Industry, Organized Labor Leaders Convene for 18th Annual National LAMPAC Meeting

L to R: Pat Vincent-Collawn, Interim President and CEO, EEI; Kenny Cooper, International President, IBEW; EEI Vice Chair Calvin Butler, President and CEO, Exelon Corporation; EEI Chair Maria Pope, President and CEO, Portland General Electric; and Paul Noble, International Secretary-Treasurer, IBEW.

EEI partnered with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) in early March to host the 18th annual National Labor and Management Public Affairs Committee (LAMPAC) meeting, bringing together leaders in energy and organized labor to celebrate their long-standing partnership and to advance their shared priorities.

During a series of keynote addresses and panel discussions at the annual event in Washington, D.C., speakers discussed best practices for fostering a culture of safety and mental health, security concerns, federal and state policy, and more.

“We are stronger when we work together, and our public policy achievements and regional successes in recent years are a testament to that,” said EEI interim President and CEO Pat Vincent-Collawn during opening remarks that highlighted the strength of industry-labor partnerships.

LAMPAC, along with its four regional organizations covering all 50 states, was formed nearly two decades ago by former EEI President and CEO Tom Kuhn and then-IBEW International President Ed Hill to serve as a powerful voice on federal and state issues relevant to the industry. In addition to the annual day-long national meeting, the regional LAMPAC organizations host meetings throughout the year to share best practices and to address regional and local issues.

EEI Chair Maria Pope, president and CEO of Portland General Electric, moderates a panel discussion about leadership and the partnership between the electric power industry and organized labor.

Following Vincent-Collawn’s welcome, EEI Chair Maria Pope, president and CEO of Portland General Electric, and EEI Vice Chair Calvin Butler, president and CEO of Exelon Corporation, participated in a leadership discussion with IBEW International President Kenny Cooper and IBEW International Secretary-Treasurer Paul Noble. Butler and Cooper recalled working on a collective bargaining agreement together when Butler was CEO of Baltimore Gas & Electric, which Butler described as “a positive and impactful example of what can be accomplished when labor and management work together.”

“By working side-by-side to expand and maintain critical energy infrastructure and to keep the lights on for our communities, we are better able to serve our workers, our companies, and most important, our customers,” said Pope.

Later in the day, Puget Sound Energy President and CEO Mary Kipp and Duke Energy Florida State President Melissa Seixas participated in a panel discussion about the importance of investing in grid resilience and emergency response capabilities. Seixas discussed Duke Energy’s response to Hurricanes Helene and Milton last year, noting that, although the back-to-back storms devastated parts of the company’s service territory along the Gulf Coast, resilience investments made prior to the storm mitigated what could have been an even more significant impact.

Kipp noted the progress the industry has made in reducing serious injuries and fatalities during the past several years, praising her colleagues and the IBEW for “focusing on high energy hazards of all kinds as an industry.” Kipp, who co-chairs the EEI CEO Task Force on Wildfires, also discussed the industry’s focus on wildfire prevention and mitigation across the country.

Entergy Chair and CEO Drew Marsh participated in the next panel, which focused on energy security. He noted that the industry is working with organized labor to meet the energy needs of data centers that have “speed-to-market as a mantra” and the rising demand for electricity they create. 

“This is a challenge from a capacity standpoint,” he said. “We all need to be part of this conversation. We are engaged with the IBEW to meet these needs safely and as partners.”

L to R: Doug Cannon, President and CEO, NV Energy; Tyler Anthony, President and CEO, Pepco; and Jerry R. Williford Jr., Business Manager of Local 1900, IBEW.

The need for a skilled workforce to build and maintain the infrastructure serving data centers and other critical energy infrastructure was a theme throughout the National LAMPAC meeting and the subject of a panel discussion in the afternoon, featuring NV Energy President and CEO Doug Cannon and Pepco President and CEO Tyler Anthony. Cannon highlighted NV Energy’s efforts to promote science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education among grade-school students in the company’s service territory, potentially helping to drive interest in the industry and attract skilled workers down the road.

Anthony, similarly, highlighted the importance of STEM, highlighting a series of academies that the Exelon Corporation, Pepco’s parent company, has opened in partnership with the Cal Ripken. Jr. Foundation. Anthony also highlighted the D.C. Infrastructure Academy’s Pepco Utility Training Program, which offers paid skills training and certifications to aspiring energy workers in Washington, D.C. Read more about the academy in the Winter 2025 issue of Electric Perspectives.

“For all of us, if you ask how you define workforce development, you might get very different answers. What it means to me is giving people a chance and opportunity to get into this industry that may not have always been available,” Anthony said.

During the meeting, U.S. Representatives Donald Norcross (D-NJ), Linda Sánchez (D-CA), and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) received the John D. Dingell Award in recognition of their bipartisan work to recognize July 10 as Journeyman Lineworkers Recognition Day.

Named for one of the longest-serving members of Congress, the John D. Dingell Award is presented to leaders who exemplify and promote labor-management cooperation and whose efforts have helped to advance the common objectives of the electric power industry and IBEW members. Former Representative Dingell chaired the House Energy and Commerce Committee for many years and amassed an impressive record of bipartisan accomplishments on a wide range of issues, many of which focused on labor-management collaboration.

Separately, EEI and IBEW presented the Edwin D. Hill Award to IBEW Utility Department Director Donnie Colston for his four decades of service and leadership in IBEW and IBEW Local 2100, and to San Diego Gas & Electric and IBEW Local 465 for their efforts to educate their community about state and local initiatives.