Tallahassee, Fla., Aug. 6, 2018 – In honor of Florida Lineworker Appreciation Day (Aug. 26), the Florida Municipal Electric Association (FMEA) and Florida Municipal Power Agency (FMPA) will recognize lineworkers from around the state during August in a new social media campaign called “Celebrating our Hometown Heroes.”

Photos and biographical information about lineworkers from Florida’s 34 public power communities will be featured on both organizations’ Facebook pages and Twitter accounts. Members of the public are encouraged to participate in the campaign by sharing the “Celebrating our Hometown Heroes” graphics, creating their own social media posts about their experiences with lineworkers and using the hashtags #ThankALineman, #LineLife and #LineworkerAppreciationDay.

“Public power utilities work hard to provide low-cost, reliable and clean power for their communities. Lineworkers are the front lines of reliability,” said Jacob Williams, FMPA General Manager and CEO. “The work they do requires incredible skill, focus and commitment to safety. Every day they face challenging situations. We created this campaign to show how much we appreciate the work they do.”

Florida Lineworker Appreciation Day was created to show gratitude to the men and women who risk their lives daily to ensure reliable delivery of electricity throughout Florida. It was designated by the Florida House of Representatives in 2012 in memory of Marc Moore, a lineworker for Lakeland Electric, who was tragically killed while serving his community in 2002. There are approximately 1,000 public power lineworkers in the Sunshine State.

Public power lineworkers not only serve their own communities, but have volunteered to serve others across the state and country. After taking care of their own communities and assisting fellow public power communities with power restoration efforts following Hurricane Irma, lineworkers from Florida’s municipal electric utilities travelled to the U.S. Virgin Islands to help restore power following Hurricane Maria. Seventy-one lineworkers and three storm managers from a total of six Florida public power utilities responded. Many of these lineworkers left their families and homes during the winter holidays to help those in need.

“Hurricane Maria was incredibly destructive, leaving Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands almost completely without power for months. Our lineworkers immediately answered the call for help, traveling to the Caribbean to assist, many of whom stayed for months at a time and were away from their families during Thanksgiving and Christmas,” said Amy Zubaly, FMEA Executive Director. “It’s this kind of selflessness and sense of duty that our lineworkers exhibit every day on the job.”

Like or follow FMEA on Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/floridapublicpower/, and on Twitter, https://twitter.com/flpublicpower. Like or follow FMPA on Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/FloridaMunicipalPowerAgency/, and on Twitter, https://twitter.com/fmpanews.

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Florida Municipal Electric Association (FMEA) represents the unified interests of 34 public power communities across the state, which provide electricity to more than 3 million of Florida’s residential and business consumers.

Florida Municipal Power Agency (FMPA) is a wholesale power agency owned by 31 municipal electric utilities. FMPA’s mission is to provide power that is competitively priced, reliable and clean, as well as provide value-added services for its owner-customers. The 31 members of FMPA serve more than two million Floridians and employ more than 3,300 people.