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Lonnie E. Bellar, BSEE 1987
Inducted in 2019

Lonnie E. Bellar, BSEE 1987

As chief operating officer of LG&E and KU, Lonnie Bellar is responsible for ensuring the company provides safe, affordable and reliable natural gas, electricity and customer service to 1.3 million customers in Kentucky and Virginia. Bellar became COO in March 2018 after climbing through the ranks of the electric and natural gas utility industry for more than 30 years.  

In addition to earning his bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering from UK in 1987, Bellar also received a bachelor of arts degree from Georgetown College the same year. He then joined Kentucky Utilities as an electrical engineer. After performing several engineering roles in the transmission and generation areas, Bellar began managing the generation planning function. He was promoted to director of generation services in 2000 and subsequently served as general manager of LG&E’s Cane Run and Ohio Falls generating stations, director of financial planning and controlling, director of transmission, vice president of state regulation and rates, vice president of gas distribution and senior vice president of operations.

In his current position, Bellar helps drive the quality of life and economic growth in communities across the territory through his leadership and engineering skills. With 3,000 employees, approximately 400 of whom are engineers, Bellar has led the company to be among the top performers in safety, customer service and reliability; provide competitively priced energy and become an innovator in service offerings.  

Bellar has completed various management and executive training courses sponsored by the E.ON Academy. He also has completed executive education courses at the Harvard Business School and the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. Bellar’s employees and peers widely respect him and consider him to be a role model. 

Bellar recently chaired LG&E and KU's Power of One charitable giving campaign, which supports United Way, Crusade for Children and Fund for the Arts organizations. He is a board member of Electric Energy Inc. and Ohio Valley Electric Corporation. He serves on the board of directors for the American Gas Association and Southern Gas Association, and volunteers on various AGA and SGA working committees and groups. Bellar participates on the Greater Louisville, Inc. board of directors and executive committee, as well as the University of Kentucky College of Engineering’s dean’s advisory council.  

Bellar lives in Louisville with his wife, Jackie. They have two children.