For Immediate Release: March 4, 2025
Issued Jointly with the Edison Electric Institute
EEI Contact – Jeremy Ortiz, (202) 508-5301
The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) and the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) today presented the Edwin D. Hill Award to IBEW Utility Department Director Donnie Colston. This distinguished award recognizes leaders who exemplify and promote labor-management cooperation.
Colston has been an IBEW member for more than 40 years and will retire at the end of this month. He began his career as a journeyman lineman for Louisville Gas & Electric, whose employees are represented by IBEW Local 2100. Colston served in several leadership roles at Local 2100, including president, business manager, treasurer, and chief union steward.
In 2013, he was appointed international representative in the IBEW Utility Department. He was elevated to director in 2017 and assisted IBEW Locals with utility matters, including collective bargaining agreements, working conditions, safety- related work practices, and apprenticeship training.
“Brother Colston has loyally served hard-working IBEW members in the energy industry for more than four decades, and I can’t thank him enough for his service to our union,” said IBEW International President Kenneth W. Cooper. “Because of his leadership, the IBEW is stronger than ever in the utility industry. From promoting strong labor-management partnerships, to ensuring that the voices of IBEW members are heard on Capitol Hill, Donnie has been out front in representing the skilled energy professionals that make our industry run.”
“On behalf of the Edison Electric Institute and our member electric companies, I congratulate Donnie Colston on this deserved recognition and thank him for his decades of service and leadership,” said interim EEI President and CEO Pat Vincent-Collawn. “Throughout his career, Donnie has been an advocate for the highly skilled men and women of the IBEW—many of whom are part of our members’ workforces. Donnie fostered strong labor-management partnerships that have strengthened our industry and enhanced the safety, reliability, and resilience of our nation’s energy grid.”
Under the leadership of former IBEW International President Edwin D. Hill, the IBEW and EEI came together to create the National Labor and Management Public Affairs Committee (National LAMPAC). National LAMPAC strives to foster collaboration and partnership among electric company executives and IBEW leaders to address the nation’s energy challenges and to achieve the common goals of running a well-managed, efficient business with a safe and highly skilled workforce.
Hill was a transformative trade unionist who modernized and shepherded the IBEW through one of the deepest recessions in history. During his tenure, the IBEW held fast to its history and traditions while making key changes to modernize and to preserve the IBEW’s influence as one of North America’s most powerful voices for working people.
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The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) represents approximately 838,000 members and retirees who work in a wide variety of fields, including construction, utilities, manufacturing, telecommunications, broadcasting, railroads, and government.
The Edison Electric Institute (EEI) is the association that represents all U.S. investor-owned electric companies. EEI members provide electricity for nearly 250 million Americans, and operate in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. As a whole, the electric power industry supports more than 7 million jobs in communities across the United States. In addition to its U.S. members, EEI has more than 70 international electric companies, with operations in more than 90 countries, as International Members, and hundreds of industry suppliers and related organizations as Associate Members.
