Donnie Eslinger celebrating 50 years at Hoosier Energy

Meticulous. Problem-solver. Easy going. Knowledgeable. Sharp. Generous.

 

These are all words used to describe Donnie Eslinger.

 

Add them all up, and after 50 years at Hoosier Energy, there’s just one word to describe Eslinger – golden.

 

The Dugger, Indiana, native is celebrating a pair of golden anniversaries in 2026. He started work at Hoosier Energy in March of 1976 and married his wife, Linda, in July of ’76.

 

“A lot happened in 1976, so that was a year of change for me,” Eslinger says with a chuckle.

 

The ability to handle change, facilitate change and welcome change has turned out to be his calling card.

 

Starting Out

“Donnie’s one of a kind when it comes to his knowledge base and what he knows about Hoosier Energy and our entire system, our entire network,” said Rob Horton, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer.

 

Everybody has to start somewhere, and Eslinger started building his knowledge of Hoosier at the age of 20 after graduating from Ivy Tech in Terre Haute with a degree in electronics communication technology.

 

He favored math and science in high school, but he also drew inspiration from home.

 

“My dad was a construction lineman working specifically on transmission lines, so seeing what he did and enjoying courses in math and physics sparked my interest,” said Eslinger, who worked in a two-way radio shop doing repair work after graduating from Ivy Tech.

 

Hired as a Communications Technician C on March 29, 1976, Eslinger began what he expected to be his career, but not one that would be with the same company for half a century.

 

“I was just a young guy trying to make my way in the profession,” he said. “I wanted it to be a career job, but you never think about getting old, and I never would have dreamed I’d be here 50 years.”

 

While his wife was still in college studying to be an accountant, Eslinger began to grow with Hoosier, which was still a relatively small company at the time. He maxed out his initial position as a Communications Technician A, playing a key role in putting in a new microwave system in 1979 before applying to become a relay technician.

 

“I learned a lot in comms, but I wanted to learn more about the power company,” Eslinger said. “I still didn’t know a lot about the power company as a whole, and relay provided that opportunity. In the relaying world, we interface with all departments of Hoosier Energy out in the field.”

 

In 1980, Eslinger got that job working at the new Merom plant under Darrell Goodson as a Relay Technician B. It was the start of something long-lasting.

 

Growing Up

While ways of doing things were changing at Hoosier Energy, there were other things changing for Eslinger.

 

His and Linda’s first child, Steven, was born in 1983, and a daughter, Laura, followed four years later.

 

“I grew up at Hoosier Energy,” Eslinger said.

 

In the early 80s, Eslinger and Goodson helped pioneer a digital fault recorder (read more here).

 

In 1984, working headquarters for the relay group was moved from Merom to Worthington, where Eslinger has been based ever since.

 

Eslinger’s working group became meter relay in 1989 and remained such until 2022, when it became the transmission relay group.

 

He was also a key part of building new substations and commissioning them, among other things.

 

“Hoosier just started growing, adding infrastructure and substations and generation resources,” Eslinger said. “I was involved in a lot of that through protective relaying. It was very busy as Hoosier was growing by leaps and bounds from the mid-80s to now.”

 

In addition to Goodson, Eslinger credits Jerry Scales, one of the first operators when Hoosier started the Petersburg plant, for being an important mentor.

 

“He told me a lot of things about what went on in those days when he hired on in 1969,” Eslinger recalled. “I learned a lot from him.”

 

Hoosier Energy employees have also learned a lot from Eslinger, who has taken on a mentor role himself as Transmission Relay Working Foreman.

 

“Donnie’s sharp at what he does, and if anybody has an issue they can’t figure out, he’s the one they go to,” said Brian Blythe, Transmission Working Foreman. “I started with the company in 2006 and was working a job putting in a substation with Jerry Scales. Donnie came over one day, and we were testing relays together. That was the first time I ever met him, and I still go to him all the time if I’ve got a problem.

 

“I think he wants to give as much knowledge to these other guys as he can.”

 

That’s made easier by the fact it seems there is almost nothing Eslinger forgets. Area Coordinator of Meter Relay Brandon Robinson says the rumor is that Eslinger has a photographic memory.

 

“Every technician can speak to his memory,” Robinson said. “He remembers everything from 50 years ago. We joke that he has a photographic memory because he knows the system so well. Sub, line, system control all lean on him, but that’s one thing that sticks out. He’s always willing to lend a helping hand. It doesn’t matter your knowledge base, he’s willing to work with you. If it takes longer than it needs to, he’s all for it. He will sit down for days and go through it time after time. It comes so easy to him, but he never puts anybody down or puts them in their place.

 

“He’s been a major mentor.”

 

Eslinger’s employee badge number is 104, and now he’s working with colleagues who have come some 2,000-plus badges later, but that’s no big deal. He’s still the same guy.

