AES celebrates National Lineworker Appreciation Day
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Monday is National Lineworker Appreciation Day, a day to remember the people that help keep the power on.
As part of the day’s celebrations, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers honors its founder, Henry Miller. Miller was killed in 1896 while working to restore power after a storm in Washington, D.C., according to the union website.
Recent Indiana storms knocked out power to tens of thousands of AES customers in Indianapolis.
Local lineworkers, like Michael Ervin, worked to restore the power.
“Dealing with a lot of high wind and rain, a lot of broken poles, and broken trees. A lot of power lines were down, just working a lot of long hours to get the power back on,” Ervin told News 8.
Lineworkers complete a 4-year-long apprenticeship program including 8,119 hours of training with classroom and field training, according to AES.
Every year the lineworkers go back to school to ensure proper safety protocols are followed.
“There is a yearly retraining process that we do to stay compliant,” Ervine said.
Show your support on social media today by using the hashtag #ThankALineworker