Walker Appointed Assistant Secretary at U.S. Department of Energy

 Bruce J. Walker has resigned as the deputy county executive of Putnam. He was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as assistant secretary for the Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability at the U.S. Department of Energy.

Walker, a Mahopac native who lives with his wife, Lisa and their children in Pawling, has been part of County Executive MaryEllen Odell’s administration since she took office on Nov. 11, 2011.

“Words cannot express my gratitude toward Bruce J. Walker for all that he has done for Putnam County. He is a wealth of knowledge and sensibility and he will be truly missed,” said Odell. “Bruce being confirmed as Assistant Secretary of the US Department of Energy is a testament to his skills and insight. The people of Putnam County were fortunate to have him for the past six years.”

Odell will not fill the vacant deputy county executive position in 2018.  “Just as many businesses continue to do more with less, I have decided that to leave the deputy county executive position vacant for 2018,” she said. “I have returned the $175,495 (from salary, benefits, pension and employer expenses) back to the taxpayers.”

As the Assistant Secretary, the focus of Walker’s responsibility will be to provide leadership on a national level to modernize the electric grid, enhance the security and reliability of the energy infrastructure and facilitate recovery from disruptions to the energy supply both domestically and internationally. This is critical to meeting the Nation’s growing demand for reliable electricity by overcoming the challenges of our Nation’s aging electricity transmission and distribution system and addressing the vulnerabilities in our energy supply chain.