Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette has named Alexander Gates to head the Department of Energy’s Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security and Emergency Response (CESER), according to an email from Brouillette obtained by E&E News.
He replaces Karen Evans, who has led the office since its creation in 2018.
Gates joins DOE from the National Security Agency, where he worked in intelligence analysis, cyber operations, cybersecurity, research and tool development. Gates also served at the department recently as the deputy director for cyber in its Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence. In his email, Brouillette said Gates was chosen to strengthen the bond between the intelligence community and DOE.
Former Energy Secretary Rick Perry created the CESER office in September 2018 to pool the department’s cybersecurity resources and more effectively address online threats to energy infrastructure. Under Evans’ tenure, the office has helped coordinate responses by the Department of Homeland Security and states to manmade and natural disasters, including cyberattacks, electromagnetic pulses and geomagnetic disturbances.
In his email, Brouillette thanked Evans for her leadership on issues such as expanding the department’s data sharing efforts and overseeing responders following Puerto Rico’s earthquake this year. At the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners’ Winter Policy Summit earlier this month, Evans praised states for stepping up their cybersecurity efforts, noting increased state participation in last year’s GridEx V. (See “DOE Praises State Cyber Efforts,” Cybersecurity, Resilience Talks Highlight NARUC Meeting.)
Before leading CESER, Evans was the national director of the U.S. Cyber Challenge, a program intended to promote cybersecurity talents. During the George W. Bush administration, she served in the Office of Management and Budget and later as chief information officer for DOE. Evans also worked with President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team preparing staff to take over OMB. Evans’ future plans have not been disclosed.
— Holden Mann
