WHEREAS, Virginia’s electric utilities have a long history of reliable service to the Commonwealth and their customers since the early days of electrification in Virginia; and

WHEREAS, investor-owned utilities, first appearing in Virginia as early as 1888, and providing the first electricity to the Commonwealth starting in 1909, have served ratepayers well, providing reliable, environmentally sensitive electric service to Virginia consumers; and

WHEREAS, beginning in the 1930s, the provision of electricity began to make its way into the farms, homes, towns, and villages of rural America and the Commonwealth thanks to the creation of Rural Electric Cooperatives, which are electricity providers owned by those they serve, to whom they provide reliable, affordable power; and

WHEREAS, municipal utilities also play an important role in electrifying the Commonwealth, providing reliable, cost-effective local electric service to the citizens of numerous Virginia cities and towns; and

WHEREAS, Virginia’s electric utilities employ a special class of employees—electric line workers—responsible for building and maintaining the distribution and transmission lines that bring electricity to customers’ homes and businesses, constantly devoting themselves to their duty; and

WHEREAS, electric utility line workers consistently and valiantly serve all Virginians, providing them with reliable, affordable electricity, and do so by installing electric service, repairing damage after storms, providing for their own continuing education and training, and maintaining the highest standards of safety and professionalism, often putting themselves in harm’s way to restore power after outages caused by inclement weather and natural disaster, and always endeavoring to “keep the lights on;” and

WHEREAS, on Electric Utility Line Workers Day, the line workers of Virginia’s electric utilities are especially deserving of the respect, admiration, and appreciation of all the citizens of the Commonwealth for their example of service above self;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Glenn Youngkin, do hereby recognize May 17, 2025, as ELECTRIC UTILITY LINE WORKERS DAY in the COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA, and I call this observance to the attention of all of our citizens.