Puesh Kumar stepped down as director of the Department of Energy’s (DoE) Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response (CESER) on Wednesday.
Kumar served as the director of CESER since 2021. As director, he helped lead the DoE in addressing cybersecurity, physical security, and natural hazards and threats to U.S. energy infrastructure.
“Leading the Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response (CESER) has been the honor of a lifetime,” Kumar said in a LinkedIn post.
“I’ve had the privilege to work alongside some of the most dedicated, mission-driven civil servants in government – people who show up every day to protect the nation’s energy systems from evolving cyber, physical, and natural threats,” he continued. “Their quiet, relentless work is foundational to our national security, and I couldn’t be prouder of what we’ve accomplished together.”
Kumar is heading to American Electric Power Co., a major electric utility company, where he will serve as the vice president for national security and resilience.
Lili Colon has stepped in as the acting director of CESER at DoE, according to the CESER webpage. Most recently, Colon served as the deputy associate director for the Integrated Operations Division within the Cybersecurity Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).