Catherine Jereza

Catherine (Katie) Jereza was sworn in as Assistant Secretary for the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Electricity (OE) on October 14, 2025. She leads the Department's research, development and demonstration programs to strengthen and modernize our nation’s power grid. She returns to OE in 2025 after serving as OE’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for Transmission Permitting and Technical Assistance from 2017-2019. During that time, she led Department efforts to promote the reliability, security and affordability of electricity infrastructure. In between her positions at OE, she served as a Corporate Vice President for the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), providing strategic leadership for government and external engagement. Ms. Jereza has more than 30 years of experience in the energy, water, and manufacturing industries, where she led multiple startup, turnaround and major problem-solving initiatives. Specifically, she was the Director for Infrastructure Resilience at the Edison Electric Institute (EEI), Program Director at Energetics Incorporated, and Environmental Specialist at the Maryland Department of the Environment’s Water Supply Program. She also worked as a sales engineer for GE Water and Process Technologies and the Lincoln Electric Company. Ms. Jereza grew up in West Virginia and currently lives in Maryland with her husband. She holds an MBA from the Loyola University Maryland and a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering from the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.