Wood County Electric Cooperative Celebrates National Lineman Appreciation Day

America’s electric cooperatives have designated the second Monday of April as National Lineman Appreciation Day. In recognition of this, on April 13, 2015, at WCEC’s regular Monday morning safety meeting, the Quitman Mayor, the Honorable J.R. Evans, presented a proclamation from the City of Quitman.

During his presentation, Mayor Evan not only recognized the hard work and dedication that the lineman profession requires, but the sacrifices of the family members too.

On behalf of the cooperative and WCEC line workers, Rusty Mask, WCEC’s Line Superintendent accepted the proclamation from the city of Quitman, which read:

Proclamation City of Quitman, TX

“Whereas, the City of Quitman is the headquarter town for Wood County Electric Cooperative, Inc.;
Whereas, the electric cooperative serves over 34,000 meters in parts of 9 East Texas counties;
Whereas, the National Rural Electric Cooperative has set aside the second Monday of each April to acknowledge electric linemen;
Whereas, the City of Quitman recognizes the profession of linemen and the contributions of these brave workers who protect public safety;
Whereas, the profession of linemen is steeped in personal, family, and professional tradition;
Whereas, linemen are essential responders during storms and other catastrophic events, working to make the scene safe for other public safety heroes;
Whereas, linemen work with thousands of volts of electricity high atop power lines and are called to respond 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, to keep electricity flowing;
Whereas, linemen put their lives on the line every day with little recognition regarding the danger of their work; and
Whereas, the second Monday in April, would be an appropriate date to designate in appreciation of linemen:

Now, therefore, be it proclaimed, that I, Mayor J. R. Evans, do hereby proclaim the second Monday in April as “Electrical Linemen Appreciation Day in Quitman, TX”; and I call upon all citizens to recognize the contributions that these workers make every day to promotes our citizens health, safety, comfort, and quality of life.”

Wood County Electric Cooperative, Inc. is a not-for-profit electric cooperative with the mission of providing member-customers reliable electric service at a reasonable rate. WCEC serves over 34,000 meters in parts of 9 counties throughout northeast Texas, including Camp, Franklin, Hopkins, Rains, Smith, Titus, Upshur, Van Zandt, and Wood.

Fun Facts About Electric Co-op Linemen

(Source: National Rural Electric Cooperative Association)

Below are a few fun facts about electric co-op linemen.

  • Linemen (*including job categories for lineman, grounds-man and tree-man) make up the largest single category of jobs at the typical distribution co-op.
  • There are about 18,000 full-time linemen in the rural electric program, making up nearly one-third of all rural electric distribution co-op employees.
  • The average age of a co-op lineman is 43.
  • Co-op linemen make up about 16 percent of all linemen in the U.S. Electric coops serve vast service areas, three-quarters of the U.S. landmass and own 42 percent of the nation’s distribution line, distributing electricity to over 42 million people.
  • Co-op linemen maintain 2,566,917 miles of distribution line for 850 distribution systems nation-wide.