Umatilla Electric Hosted a breakfast celebration for outside crews during lineworker appreciation. Crews enjoyed the chance to laugh and honor the sacrifices of the trade.

When the electricity goes out, people notice, and, when power is restored, it is usually because a lineworker braved the weather, the disaster, or the accident scene to bring back the light. Umatilla Electric Cooperative takes time in April each year to recognize and appreciate the work of lineworkers.

Part electrician, part engineer and part mechanic, lineworkers are the boots on the ground to locate and clear faults and outages affecting the local power grid. As first-responders after a natural disaster or other outage, this often means lineworkers work through the night or in severe weather conditions.

“Our line crews brave the elements and respond at all hours to restore power and perform regular maintenance on our electrical infrastructure,” says Kevin Knutz, manager of operations for the cooperative. “The job includes many sacrifices and potential dangers. Their work is invaluable to our communities and we appreciate their commitment to safety and our organization.”

At a high-level, lineworkers help build and maintain the overall electrical power system. In practice, that work usually means being outside and handling everything from installing and climbing power poles to connecting and testing transformers, switches, fuses, and other necessary equipment. When outages take place, the lineworkers are responsible for repairing or replacing any damaged wires, cables or other hardware.

Becoming a journeyman lineworker usually involves completing an apprenticeship program with about 7,000 hours of hands-on work and training. Umatilla Electric Cooperative does work with Northwest Lineman College to provide foundational training in 15 weeks for those men and women interested in becoming a journeyman lineworker.

A big part of that training is making sure lineworkers operate safely, even in dangerous conditions. Lineworkers have to practice critical safety procedures and follow regulations while operating vehicles, tools and machinery in order to serve the broad community.

At Umatilla Electric Cooperative and throughout the country, lineworker appreciation takes place in the month of April each year. The exact date can vary – or lineworkers can be celebrated twice.

In the United State, the official “Lineman Appreciation Day” is April 18, designated by the U.S. Congress in 2013, less than a year after Hurricane Sandy highlight the importance of lineworkers in keeping the nation running. Because April 18 often falls on a weekend or on Easter Sunday, the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association recognizes and celebrates Lineworker Appreciation Day on the second Monday of April each year. UEC recognizes lineworkers on both days.

In April, UEC recognized lineworkers for Lineworker Appreciation Day with breakfast and custom-made t-shirt.

Regardless of which day an organization celebrates lineworkers, they deserve appreciation year-round.