Dan Brouillette, who served as Donald Trump’s energy secretary, has been tapped to lead the nation’s top utility lobbying group.

The Washington-based Edison Electric Institute, which represents investor-owned electric utilities such as Duke Energy Corp. and PG&E Corp., said Wednesday Brouillette will replace outgoing president and chief executive officer Tom Kuhn effective Jan. 1 and serve an in-elect role in those positions starting Oct. 1.

Brouillette, currently president of Sempra Infrastructure LLC, a subsidiary of liquefied natural gas exporter Sempra, backed former Energy Secretary Rick Perry’s efforts to help unprofitable coal and nuclear plants before he succeeded Perry in December 2019. Brouillette served as head of the Energy Department until January 2021.

Edison Electric Institute chair Pedro J. Pizarro praised Brouillette for his “strong policy background and proven track record of collaboration across political lines,” but Brouillette’s selection drew criticism from the environmental group Evergreen Action.

“In case you were on the fence about taking @Edison_Electric seriously on climate, they just named a Trump-appointed energy secretary their new president and CEO,” the group said on X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter. “Any shred of credibility EEI had is now gone.”

--With assistance from Ruth Liao.