The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced that Puesh M. Kumar will serve as Acting Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary (PDAS) for DOE’s Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response (CESER).

With this appointment, DOE is accelerating capacity-building and reinforcing the Department’s commitment to lead energy sector cybersecurity efforts, the DOE says. Mr. Kumar will lead DOE’s mission to address cyber, physical, and natural hazards and threats to the U.S. energy infrastructure. Mr. Kumar has over 15 years of experience in grid modernization, cybersecurity, and emergency response within the energy sector.

Most recently, Mr. Kumar was the principal manager for cybersecurity engineering and risk management at Southern California Edison. There, he led a team that addressed cyber threats to critical infrastructure at one of the largest electric utilities in the United States.

Mr. Kumar is returning to civil service at DOE, having served as director of preparedness and exercises for CESER’s Infrastructure Security and Energy Restoration division and as senior advisor for policy and strategy at CESER. In those capacities, he led the development of national-level policies, strategies, and programs related to energy sector hazards and threats.

Mr. Kumar has also held industry positions at the American Public Power Association as director of engineering and operations and at Memphis Light, Gas, and Water as a power systems engineer.

Mr. Kumar’s selection reflects DOE’s continued commitment to hiring talented and diverse public servants that can deliver on the Biden-Harris Administration’s goal to build and deploy resilient, secure, and clean energy infrastructure.