Fredericksburg, Va. – Rappahannock Electric Cooperative (REC) has promoted Arthur Wholey to Director of Operations and Construction Services for the Cooperative.

In his new role, Wholey oversees System Operations, which includes coordinating mutual aid during major outages, managing dispatch of field crews during outage restoration efforts, and transmission outage planning. He also oversees communications between all substations and REC’s centralized system operations center, load management efforts, crew radio communications, aerial line patrols, pole and facility inspections, line extensions, and the Cooperative’s drone program.

Wholey began his REC career in the metering department as a meter tester in 2017. Later that year, he moved into the Operations Center as a Distribution Dispatcher. In that role, he worked with field crews and other REC departments to safely and efficiently dispatch crews during outage restoration efforts.

In February 2021, Wholey was promoted to System Operations Supervisor, where he oversaw the System Operations department and started to transition it from a Dispatch Center to an Operations Center.

“Mr. Wholey has been a critical team member at REC as he’s worked his way up the System Operations Department,” said John Crawford, Managing Director – Safety, Physical Security & Operational Support Services for the Cooperative. “His knowledge of REC’s system will continue to support the Cooperative and its members in his new role.”

Wholey earned a bachelor’s in business administration from Liberty University in December 2020, graduating Magna Cum Laude. He has served with the Bowling Green Volunteer Fire Department since 2009 and currently serves as Fire Chief. Wholey resides in the Town of Bowling Green with his wife, Meghan, an emergency room nurse.

REC provides electric service to over 172,000 connections in parts of 22 Virginia counties. With its general office in Fredericksburg, Va., the Cooperative operates and maintains more than 18,000 miles of power lines through its service area, which ranges from the Blue Ridge Mountains to the tidal waters of the Chesapeake Bay. For more information about REC, please visit www.myrec.coop. Follow REC on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube.