Unitil Honors Lineworkers On National Appreciation Day

HAMPTON, NH — April 18 is National Lineworker Appreciation Day and Unitil is highlighting the careers of two company employees in 2022: Ryan Hildreth, who joined Unitil more than four years ago, and Nigal “Joe” Chapman, a lead lineman who’s spent 30 years with the company.

The company’s lineworkers, who work in both Massachusetts and New Hampshire, play a critical role in keeping the lights on for all of its customers, Unitil Media Relations Manager Alec O’Meara said.

Chapman, who is 62, said he always wanted to be a lineworker. He had, as a child, an affinity to bucket trucks. While the job has its challenges, Chapman said it had many rewards, too.

“To me, it’s rewarding to know that you accomplished something,” he said. “Not everything is going to be easy. There are going to be some difficult things that are going to require some challenging logistics, but the rewarding part is that when you put somebody else’s lights on, you made a difference in their life. They feel comfortable and they feel safe when the lights come on.”

After his service, Hildreth, a marine, also worked with lineworkers while employed with a tree service company. He came to the job via the G.I. Bill, attending Southeast Lineman Training Center in Georgia. For Hildreth, assisting in Louisiana during Hurricane Ida was an eye-opening experience.

“I felt bad for the people down there,” he said. “It was brutal. I had never seen anything like it. The locals said it was worse than Katrina. You could drive for an hour straight on a main road and every single pole was broken. Houses were destroyed. The devastation was unreal.”

O’Meara said it was easy to take electricity for granted. But when there is an outage and the lights go out, everyone feels the impact. Minutes can seem like hours, O’Meara said.

“Lineworkers are essential to keeping our homes, businesses, and infrastructure powered up,” he said. “We hope everyone will take a moment to think about the critical role lineworkers play and appreciate the efforts they make in all kinds of weather.”

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