ATLANTA, April 3, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The electric
utilities in Georgia have once
again designated April as Lineman Appreciation Month to honor the
men and women who restore and maintain electric service in a safe,
timely manner, in every community, rain or shine.
This year, Lineman Appreciation Month is particularly
meaningful: during the 2017 legislative session, Georgia lawmakers passed HB 260, legislation
that creates a specialty vehicle license plate to honor
linemen. Proceeds from the plates will benefit the
Southeastern Firefighters Burn Foundation which provides assistance
to families of burn patients at the JMS Burn Center at Doctors
Hospital in Augusta. An event will
be held late this summer to reveal the new license plate. (Details
will be provided in the weeks ahead after the legislation is signed
by the governor.)
The notion of lineman appreciation began several years ago as a
national one-day celebration. However, over time, Georgia utilities expanded the celebration to
take place over the course of one month rather than one day. Doing
so allows electric membership cooperatives (EMCs), Electric Cities
of Georgia, Georgia Power, MEAG
Power, and municipal systems to celebrate within their local
communities at a date and time suitable for each provider.
Celebrations for linemen and an emphasis on their professions
have grown. Keeping the lights on has become essential since
consumers rely so heavily on electricity to support their everyday
lives--heating and cooling, cooking, entertainment (think TVs,
computers/laptops/tablets/mobile phones), lighting,
water heating (think warm showers and clothes washing) and
refrigeration, to name a few.
Earlier this year, linemen and their honorable careers were on
display when a three-day outbreak of severe thunderstorms and
tornadoes slammed many parts of Georgia and caused extensive damage and
destruction in south Georgia.
Thousands of customers were left in the dark. In areas where homes,
businesses and other structures were destroyed, local crews and
crews from across the state worked in the region up to two weeks
until all power was restored.
For these selfless acts and others throughout the year,
utilities encourage consumers and businesses to send a word of
thanks and gratitude to line workers via social media using hash
tag #ThankALineman.
Last year, EMCs, investor-owned and municipal systems held a
Lineman Appreciation Day event at the state capitol in which
Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal signed House Bill 767, a new law
which provides added protection for utility linemen. The
legislation requires any motorist approaching utility linemen at an
active work site, as indicated by traffic cones or flashing yellow,
amber, white or red lights, to change lanes or reduce their
speed to a reasonable and proper speed below the posted speed
limit.
Any motorist who does not change lanes or drop his/her speed to
avoid the utility workers can be fined up to $250 per incident. The law, which became
effective July 1, 2016, applies to
all types of utility workers, including electric, natural gas,
cable and telecommunications workers, right-of-way crews or utility
contractors.
Recently, lawmakers gave an additional nod to linemen when Gov.
Nathan Deal introduced a
proclamation and the Georgia State House and Senate introduced two
companion resolutions to commend Georgia's linemen for dedicated service and to
recognize April 2017 as Lineman
Appreciation Month. Each can be read in its entirety:
Gov. Nathan Deal's Proclamation:
https://gov.georgia.gov/sites/gov.georgia.gov/files/related_files/site_page/Lineman%20Appreciation%20Month%202017.pdf
SR 323 sponsored by Senator
Rick Jeffares (R-McDonough) and others –
http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/en-US/display/20172018/SR/323
HR 496 sponsored by Representative
Don Parsons (R-Marietta) and others –
http://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/en-US/Display/20172018/HR/496
ABOUT:
Electric Cities of Georgia (ECG) provides strategic and
technical services to communities with utility operations. Our
services are designed to maximize the performance of their
utilities and, to a greater extent, create successful communities
with economic prosperity and opportunity. We provide services in
operations, facilitation of mutual aid contracts for storm
restoration, sales and marketing, business analysis, organizational
development and economic development.
Georgia EMC is the statewide trade association
representing the state's 41 EMCs, Oglethorpe Power Corp., Georgia
Transmission Corp. and Georgia System Operations Corp.
Collectively, Georgia's
customer-owned EMCs provide electricity and related services to 4.4
million people, nearly half of Georgia's population, across 73 percent of the
state's land area.
Georgia Power is the largest electric subsidiary of Southern
Company (NYSE: SO), America's premier energy company. Value,
Reliability, Customer Service and Stewardship are the cornerstones
of the company's promise to 2.5 million customers in all but four
of Georgia's 159 counties. Committed to delivering clean,
safe, reliable and affordable energy at rates below the national
average, Georgia Power maintains a diverse, innovative generation
mix that includes nuclear, 21st century coal and natural gas, as
well as renewables such as solar, hydroelectric and wind. Georgia
Power focuses on delivering world-class service to its customers
every day and the company is consistently recognized by J.D. Power
and Associates as an industry leader in customer satisfaction.
The Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia (MEAG
Power) is a public generation and transmission organization
providing wholesale power to 49 Georgia
communities with annual electric sales of $643 million and 10.5 million megawatt-hours of
delivered energy in 2015.
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SOURCE Georgia EMC