellow co-ops. When others upgrade their equipment, they often pass along what still works to smaller cooperatives like ours—helping us keep costs low and the lights on."

Jason's 9-year-old daughter, Audrey, is one of seven children who attend the one-room schoolhouse where he was once a student. The current teacher, Kipp Quinby, was one of his classmates.

“Seven students is a high for us in the last 25 years," says Quinby, who is assisted by the same teacher's aide who helped her with her schoolwork when she attended classes there. “We're actually pretty thrilled with seven."

The man who goes out at all hours of the day and night to turn on the backup diesel generator is Tucker Runge, the co-op's part-time operations manager and one of only two employees.

Under the plan, Cogan says, the co-op would install an automatic recloser to separate the island from the grid when the grid's power goes out. Batteries in the microgrid would keep the power flowing. When the batteries get low, the backup generator would fire up.

A possible second phase of the project would include adding more batteries and a solar field that could help keep costs down and reduce Isle au Haut's dependence on mainland power.

“There is something to be said for not being completely dependent on the mainland," says Runge, who works with contractors to do vegetation management, replace power poles and repair lines and transformers. “It's important for us to have our own backup system. It would be real hard for people to live out here without power."

For one thing, there would be no general store, says Mike Delchamp, manager of The Island Store, which is also a co-op. Delchamp, who serves as chairman of the school board, says the store and the town are a “throwback to a different time."

“We'd never be able to sell the things we do without the power company," Delchamp says. “I don't think the store could survive without it."

In turn, the electric co-op would struggle without the gray clapboard store, which is its second-largest commercial member after the phone company.

“If the store wasn't here, it would be bad for the power company," says Bill Chamberlin, the co-op's current vice president and past president. “We rely on each other."

Reliable power also enables Mabel Ellis, chairwoman of the board of trustees for the island's lone church—the Union Congregational Church built in 1857—to attract visiting pastors to preach on summer Sundays from March through September and stay overnight at the parsonage if they like. The simple white church with its tall, narrow steeple stands alone on a hill amidst towering spruce trees, welcoming passengers as the mail boat approaches the town landing.

“Because it's the only one on the island, the church brings together people of all different interests and faiths," Ellis says, adding that everyone gathers after the service to drink coffee, eat pastries and talk.

To keep that sense of community alive for future generations, the Isle au Haut Community Development Corp. has created an affordable housing program that provides below-market-rate rental homes to help young families live on the island year-round until they can afford permanent housing. The nonprofit organization also provides low-interest microloans to help people buy fishing equipment or start other small businesses.

Another nonprofit group, the Community Hub of Isle au Haut, is constructing a small community center with a commercial kitchen to provide year-round meeting spaces for educational workshops, cultural events and other gatherings. They also are developing three new affordable housing units for single people and essential workers. One of those units already has its first tenant.

Jason Barter's wife, Tricia, says she is happy to see new families coming to the island. She was a bit worried when her daughter was the only student in her kindergarten class, but now there are two boys her age as she gets ready to begin the fourth grade this fall.

“She really loves it," Barter says. “She is able to make friends with all the kids at the school, whatever their grade. And she gets all the help she needs almost one-on-one with the teachers."

Barter, who works as the co-op's part-time administrative manager, is an outdoor enthusiast who revels in the rugged beauty of the island. But she says it would get lonely without electricity to power cellphones and laptops. The island began receiving broadband service in early 2025 after the successful installation of an undersea fiber cable.

Despite the modern improvements, residents have no plans to turn their idyllic isle into a tourist destination. Except for a summer food truck that sells paninis made by Abigail Hiltz—Runge's wife and the head of the town's selectboard—there is no place to eat. And there are no hotels or other public places to stay, except for five lean-to shelters that campers can sleep in while they visit a small section of Acadia National Park on the southern half of the island.

Most of the park—about 30,500 acres—is located on Mount Desert Island next to the bustling tourist town of Bar Harbor. But about 3,200 acres are on Isle au Haut, attracting hardy day trippers who want to hike the secluded trails.

As Waite spliced and laid the cable from a friend's boat, he realized the only way to untangle the line was to dive down into the 130-foot-deep hole and free it by hand.

“I was scared down in that hole," he says. “I had to basically walk through a door in my head and shut the fear door and do what I had to do. Later, when all the island's lights came on, it was magnificent."

Waite says he is still amazed at what he and his fellow islanders accomplished and what they continue to achieve.

“All the people felt how critical electricity was to the survival of the community of Isle au Haut," Waite says. “I live on the mainland now, but whenever I see the lights come on across the bay, I smile."