Bill Text: VA HJR146 | 2020 | Regular Session | Enrolled
Bill Title: Commending United We Light: Project Bolivia.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2020-01-30 - Bill text as passed House and Senate (HJ146ER) [HJR146 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2020-HJR146-Enrolled.html
WHEREAS, in September 2019, lineworkers representing electric cooperatives in Virginia and Maryland traveled to Bolivia to provide electricity infrastructure for several remote villages as part of United We Light: Project Bolivia; and
WHEREAS, the Virginia, Maryland & Delaware Association of Electric Cooperatives sponsored United We Light: Project Bolivia in conjunction with NRECA International, a division of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association that has brought electric power to more than 160 million people in 45 developing nations; and
WHEREAS, while similar projects only include work at one or two sites, United We Light: Project Bolivia provided electricity to five villages in the mountainous Oruro region over the course of two and a half weeks; and
WHEREAS, from September 4 to September 21, 2019, the United We Light: Project Bolivia crew members hung more than 13 miles of power lines and made connections to 37 dwellings, working in hazardous terrain and harsh weather without the benefit of heavy equipment; and
WHEREAS, the United We Light: Project Bolivia crew members showed exceptional fortitude and dedication to their mission, adapting to the challenges of working at a high altitude while eating a subsistence diet; and
WHEREAS, United We Light: Project Bolivia had an immediate impact on the communities it served; in addition to adding basic amenities to homes that never before received electricity, the villages used the power grid to operate a water pump, use electric lights to keep nocturnal predators away from livestock, and employ heaters to process crops; and
WHEREAS, the members of the United We Light: Project Bolivia crew were Bernie Hastings of A&N Electric Cooperative; Cody Minter of BARC Electric Cooperative; Josh Golladay, Jason Purvis, and Allan Thacker of Central Virginia Electric Cooperative; Mike Johnson of Choptank Electric Cooperative; Craig Loving of Northern Neck Electric Cooperative; Patrick Ambrose, Cody Lockheart, Brian Michael, and Dillon Sheads of Rappahannock Electric Cooperative; Mike Alexander, JT Jacobs, and Roger Pace of Shenandoah Valley Electric Cooperative; and Scott Diggs of Southside Electric Cooperative; and
WHEREAS, United We Light: Project Bolivia provided a sense of hope and strengthened communities by helping to ensure that residents can choose to stay in their home villages; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly hereby commend United We Light: Project Bolivia for its life-changing accomplishments in service to communities in rural Bolivia; and, be it
RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the Virginia, Maryland & Delaware Association of Electric Cooperatives as an expression of the General Assembly's admiration for hard work and sacrifices of the United We Light: Project Bolivia crew members.