 

“He’s one of a kind when it comes to his knowledge base and what he knows about Hoosier Energy and our entire system, our entire network,” Horton said. “You hear the younger guys talk about Donnie all the time, and he is their go-to whenever something unique is happening out there.

 

“It’s nice to hear that he’s passing all that knowledge onto some of those guys. I don’t know if they can retain it to the level that he has, but he’s quick to help people out. He doesn’t leave anybody hanging, and he shares whatever information he can with anyone who’ll listen.”

 

There are plenty of people who will listen. Eslinger hears from them regularly.

 

“I feel like a call center sometimes,” he said. “Everybody and their brother is asking questions. I tell them that if I don’t know the answer, I’ll find the answer. It’s nice to be in a position where I give them an answer.”

 

Reason to be

Retirement remains something on the horizon for Eslinger, though it’s not so distant anymore.

 

Maybe it’s next year, maybe it’s another year or two after that. But Eslinger finds himself in a position where he’s been kept young at heart both personally and professionally.

 

In 2007, Eslinger’s son, Steven, passed away just months before the birth of Eslinger’s grandson, Sean. Sean was ultimately adopted by Donnie and Linda.

 

“It’s been a blessing, and a little bit of déjà vu all over again,” Eslinger said of this parenting stint. “The only advantage is now I kind of know all the tricks. You learn as you grow and know a little more about what’s coming as a parent.”

 

Sean’s now deciding on college plans, but to no one’s surprise, he’s interested in computers and computer graphics.

 

The Eslingers also have twin 8-year-old granddaughters, Clara and Nora, living in Virginia, where Laura is a lawyer. Her husband, a Wisconsin native, has the twins playing hockey.

 

“I like spending time with family and traveling,” Eslinger said. “That keeps me in proper balance. Hoosier gives me a good job where I can afford to do that.”

 

Other hobbies include fishing and tinkering around the shop at home, as well as running the soundboard at church and singing in the choir.

 

Still, sometimes it’s solving a problem for Hoosier Energy that will leave him awake in the middle of the night or on the phone during vacation. But there’s nothing Eslinger would rather be doing.

 

“I love to figure out problems and solve problems,” he said. “My strength is troubleshooting. When I do that, I can go home at the end of the day and know I made a difference.”

 

His job at Hoosier Energy became something more than just a job early on.

 

“I always felt it was more than just a job, it was a calling,” he said. “It’s a calling to make things better for everyone else and provide reliable power to our member consumers at the lowest cost. I see the advantage for my neighbors, my family, for the people of the co-op.”

 

That extra meaning came, in part, from personal experience. Eslinger’s father, who inspired him to pursue a career in the utility industry, was diagnosed with cancer in late 1989 and had a lung removed in 1990, leaving him just one lung, which also had emphysema. He was on oxygen with a machine that ran off wall power.

 

“I’d been at Hoosier almost 15 years when that happened, and I realized how important it was to keep the power flowing,” Eslinger said. “I know that other people in Hoosier territory are depending on that as well, so it makes me think about how important it is what we do. And that should inspire us to do our best.”

 

While some in Eslinger’s position would see new things as an inconvenience, Eslinger says it’s a big part of the reason why he’s still working.

 

“Technology is always evolving, and that keeps me going because I’m constantly learning,” he said. “When we stop learning, we’re in trouble.

 

“… I want to keep moving forward. Hoosier has always been a progressive company, at the forefront, ahead of the curve, and that’s one of the wonderful things is that the leadership has always been that way.”

 

That excitement for learning, adapting and evolving is not lost on those Eslinger works with.

 

“Something that sticks out to me is you reach that age where new things aren’t something you want to deal with, but Donnie is always willing to learn new things and be challenged,” Robinson said. “He is just open arms with new technology.”

 

Added Blythe: “When you’ve been doing something this long – it’s been his life – you have to enjoy it, and I honestly do think he enjoys it. It’s not a chore for him to come to work.”

 

Eslinger’s longevity is a rarity in a day and age where jobs are easy come and easy go. It says something for both he and Hoosier Energy that they have willingly co-existed for the past 50 years.

 

“I think for Donnie, it shows his passion for his career,” Horton said. “He has shown a very strong passion for what it is that he does every single day for 50 years.

 

“And I hope that what it says for Hoosier is that we value our personnel and allow people to grow and develop, even if they don’t transition into multiple different jobs over the course of their time here. We continue to train folks and give them the knowledge they need and the freedom they need to do their job. And I have to believe part of the reason why we’re able to retain top talent like Donnie for so many years is the culture. I don’t think anybody would stay for 50 years of bad culture. But ultimately, it is Donnie’s passion for what he does that is just so impressive.”