Cathy Zoi

Cathy Zoi is the Acting Under Secretary for Energy and Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) at the U.S. Department of Energy. She was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in her Assistant Secretary role on June 19, 2009. Ms. Zoi oversees a broad energy portfolio, including the Offices of Electricity Delivery and Reliability, EERE, Fossil Energy, Nuclear Energy, Environmental Management, and Legacy Management. Ms. Zoi manages over $30 billion of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding, as well as a base budget of over $10 billion in applied research and development and nuclear waste management. Included in her purview are a multitude of programs for improving the nation's energy infrastructure, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, increasing energy security, and creating jobs. These range from weatherizing 600,000 homes to deploying 20,000 electric vehicle charging stations; from implementing the smart grid to capturing and storing carbon emissions; from restarting the nuclear power industry to investing in solar energy manufacturing, wind turbine reliability, and biofuels technologies. Ms. Zoi also oversees the safe and cost-effective cleanup of radioactive waste and facilities associated with the nation's weapons research programs.

Ms. Zoi draws on more than two decades of experience in energy development and deployment in both the public and private sectors. Areas of past emphasis have included utility generation, planning, and policy; renewable energy start-ups; programs and products to support efficiency; smart meters; energy and resource modeling; and natural gas markets. Prior to joining the Obama Administration, Ms. Zoi was founding CEO of the Alliance for Climate Protection, where she launched the Repower America campaign with Vice President Gore. Prior to that, Ms. Zoi was Group Executive Director at a private equity fund focused on energy measurement and management, including work on smart meters. She was also Assistant Director General of the New South Wales (NSW) Environmental Protection Agency in Sydney, Australia; founding CEO of the NSW Sustainable Energy Development Authority (SEDA); Deputy Director and Chief of Staff for Environmental Policy in the Clinton White House; and manager at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency where she pioneered the ENERGY STAR Program. Ms. Zoi worked on energy modeling for ICF International and was an analyst for Pacific Gas & Electric, conducting short- and long-term planning for electricity and natural gas at the utility scale. Ms. Zoi has served on boards and advisory committees of a variety of companies in the clean technology sector.

She earned a B.S. in Geology with honors from Duke University (Magna cum laude) and an M.S. in Engineering from Dartmouth College.